Family Vacation Planner for Illinois - National Geographic Traveler

Science

Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum Participate in a space camp; learn about black holes, the moon, and the history of astronomy; view one of the world's finest collections of astronomical artifacts, including a 1529 window sundial. 1300 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL; +312 922 7827. Fee.

Burpee Museum of Natural History Gape at the towering skeleton of an adolescent T-Rex, experience a sudden tropical rainstorm in a prehistoric coal forest, dress up as a ladybug and study rocks with the microscopes in the Children's Gallery. 737 N. Main St., Rockford, IL; +1 815 965 3433. Fee.

Discovery Center Museum Design your own robot, fly an airplane, take in a show of the night sky, and host the evening news in the WIFR Kids News Studio. 711 N. Main St., Rockford, IL; +1 815 963 6769. Fee.

The Field Museum Gape at Sue, the world's largest, most complete T. rex skeleton; watch researchers conduct DNA analyses in the DNA Discovery Center; walk through a replica of an 800-year-old pueblo dwelling to learn what life was like in the ancient Americas. 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL; +1 312 922 9410. Fee.

Illinois State University Planetarium Learn about the night sky during weekly planetarium shows, catch a children's show, like Larry Cat in Space. Corner of College Ave. and School St., Normal, IL; +1 309 438 5007. Fee.

Museum of Science and Industry Get a real-time view of our planet in the Earth Revealed exhibit; step inside the U-505, the only World War II German submarine in the U.S.; watch an exciting nature film in the wraparound Omnimax theater. 57th St. and Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL; +1 773 684 1414. Fee.

Orpheum Children's Science Museum Send a secret no one can hear through "whisper dishes," excavate a dinosaur, dig through the dirt to find and identify fossils, look for precious gems. 346 N. Neil, Champaign, IL; +1 217 352 5895. Fee.

SciTech Hands-On Museum Blow a giant bubble, touch a ten-foot tornado, ride a bike across a rope, play a song on a set of colorful tubes. 18 W. Benton St., Aurora, IL; +1 630 859 3434. Fee.