Group Visits / Field Trips
Explore the South Dakota Discovery Center as a group for fun learning opportunities!
Please note that Group Visit and On-site STEMventure Programs can be booked year-round every Monday thru Saturday, 10:00am-5:00pm, and on Sundays from 1:00pm-5:00pm. These experiences MUST be booked and confirmed in advance
Group Visit Admission Rates
$4.00 per child, tax-exempt and school group rate (chaperones are FREE!).
$5.00 per person, business or family group rate (must have 25 visitors to qualify)
Book Your Group a STEMVenture!
Do you want to venture deeper into hands-on STEM learning? Power-up your group’s experience with an on-site or off-site science adventure—a STEMventure!
On-site STEMventure Program Booking Rates:
$250, one program
$150, additional programs
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A South Dakota Discovery Membership yields BIG savings; become a member today!
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RATE DISCOUNTS*:
SDDC Member Discount: 20%
Nonprofit Organization Discount: 15%
Sponsored Counties Discount (see below): 50%
*Please Note: Only one discount can be applied at a time.
Sponsored Counties Discount
All schools and tax-exempt groups from the following counties receive a 50% discount on our STEMventures Programs, thanks to support from the Bankwest Foundation: Charles Mix, Davison, Douglas, Gregory, Haakon, Hughes, Hutchinson, Jackson, Jones, Lawrence, Lyman, McCook, Pennington, Potter, Stanley, Sully, Tripp, Todd, and Walworth. Please address your thank you note to: Bankwest, Attn: Charles Burke III, 420 S Pierre St., Pierre, SD 57501.
STEMventure Programs
Led by a SDDC Museum Educator, our STEMventure Programs are for everyone, and they can be booked for during a Group Visit to the SDDC Exhibit Hall or as a Traveling Program. With a STEMventure, you dive deep into hands-on STEM learning and share experiences that last a lifetime.
STEMventures is an important tool for institutions and organizations that need science instruction support. Together, we engage and supplement science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education across the state. Access to STEMventures is a huge benefit to students of all ages, encouraging engagement with their science identity and building their curiosity, email info@sd-discovery.org to learn more about our Sponsored Counties efforts and to suggest potential partners.
Don’t forget to also look at our STEMventure Exploration Kits—a whole library of STEM opportunities for you to check out!
Bubble Festival
GRADES K-6 | ONE HOUR
These captivating, bubble-centric tabletop learning stations are packed with math and science content. The unit (a natural lead-in to Bubble-ology) includes detailed teacher assistance with classroom logistics, writing and literature extensions, and tips for setting up an all-school bubble festival.
Science of Flight
GRADES 2-8 | ONE HOUR
In this exciting hands-on program, students will explore the forces of flight and hone their engineering skills by constructing and testing their own fliers. It can be a great spark for science fair projects and Newton's Law lessons.
Moon Murder Mystery
GRADES 5-12 | ONE HOUR
Solve a moon murder mystery inspired by "Among Us" by completing a variety of tasks on an artificial moon base. Tasks include sample testing, map reading, and generating oxygen through electrolysis. Crewmates must complete their tasks and be on
the lookout for imposters murdering people as they pass by.
Journey Beyond the Known Portable Planetarium
A STEMventures classic, back and better than ever!
Our BRAND NEW traveling planetarium was made possible by the generous life-long explorer, Jan Martin. The Journey Beyond the Known Planetarium sends observers across the universe and helps them explore the wonderful, wild planet Earth!
Large Dome: 20’x20’ space 19’ high minimum. 40 adults or 55 young children.
Small Dome: 17’x17’ space 10’ high minimum. 20 adults or 35 young children.
BOOK A JOURNEY BEYOND THE KNOWN
Greek Constellations & Mythology
ALL AGES | EDUCATOR-LED PROGRAM | 30-45 MINUTE
Constellations fill the night sky and for eons people have looked up, handing down important myths and legends that tell us about their culture and history. Navigating these brilliant cosmic stories is the central theme of this star show.
Native Skies
ALL AGES | EDUCATOR-LED PROGRAM | 30-45 MINUTE
The people of the Great Plains have passed down their own star knowledge for generations. Using the power of storytelling, visit the constellations that guided the original inhabitants of the Great Plains.
Moon Phases
ALL AGES | EDUCATOR-LED PROGRAM | 30-45 MINUTE
On most nights, the most prominent object in our night sky is the moon! It is also usually the first object we notice as young children, starting out on our stargazing journey. Why does the moon change shape? Where does it go when it disappears? This star show explores why the moon seems to change on its journey around the earth.
Tour of the Solar System
ALL AGES | EDUCATOR-LED PROGRAM | 30-45 MINUTE
Three, two, one—blast off! We are going on a tour of our celestial neighborhood! Together we fly from the sun to Pluto, making a stop to visit everything in between. This star show provides a great overview of our solar system, its planets, our only star, the Sun, the many moons, and more.
What's in the Sky?
ALL AGES | EDUCATOR-LED PROGRAM | 30-45 MINUTE
Even before the time of telescopes ancient people looked to the sky. Even today, sky watching is still a favorite pastime for many people. This show introduces a few easily identifiable celestial bodies in the night sky that can be seen with or without a telescope.
Journey Beyond the Known Portable Planetarium: Movies
Take a journey beyond the known with these science movies!
BOOK A JOURNEY BEYOND THE KNOWN
Cosmic Castaways
AGES 11+ | MOVIE | 19 MINUTES 41 SECONDS
There are places where the night sky has no constellations. No Orion, no Big Dipper, nothing but a few lonely, far away stars and a few faint, ghostly patches of light. Most stars lie within the crowded boundaries of galaxies, traveling with their brothers and sisters in a vast galactic family. But some find themselves on their own, deep within voids between the galaxies. These are the cosmic castaways.
Dark Matter Mystery
AGES 14+ | MOVIE | 38 MINUTES 30 SECONDS
What keeps Galaxies together? What are the building blocks of the Universe? What makes the Universe look the way it looks today? Researchers all around the world try to answer these questions. We know today that approximately a quarter of the Universe is filled with a mysterious glue: Dark Matter. We know that it is out there. But we have no idea what it is made out of. This fulldome planetarium show takes you on the biggest quest of contemporary astrophysics. You will see why we know that Dark Matter exists, and how this search is one of the most challenging and exciting searches science has to offer. Join the scientists on their hunt for Dark Matter with experiments in space and deep underground. Will they be able to solve the Dark Matter Mystery?
Dark: The Fulldome Movie
AGE 8+ | MOVIE | 19 MINUTES 59 SECONDS
DARK is a fulldome movie that explains and explores the nature of dark matter, the missing 80% of the mass of the Universe. The search for dark matter is the most pressing astrophysical problem of our time – the solution to which will help us understand why the Universe is as it is, where it came from, and how it has evolved over billions of years – the unimaginable depths of deep time, of which a human life is but a flickering instant. But in that instant, we can grasp its immensity and, through science, we can attempt to understand it.
Distant Worlds – Alien Life?
AGES 14+ | MOVIE | 52 MINUTES 30 SECONDS
Distant Worlds — Alien Life? is a beautiful planetarium film exploring one of the most enduring questions of humankind — are we alone? For millennia our ancestors watched the stars, questioning the origin and nature of what they saw. Still today we ask these questions, knowing that the Universe is a vast place filled with billions and billions of stars and planets — but yet, Earth is the only planet we know for sure to be inhabited.
From Earth to the Universe
AGES 14+ | MOVIE | 31 MINUTES 40 SECONDS
The night sky, both beautiful and mysterious, has been the subject of campfire stories, ancient myths and awe for as long as there have been people. A desire to comprehend the Universe may well be humanity’s oldest shared intellectual experience. Yet only recently have we truly begun to grasp our place in the vast cosmos. To learn about this journey of celestial discovery, from the theories of the ancient Greek astronomers to today’s grandest telescopes, we invite you to experience From Earth to the Universe.
Out There: The Quest for Extrasolar Worlds
AGES 5+ | MOVIE | 30 MINUTES 27 SECONDS
The story of how human curiosity has driven us to look outwards to discover and explore new and distant worlds. A production of The Swiss Museum of Transport Planetarium, directed and produced by Marc Horat, in cooperation with National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS and ESO. The show lasts 30 minutes and is suitable for family audiences.
Phantom of the Universe – The Hunt for Dark Matter
AGES 11+ | MOVIE | 27 MINUTES 37 SECONDS
From the journey of protons racing through the world's largest particle collider in Europe to up-close views of the Big Bang and emergent universe, and the nearly mile-deep descent to an underground experiment in South Dakota, a new planetarium show is designed to immerse audiences in the manifold search for dark matter.
Satelix
AGES 6+ | MOVIE | 22 MINUTES 45 SECONDS
They are with us all day. When we wake up, go to school, to work or for a trip, and when we spend time with our families in the evening, too. And at night? In the darkness of the night, they guard us while we sleep. Without them, we would not have navigation in our cars or mobile phones, accurate weather forecasts, and in fact many everyday items, either. Do you ask who they are? None other than artificial satellites! We used to wander around the continents and the oceans to expand to every corner of our planet. Not long ago, like heavenly riders, we conquered Earth’s atmosphere. And now now we are becoming wanderers in a new vast world called the universe. Satellite technologies help us every day. They are the symbol of international cooperation across the continents. And they might enable us to live on this planet for another millennium. You don’t believe it? Learn more at www.satelix.eu A fulldome show for planetarium and digital dome theaters.
Two Small Pieces of Glass: The Amazing Telescope
AGES 11+ | MOVIE | 22 MINUTES 45 SECONDS
Galileo’s telescopic observations began a revolution, transforming our views of the cosmos and our place within. It is a revolution which, four hundred years later, continues. Today you can attend star parties where amateur astronomers set up their telescopes for public viewing. Views through such telescopes would have amazed Galileo. Two Small Pieces of Glass puts you in the middle of a modern star party. Discover the wonders that even a small amateur telescope can reveal and learn about the scientists that made such views possible.