Griffin Museum of Science and Industry

Sienna and her brother looking at the camera with an orange wall behind them with the words “Griffin Museum of Science and Industry” in white letters.

I was super excited to go back to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, because the last time I was there I was in 7th grade. So it has definitely been a while. My whole family went, and it was my Dad and brother’s first time going which made it special. 

The best way to tackle any museum, I feel, is to hit the things you definitely want to see first, and then explore as much as you can before you tire out. Most of the museums in Chicago are huge and it could take all day to see every exhibit. A couple things on our list were seeing the German U-Boat, the baby chicks, and the wind tornado.

 

An orange sign in the middle with the words “Griffin Museum of Science and Industry” is center. In the left corner is a train, while the bottom is a colorful light display, a carriage and outside picture of a grand build surround the main sign.
A giant gray submarine insides a building with a ramp coming down around it. With people and exhibits on the floor.

Our first stop was the German U-Boat. The Science and Industry Museum was given the actual submarine that was captured during WWII by the US. It is interesting as they had to build the exhibit around the submarine once they got it. It is huge, and I know you’re thinking, “it’s a submarine, of course it’s huge,” but when you get up to one propeller and really see how big it is, you’re a little in awe. This was probably my Dad and brother’s favorite exhibit. The exhibit talked about the history and also the mechanics of the submarine.

Now my favorite part, which I was looking forward to since I went in 7th grade, was the baby chicks. These are located in the genetics exhibit to show how genetics works to create different species. But to be completely honest I was more distracted by how cute the baby chicks were. My brother however reminded me that we can see them any time at Farm and Fleet, but I believe these were cuter.

Yellow baby chickens in an incubator, they are next to a toy tractor and water dispenser.
Sienna standing in front of a dark exhibit room with a wind funnel behind her. On the left is a close up look of the mini-tornado wind funnel.

One of the most interactive exhibits is the Clean Energy section. This is where they talk about weather, wind power, and even lightning. There are a lot of things to try out, from creating your own mini tornados, to using prisms to make rainbows. It is definitely an exhibit I wouldn’t skip as there are so many things to do. They even have a part where they create their own lightning!

An unexpected highlight to the museum was the Mold-A-Rama exhibit. It showed how little plastic figurines were made before we had 3-d printers. They had a display  with all the different molds they had made in the past. My mom remembers getting one of the Bust of Lincoln. The cool thing was that not only did they have a room full of these machines where you could pay and get to make one, they were scattered throughout the whole museum, each correlating to the different exhibits. I ended up getting one made of the Willis Tower! We all stood around and watched as the mold was filled and when it was done, the machine scraped it off for you to pick up. It definitely made a great souvenir.

Sienna is holding a little gray plastic Willis Tower, and behind her is a machine labeled “Mold-A-Rama”. In the background are a bunch of colorful plastic figurines.

The Science and Industry Museum is definitely one of the museums I would go to over and over again. With different rotating exhibits and just so much to do you could spend multiple days experiencing it all. I know my family and I will be going back!

                                    ~Sienna

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