SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity Brings STEAM Exploration to the Sacramento Area
Sponsored in part by PASCO and UC Davis, the SMUD MOSAC will bring immersive STEAM explorations to learners of all ages throughout the Sacramento Area.
After fifteen years of planning, the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity (MOSAC) opened its doors to the public this month, inviting learners of all ages to explore their curiosities through a scientific lens. Sponsored in part by PASCO and UC Davis, the 50,0000-square-foot MOSAC features five interactive galleries and more than a hundred exhibits that showcase topics in health, nature, energy, water, engineering, and space.
| The Museum plans to partner with schools and community members to deliver a wide variety of educational experiences, ranging from sixty-minute labs to full-day Academy Programs. Teachers can bring their students to one of the facility’s new science classrooms, where they will use PASCO sensors and equipment to investigate science phenomena. Designed to support NGSS, MOSAC programs emphasize both local and global issues to help keep students engaged and informed, while the sensors donated by PASCO empower students to explore the connection between science, data, and our physical world. |  |
The MOSAC will bring K-12 schools, colleges, universities, libraries, museums, and other community resources together to remove barriers and build a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) learning ecosystem that broadens and enriches each learner’s personal journey with the ultimate goals of inspiring more students to enter STEAM careers and of creating a more science literate community.
With awe-inspiring displays reminiscent of the Exploratorium, the MOSAC’s immersive galleries and interactive exhibits bring science to life for everyone. Visitors can explore energy and climate in the Powering Change gallery, manifest their ideas in the Design Lab, or uncover critters as Nature Detectives. There’s even a non-working prototype of the Explorer, the world’s first full-body PET scanner, which uses high-tech effects to reveal how the body transports blood with a dazzling degree of detail previously seen only in textbooks.
| Visitors who wish to explore beyond the MOSAC’s five galleries can attend a tour of the solar system in the facility’s 46-foot, domed UC Davis Multiverse Theater. A “portal to another universe,” the new planetarium takes viewers on a journey through the cosmos, where they learn about our surroundings here on Earth, and beyond. Through their engaging exhibits, public programs, community outreach, and ongoing collaboration with schools, MOSAC will raise awareness about the natural world and inspire Sacramento’s future generation of STEAM professionals. |  |
About the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity
The MOSAC mission is to serve as a dynamic regional hub that engages and inspires people of all ages to explore the wonders, possibilities, and responsibilities of science. We aim to inspire the next generation of scientists, technologists and thought leaders to meet the needs of the 21st century workforce, and to help all of us face the challenges of a rapidly changing world.