Fernbank Science Center Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Fernbank Science Center


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Established	1967; 58 years ago (1967)
Location	156 Heaton Park Drive NE Atlanta United States
Type	Science museum
Owner	DeKalb County School District

The Fernbank Science Center is a fun place in Atlanta where you can learn about science! It's a museum, a classroom, and even has a woodland area. The DeKalb County School District owns and runs it. This center helps students from pre-kindergarten all the way to 12th grade learn about science. It also has a planetarium and an observatory that are open to the public on special days.

The Fernbank Science Center is all about helping people understand science and technology. It shows how amazing and orderly the natural world is. You can find many cool things here, like dinosaur skeletons, different rocks and minerals, and even a real Apollo spacecraft! This spacecraft flew on the unmanned Apollo 6 test flight. The center also has a huge planetarium with a 70-foot-wide projection dome.

Explore the Fernbank Science Center
- What Can You See?
Jim Cherry Memorial Planetarium
- Georgia's Largest Planetarium
- Modern Upgrades
Robotics Team: Fernbank LINKS
Gallery
See also

Explore the Fernbank Science Center

The Fernbank Science Center first opened its doors in December 1967. It's a key part of the DeKalb County School District's plan to teach science. The center offers many programs for students of all ages. It's a great spot for hands-on learning and discovering new things.

What Can You See?

The center has lots of cool exhibits and tools for learning. You can see real dinosaur skeletons up close. There are also collections of rocks and minerals. If you're into space, you'll love the authentic Apollo spacecraft. It's from the Apollo 6 test flight! The center also has an Aeronautics Education Laboratory. Here you can learn about flying and planes. There's even an electron microscope lab to see tiny things up close.

Jim Cherry Memorial Planetarium

The Jim Cherry Memorial Planetarium is a giant theater where you can explore the stars. It has 500 seats and a huge 70-foot-wide dome. A special Mark V Zeiss star projector helps show the night sky. Plus, there are over 100 special effects projectors!

Georgia's Largest Planetarium

This planetarium was built in the 1960s. It is the biggest planetarium in Georgia. It's also one of the largest in the entire United States. What's even cooler is that it was the first planetarium owned and run by a public school system in the USA!

Modern Upgrades

In 2012, the planetarium got a big upgrade thanks to a grant from Lockheed Martin. This made the theater much more modern. It now has a fulldome projection system. This system can show amazing videos and images across the entire dome. It works with the classic Zeiss star projector to create an incredible experience. Before this upgrade, videos only covered a small part of the dome. Now, animated images can move all over the huge surface!

Robotics Team: Fernbank LINKS

The Fernbank LINKS (Linking Ideas and Networking Kids with Science) is a super cool robotics team. It started in 2002. This team has competed in many robotics challenges. They have also won lots of awards! All the team members go on to college after high school.

BEST Robotics Competition

Every fall, Fernbank LINKS takes part in the Georgia BEST Robotics Competition. They also host this free event. From 2004 to 2014, LINKS was one of the best teams in Georgia. They often qualified for the South's BEST Regional Championship. In 2015, they decided to host the Georgia BEST event instead of competing. They helped 12 teams compete that year. In 2016, they planned to expand the event to 24 teams. This lets even more kids enjoy STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

FIRST Robotics Competition

In the spring, Fernbank LINKS competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition. Teams have just six weeks to build a robot for this challenge. After building, they get ready for competitions. The goal is to advance to the FIRST Championship. In 2016, Fernbank LINKS made history. They were the first team in Georgia to win a district qualifier. They also won the Engineering Inspiration Award. This award qualified them for the FIRST Championship in St. Louis. They ranked 16th out of 75 teams there!

FIRST Lego League

Fernbank LINKS also works a lot with FIRST Lego League (FLL). Every fall, they host six free training sessions for FLL teams in DeKalb County. They also host the DeKalb FLL Regional Tournament. Plus, they host the Atlanta Super Regional tournament.