There are many reasons to visit the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. Maybe you have kids who like science or you have kids you want to get interested in science (or STEM which seems to be all the buzz word in education right now unless you believe the world is flat and want to remain in that bliss.) Maybe you are interested in science and want to stimulate your own brain. These are definitely good reasons to visit a place solely dedicated to this kind of study. But maybe you are like me and like science but you also get a lot of things delivered to your house. Maybe you’ve seen a lot of styrofoam show up in packaging and you have extreme guilt that your shopping is ruining the world. And this is another reason you need to get to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle ASAP.
Tucked away in a little corner between the bugs and reptiles you will see something that makes some of your styrofoam guilt disappear. Apparently there are bugs that EAT styrofoam and then they poop it out and turn it into dirt. From a brief search out into the big wide internets, it seems like this research started to surface in 2015 and it’s pretty incredible if mealworms can actually help with some of the massive piles of waste us human beings like to create. I was so excited when I saw these bugs in their little glass home at the Science Center because I didn’t even know about any of this research and now I feel a lot better about my existence.
Once you’ve checked out the mealworms you might as well check out the butterflies in their delightfully Costa Rica-esque glass-enclosed tropical habitat. For Seattleites this might be a perfect escape from winter weather and it was therapeutically warm and wonderful to watch butterflies and giant moths sail through the sky. I asked if I might bring a lawn chair and a mai tai into the exhibit but was told that there is no food or drink allowed.
The naked mole rats are also pretty entertaining to watch and my kids and I really enjoyed a book about naked mole rats called “Naked Mole Rat gets Dressed” by Mo Willems when they were younger so this is a good tie in to read before or after your visit to the Science Center. The Seattle Children’s Theatre is performing it as a rock and roll play this year so I’m excited to go see this with my guys too!
You can easily spend an hour or two or more at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. I always get a membership so I don’t mind if we stay a short time and the membership here is reciprocal with so many other great museums-we use ours quite frequentally at Science World in Vancouver Canada when we visit and memberships are awesome because they make places like this possible. After our visits we usually stop by the Armory and the playground for snacks and fresh air or we take the monorail downtown for treats and it makes for a lovely morning or afternoon with the family in Seattle. (Especially if it’s one of those dreamy no-umbrella, no-raincoat days, but even if it’s not…..)
(Have you been to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle or do you go to a science museum near your home? And do you worry about the environment too? I love shopping and finding fun things for my house but I’m really trying to be careful about the things that I buy and how they impact the world. How do you cope with this-I’d totally love to hear!)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
I have turned into a big environmentalist after turning 30, and I honestly wish I felt this strongly about it sooner! We have made a good handful of changes in our household this year like composting and trying to buy things second-hand that don’t need to be purchased new. It is a lot of work for a family to reduce waste, but it is essential!
That does make me feel a bit better. Although I still cringe when I’m served something on styrofoam. Good thing Seattle has banned it from their restaurants! We’ll have to check out this exhibit.
Yes. Seeing the styrofoam being eaten by the bugs was something I’d never seen before. We also get horrifically mesmerized by the exhibit showing all the garbage they found in a whale’s belly too.