COSI facts for kids
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West facade and Dorrian Green
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| Established | 1964 |
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| Location | Columbus, Ohio |
| Type | Science museum |
| Founder | Sanford N. Hallock II |
| Public transit access |  Add→ 10, 12 CoGo |
COSI (pronounced koh-sahy) stands for the Center of Science and Industry. It is a super cool science museum and research center located in Columbus, Ohio. COSI first opened its doors on March 29, 1964.
In 1999, COSI moved to a huge new building. This building was designed by a Japanese architect named Arata Isozaki. It sits right by the Scioto River in the Franklinton neighborhood. COSI has more than 300 hands-on exhibits. These exhibits are spread out in different themed areas.
COSI used to have the biggest education program of any science museum in the United States. This included programs like COSI on Wheels, which traveled all over Ohio. They also had Camp COSI on Wheels and online video programs. These programs reached over 350,000 learners each year!
COSI is a non-profit organization. This means it's supported by ticket sales and help from many partners and donors. It also has a huge volunteer program with 10,000 volunteers every year. Nearly 20,000 families are members of COSI. In 2008, Parent Magazine called COSI the #1 science center for families. In 2020, USA Today named it the #1 Science Museum in the United States!
Contents
Exhibit areas
When COSI moved in 1999, it was designed with big, themed areas. Each area is like its own world, focusing on a single topic. As of 2018, COSI has seven main exhibit areas. These are Ocean, Energy Explorers, Space, Progress, Gadgets, Life, and the American Museum of Natural History Dinosaur Gallery. The hallways between these worlds also have lots of hands-on exhibits.
Ocean
To enter the Ocean exhibit, you walk through an underwater cave. This cave goes through a crashed shipwreck. The path then splits. If you go right, you find a docked submarine lab. Here, you can do hands-on experiments about ocean research. You can learn about submersibles, SCUBA diving, and water pressure. The Lilypad Lab teaches you about local wildlife and rivers.
If you go left from the shipwreck, you reach the Temple of Poseidon. This is an ancient stone room with a 30-foot tall statue of Poseidon. It has waterfalls, fountains, and water jets. Another part of the exhibit explores how water works. You can see smooth water flow, whirlpools, and how water causes erosion.
Energy Explorers
Energy Explorers opened in 2013. In this area, you pick an avatar character. Your avatar follows you through different parts of a town: the Home Zone, Transportation Zone, and Product Zone. You use computer kiosks to make choices about energy. You try to balance how much energy you use with how much it costs.
Space
The Space exhibit area has a copy of a space station pod you can explore. It also has a recreation of John Glenn's Friendship 7 spacecraft. This was the spacecraft he used for the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission. You can also try remote-controlled vehicles and balance tests. Other experiments teach you about space flight, gravity, and landing rovers on other planets.
Progress
The Progress exhibit is like stepping back in time. It shows a small town called Progress in 1898. This was when new things like electricity and cars were just becoming available. You can walk through recreated shops, homes, and restaurants. There's a telegraph office, a stable, a grocery store, and more.
After seeing Progress in 1898, you turn a corner and enter the same town in 1962. Now, there are new inventions and changes. The town has an appliance store, a working TV studio, and a gas station. At the end, the exhibit makes you think about how the town of Progress might look today. It also makes you wonder why progress is so important in science.
Gadgets
The Gadgets exhibit area is full of classic science experiments. You can try out pulleys, wind tunnels, plasmaglobes, and magnets. There are also light bulbs and engines to explore. Gadgets also has the Gadgets Café. Here, families can sit down and choose quick science experiments from a menu. There's even a "take-apart" menu where you can safely take apart old phones, computers, and clocks.
Life
The Life exhibit explores what it means to be human. It has three separate areas: Mind, Body, and Spirit. The Mind area has cool optical illusions and an anechoic chamber, which is a super quiet room. Spirit talks about birth and death and how different cultures understand them. Body has interactive health stations. You can check your weight, flexibility, and heart rate. Then, you can compare your results to other COSI visitors!
Dinosaur Gallery
On November 19, 2017, COSI opened a permanent Dinosaur Gallery. This was done in partnership with the American Museum of Natural History. It's a huge area, covering 22,000 square feet. It's a great place to see amazing dinosaur exhibits!
Other features
COSI has a special "little kid space" for children up to first grade. It also has the National Geographic Giant Screen Theater. This is the largest digital screen in Ohio! Outside, there's a Big Science Park. On November 22, 2014, COSI reopened its huge Planetarium. It's 60 feet wide and seats 220 people. It's Ohio's largest planetarium with new digital projection. There's also an exhibit about the History of COSI.
The building also has large galleries for special traveling exhibits. You can find the Atomic Cafe for food and the Science2Go! store for gifts. Some parts of the building use refurbished areas from the old Central High School.
COSI Science Festival
The COSI Science Festival is a big event that happens every year. It brings together COSI, Battelle, NASA, businesses, and universities. They all work together to show off science across Central Ohio. The first festival was held from May 1–4, 2019. It was one of the biggest science events in Ohio's history!
In 2020 and 2021, the festival was held online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It still reached over 100,000 people! In 2022, the festival returned to being mostly in-person. The 2023 festival had record attendance, with over 11,000 visitors to the community events. Another 33,000 people attended the Big Science Celebration.
The COSI Science Festival is the largest STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) event in Ohio. It's also one of the largest in the Midwest. The next festival will be held from May 1 - 4, 2024.
History of COSI
COSI first opened its doors on March 29, 1964. It was started by the Franklin County Historical Society. COSI is also a founding member of the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative. It is a long-time member of the Association of Science-Technology Centers.
From 1964, COSI was located in Memorial Hall. This is a famous building in Columbus. COSI closed at Memorial Hall on September 6, 1999. It then reopened two months later, on November 6, 1999, at its new location. This new building is on the Scioto riverfront in downtown Columbus.
The new building is 320,000 square feet. It was designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. He designed a unique, "blimp"-shaped building. It looks very modern from the Franklinton neighborhood. But from downtown Columbus, it blends in with the city. This is because it uses the outside of the original Central High School.
In 1972, COSI started the Camp-In overnight program. This program was for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. This idea became very popular and is now used in museums all over the country! Since 1964, almost 30 million people have visited COSI.
After moving to the riverfront, the museum faced some challenges. To help, COSI started opening five days a week instead of seven. Some exhibits were closed temporarily. However, many of these exhibits have since reopened. For example, the Space exhibit moved to a new spot. The Planetarium also reopened in November 2014.
COSI has hosted many popular traveling exhibits. These include "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" and "Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination". They also hosted exhibits like "CSI: The Experience" and "MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition." COSI even created its own traveling exhibit called Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science.
In 2017, Dr. Frederic Bertley became COSI Columbus' new president and CEO. In 2018, a new park called Dorrian Green was built next to COSI. This park has an underground parking garage and a large green space.
See also
- Imagination Station, formerly COSI Toledo, formerly affiliated with COSI Columbus
- List of museums in Ohio
- List of science centers
