Qualla: Science North

Science North: Introduction

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mike Babcock from Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, CC BY 2.0. Two buildings shaped like snowflakes sit on the southwestern shore of Ramsey Lake in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. That architectural choice was deliberate. Architect Raymond Moriyama designed Science North to echo the crystalline geometry of Northern Ontario winters, and when Queen Elizabeth II presided over the official opening ceremony in October 1984, she inaugurated a science museum unlike anything else in the Canadian Shield. Four decades later, Science North remains Northern Ontario's largest science center, a place where 400 tropical butterflies share space with porcupines and flying squirrels, where live science shows fill a discovery theatre carved between two floors, and where a rock tunnel connecting the buildings passes through the ancient geology that defines this region.

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Image: Mike Babcock from Peterborough, Ontario, Canada | CC BY 2.0

Science North: Snowflakes on the Shield

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Flibirigit at English Wikipedia, Public domain. The plans for Science North were unveiled in 1980 by architect Raymond Moriyama, working with the firm Townend, Stefura, Baleshta and Nicholls. The result was a building so distinctive it earned the Governor General's Medal for Architecture in 1986. The two snowflake-shaped struc...

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Image: Flibirigit at English Wikipedia | Public domain

Science North: Butterflies and Beavers

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Platttenbau, CC BY 4.0. The F. Jean MacLeod Butterfly Gallery occupies the second level, a glass-enclosed tropical house where approximately 400 butterflies from 30 different species drift through warm, humid air while Northern Ontario winters rage outside. One floor above, the third level recreates the...

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Image: Platttenbau | CC BY 4.0

Science North: Blue Coats and Big Screens

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Brian0918, CC BY-SA 2.5. Science North's staff of science communicators wear distinctive blue lab coats, earning them the nickname 'Blue Coats.' They lead tours, present live science shows in the Discovery Theatre, and provide interpretive experiences throughout the museum. The Discovery Theatre, suspend...

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Image: Brian0918 | CC BY-SA 2.5

Science North: From Sudbury to the World

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. Science North's Production Team creates object theatres, multimedia presentations, and large-format films for science museums across North America. Their 2023 documentary Jane Goodall: Reasons for Hope won a Canadian Screen Award for sustainable production at the 12th Canadian Sc...

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Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

Science North: A Northern Institution

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Phill Natal, CC BY 2.0. Science North opened on June 19, 1984. Forty years later, it celebrated that anniversary as an institution woven into the fabric of Northern Ontario life. Generations of Sudbury children have had their heights predicted, watched live science demonstrations, and pressed their face...

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Image: Phill Natal | CC BY 2.0