Seoul Searching | Gwacheon National Science Museum.

I had originally planned on finishing all of my Spring/Summer 2018 travel posts while we are on a school break. Unfortunately, things didn't go as scheduled. Yue and I caught the flu as soon as his school break began, and we spent a good part of last week cooped up at home, coughing, sneezing, and running a fever. Thankfully, we were both feeling better by Christmas Eve, and now I'm trying to catch up on my backlog before the year ends.

And with that, I'm squeezing in one last Seoul Searching post for 2018 - our trip to the Gwacheon National Science Museum, which is actually a continuation of our Seoul Grand Park Rose Festival experience. The museum is located adjacent to the Seoul Grand Park, and we were able to visit both places in one afternoon.

Making our way to the Gwacheon National Science Museum.

More of our science adventure after the jump!
Hailed as the largest science museum in Korea and one of the leading institutions of its kind worldwide, the Gwacheon National Science Museum covers an area of almost five hectares which includes the main building, the outdoor exhibition venue, the insect ecosystem center, a planetarium, and an observatory. We entered the main building first, which houses both permanent and special exhibitions. Tickets to the museum can be purchased at the booth near the entrance, priced at 4000 won for adults and 2000 won for children.

Welcome to the Gwacheon National Science Museum!

There are six permanent exhibits inside the museum. First is the Children's Experience Center, where kids can play as they learn about the concepts of nature, ecology, and environment. Almost all of the displays and exhibits in this area are interactive, and Yue had fun playing with the pinwheels and trying out the pedal-powered generator.

Pedaling for electricity.

Trying the steering wheel next.

Pinwheel fun!

Our next stop was the Basic Science Hall, which featured basic concepts such as cells, atoms, chemical elements, and parts of the body.

Peeking at atoms.

Seeing snowflakes from a microscopic point of view.

Learning about reaction time, and how the brain reacts to stimuli.

An animated clip about blood vessels - reminded me of Cells at Work. :)

One of my favorite displays in this area is the Tesla coil, which surprisingly, my son knows about! Now my son isn't that much of a bookworm, so I was really dumbfounded that he knows who Nikola Tesla is. He says he learned about him from watching National Geographic documentaries and the Tesla Files on History Channel. How awesome is that?

The Tesla coil.

And yes, there's an English explanation that comes with the exhibit.

On the other side of the museum is the Hall of Fame, an area dedicated to the forerunners of science. Here we found wax statues of famous personalities such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein, with descriptions of their contributions to the world of science. Most of the text were written in Hangeul, though.

Aristotle, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton.

Jons Jacob Berzelius.

Albert Einstein.

On the second floor, we discovered even more amazing exhibits. The Advanced Science Hall, which featured aircraft, rockets, and even a lunar module, was like a theme park for my not-so-little boy. Even I was amazed by all the simulation activities in this part of the museum, and I reckon all the interactive displays fanned the flames of ambition for my son. From an aerospace engineer, he now wants to go on an international space mission!

An A380 Airbus complete with a cockpit inside.

The KAI T-50 Golden Eagle, South Korea's first supersonic aircraft.

An old school hot air balloon - no, you can't ride on it.

A model of a stealth aircraft.

Photo zone today, real life pilot tomorrow - who knows?!

Rockets and satellites.

Astronauts and space explorers.

My son was equally impressed with the Natural History Hall, located right beside the Advanced Science Hall. And why not? This section features the origins of the universe, the evolution of man, the geologic periods, and the fossils and dinosaurs which Yue love.

Yue gushed at the sight of these skeletons. 

Rawr!

This kid is fascinated!

Flipping through a picture book of fossils.

More (huge) skeletal remains. 

Also located on the second floor is the Korean Science Civilization Hall, which showcases the development of science and technology from the Joseon Dynasty. We chose to skip this section because we only had ten minutes left before closing time, and Yue wanted to get a glimpse of the Dinosaur Garden. We made a mad dash for the outdoor exhibition hall, where the life-size models of dinosaurs are displayed.

Some of the displays at the Dinosaur Garden.

Since we ran out of time, we didn't have the chance to see the Insectarium or the Planetarium. I promised Yue that we will visit this place again, and make it a point to come early so he can explore every nook and cranny of the museum to his heart's content. Next year, maybe. :)

Memories of Gwacheon, lol. :)

To get to the Gwacheon National Science Museum, take exit 5 of the Seoul Grand Park Station (Line 4).

 Gwacheon National Science Museum 

110, Sanghabeol-ro, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do
+82-2-3677-1500