Science

Aviation Center and Boeing Tour Take off towards the open cockpit of a Boeing 727; run down the runway toward the flight simulator; design and test your own jet; tour the Boeing factory where planes are assembled. 8415 Paine Field Blvd., Mukilteo, WA; 800 464 1476. Fee.

Microsoft Visitor Center Discover how Bill Gates became a billionaire; sample new technologies like X Box 360s and Zunes in Gamers' Paradise; find a friend with face recognition computing; follow a visual timeline of Microsoft's history. 4420 148th Ave., NE, Bldg. 127, Redmond, WA; +1 425 703 6214.

Museum of Flight Get airborne with hands-on activities in the Flight Zone; sit in a cockpit and experiment with hot-air balloon simulators; wander the Personal Courage Wing to see WWI and WWII aircraft; race over to the restored Red Barn, Boeing's first manufacturing facility; look for the Blackbird spy plane. 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, WA; +1 206 764 5720. Fee.

Pacific Science Center Touch tidepool creatures from the Puget Sound; freeze your shadow; interact with insects; stargaze in the planetarium; catch a flick in one of two IMAX Theaters; bike 15 feet off the ground on a one-inch wide rail; see scale-model dinosaurs or a laser light show. 200 Second Ave. N., Seattle, WA; +1 206 443 2001. Fee.

Palouse Discovery Science Center Look to the stars in the Planetarium and experiment in the Little Learners' Lab; explore the Great Mammoth Excavation; see the Wild!life and Light, Color, and Vision exhibits. 950 NE Nelson Ct., Pullman, WA; +1 509 332 6869. Fee.

Stonerose Interpretive Center Roll up your sleeves and start digging at this Eocene fossil site. View the famous 50-million-year-old fossil of a variety of cocoa tree; take a fossil identification class. 15-1 N. Kean St., Republic, WA; +1 509 775 2295. Fee.