Discovery World

Discovery World is a science and technology museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Discovery World is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that does not receive any public funding.
Founded by Robert Powrie Harland, Sr., Discovery World was initially known as the Science, Economics and Technology Center. Plans for it appeared in the Milwaukee Journal in 1981. The museum's early location was the Milwaukee Public Library, inside the Wisconsin Ave. entrance of the library. The museum featured hands-on exhibits, computerized simulations, and science shows.
Discovery World was the former owner and caretaker of the replica 19th century Great Lakes schooner Denis Sullivan, the flagship of the state of Wisconsin. After financial and maintenance concerns following the COVID-19 pandemic, Discovery World controversially sold the ship to World Ocean School in Boston, Massachusetts in 2022, a sale that received much criticism from the original builders and organizers of the ship as well as the wider Milwaukee community.
Discovery World contains numerous interactive science, technology, and freshwater exhibits in its 140,000-square foot facility. These exhibits include the following:
A model of the entire Great Lakes watershed built to scale addresses freshwater issues, stewardship, and the relationship between humans and freshwater resources. It also features an artificially induced weather event. With the push of a button, visitors can call for "rain" to fall down upon this watershed, observing where the water flows and how run-off pollutants navigate the region. The perimeter of the exhibit features several tank habitats. Inhabitants include a Northern Spiny Softshell Turtle, an Ornate Box Turtle, a Three-Toed Box Turtle, a Blanding's Turtle, North American Wood Turtles, a Corn Snake, Pumpkinseed, and Bluegill. Several ice-age and prehistoric animal skulls are found throughout the exhibit as well. The permanent exhibit was designed by Grace La and James Dallman of LA DALLMAN and was published in the Berlin monograph 1000x Architecture of the Americas.
The Reiman Aquarium is the largest aquarium in the state of Wisconsin and occupies the lower level of Discovery World. Tank exhibits replicate a wide variety of aquatic habitats, including that of Lake Michigan, the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Caribbean Sea, and much more.
Notable features include a 75,000-gallon Lake Michigan tank, 65,000-gallon Caribbean tunnel tank, and multiple touch tanks. The Lake Michigan tank at the center of the aquarium is home to Lake Sturgeon and many other species native to the Great Lakes. The 65,000-gallon warm saltwater tank is the most colorful and active tank. It is constructed as an upside-down halfpipe, which visitors can walk through. This tank is home to a Rooster Hogfish, a Sargassum Triggerfish, Bamboo Sharks, Goatfish, French and Queen Angelfish, a Cownose Stingray, and a variety of Grunts, a Scrawled Filefish.
There are multiple touch tanks where visitors can have a hands-on interaction with unique aquatic creatures.
A cold freshwater touch tank features young Lake Sturgeon. A much warmer saltwater touch tank features Atlantic Stingray and Cortez Round Stringray. Additionally, an invertebrate tank which is home to Slipper Lobsters.
Les Paul's House of Sound features three different areas: Les's Early Years, The Musician on the Road to Stardom, and Friends of Les Paul. The exhibit includes Paul’s Grammy Awards, the first Gibson guitar Paul produced, and the "Klunker" he used.
This exhibit explains how the water used in homes eventually flows back to Lake Michigan. Other features of this exhibit include a look into Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District processes, Milwaukee Water Works, and Milwaukee’s Deep Tunnel project, which reduces the amount of wastewater dumped into Lake Michigan each year. The permanent exhibit, comprising more than twenty interactive installations, was designed by Grace La and James Dallman of LA DALLMAN.
This exhibit includes a focus on artificial intelligence, mechanics, and engineering. The Dream Machine allows the public to design products to take home, experience a custom-built automated factory, and learn modern engineering trends. Visitors can operate the controls of the retractable domes of Miller Park and the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Other exhibits at Discovery World include The Challenge (an 88 ft replica of a 19th century schooner), Simple Machine Shipyard, Driving and Flight Simulators, All Aboard, Milwaukee Muscle, Power On, Physics and You, The Innovation Station, Virtual Explorer, Clean Air Trek, BIG, Power On, and The Distant Mirror.
Discovery World offers:
Discovery World has ten educational spaces, that provide opportunities for visitors, school groups, and campers to participate in hands-on experiences focused on creativity, science, technology, and freshwater, especially the Great Lakes. These ten spaces include:
43°02′13″N 87°53′46″W﻿ / ﻿43.036818°N 87.896045°W﻿ / 43.036818; -87.896045