akron fossils & science center

If you like your science non-scientific, this is the place for you. They feature creationism and intelligent design as an alternative to science, as generally accepted and taught in schools.

If you want the kids taught creationism, just take them to Sunday school. At least they are honest about the ulterior motove there. This place has nothing to do with science; False advertising.

This is not a science center- it is an anti-science center. I was so embarrassed to find out this was in our community. You hear about the giant creationist museum in Kentucky, but right here in Copley? Utterly mortifying.

I am outraged at the manipulative way in which I was sucked in to paying for admission to a place that has no scientific basis. This is a religious center promoting a religious belief in the creation of the earth. There is no interest here in scientific thinking here. I wish I had checked Trip Advisor before wasting my money.

I can't believe they call this place a science center. As a science lover I felt so sad after leaving this place. A quick Google search on items (like Inca burial stones) or evidence for "how old is the Grand Canyon" will show that these are religious people who are trying to twist things around to make them fit with the Bible.They also give the impression that you need to pick God or evolution. That is not true as there are a great many people who worship God and understand evolution. We went on a free day, I was so glad that I didn't give them a cent!

Other reviewers have adequately covered the issues with the misleading name and creationist propaganda. I dropped my daughter off for a birthday party, which we arrived early for. The friendly and abundant staff invited us to play outside until the rest of our party arrived. Even though it was summer, and the staff indoors were numerous, it was clear that no one ever walks the grounds to pick up trash and make sure things are safe and tidy. The play areas are a mishmash of fun and frighteningly unsafe, with broken down pieces, useless fencing and antiquated playground equipment. The clincher was finding a weeks- or months-old plate of lunch molding away right on one of the play structures (see attached photo, if you dare). Gross! My daughter appeared to have a good time at the party, and even did the zipline twice, but I would caution anyone from coming to this attraction. It is run down, carelessly maintained and poorly managed.

This place reminds me of a cult. They are based in creationism-which I did not know before I went, otherwise I would have talked my in-laws out of going. We were going to take my kids because we had seen that they were "hands on" and had a zip line-so some place for the kids to run around, see dinosaurs and fossils and have a good time. WRONG WRONG WRONG! It started off with a "lecture" where the kids got to touch some actual fossils and some fossil replicas. It was boring, she couldn't even pronounce half of the dinosaurs' names correctly. The last 30 minutes of the "tour" was trying to convince us that dinosaurs and humans coexisted. This place is based off theory. If you want an actual science, hands-on type place for kids, you should go else where. Don't waste your time or money.

The name of this "science center" is very misleading, it strictly for creationists. We are not creationists ourselves, but were curious about the creation viewpoint. When we arrived we were told by a friendly staff member that we were not allowed to go through any of the exhibits by ourselves because, "they would be too hard for you to understand." Since it was going to be just our family of adults/teens in the tour group we asked if we could skip some of the more childish aspects (touching fossils) of the tour to speed things up. Again, we were told it would be too confusing to us to skip any parts. While the young staff was affable enough the whole idea that we were not allowed to look at exhibits on our own was so offensive and weird we declined the tour, even though we had already prepaid with an internet coupon. Since we had prepaid we decided to go play mini golf. Honestly, it was the most run down, filthy course I've ever seen. The "greens" were covered warped pieces of wood, balls would roll right back to the golfer. The play areas did not look safe at all and the whole area was covered in huge weeds. It looked like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

If you are looking for a museum, keep looking. This is a center for proselytizing to adults and indoctrinating children in the crazy world which is fundamentalism. If you believe that the world is only 6000 years old, and that dinosaurs existed with human beings, then this place is for you. (Or, you could just stay home and pop in a DVD of "The Flintstones". It would be both more entertaining, and more educational.)

The Akron Fossil and Science center was definitely a different kind of place. We visited on a Friday afternoon in late summer and came right when a large group of children was leaving so we were the only ones there for awhile. The first part of the tour where you get to hold the different fossils was interesting enough and our guide was informative. It got a little weird when she took us to the second area and got about a fourth of the way done with her presentation when she stopped because a family came in behind us and was told to join the tour. She proceeded to leave us and take them back to the first room to start their tour and just left us standing there. We then came out front where we paid and someone asked us what happened. That person then took us outside and we did the zip line which was short but neat. When we came back in from that, another person took us through the last part of the presentation and then we left. This person was much more informative than the girl we had at first and we talked with him for awhile. We never did see the girl that left us standing in the second part again. Oh well, it was fun enough and for the admission price it’s worth a visit, especially for school aged children. I’d say just don’t keep your expectations super high; if you’re going with the idea that it’s some huge building in pristine condition that will take you hours to go through you might be disappointed. The zip line is an added bonus of fun and might make up for it if you don’t like the museum.

If you have school-aged children, they are sure to enjoy this modestly priced ($5/person), very unusual science center. Starting with a "hands-on" fossils teaching/Q&A session led by a "tour guide" the kids are sure to enjoy this brief but illuminating exhibit. Don't let the modest exterior of the center's facility fool you, the staff and exhibits inside will exceed your expectations. Besides, there is then an outdoor playground with some customary and not so customary stuff (including a 200' Zip-Line ride, included in admission price) that kids of all ages will enjoy. Younger kids will also find the 'indoor playground' with an artificial archeological dig (sandbox) and craft-table to be fun. Although this non-profit organization clearly sponsors a creation-science viewpoint (versus strict Darwinian evolutionary theory), they are not heavy-handed in their delivery of that message, explicitly inviting anyone uninterested in that portion of the guided tour to leave before the final 5 minutes spent thereon. Prior to that, they stick with just science, albeit emphasizing scientific facts/theory that tend to support the creationist view.

My daughters loved holding some fossils during the group presentation. We learned more about dinosaurs. I appreciate the scientific information presented. The outside fenced play area is a great place for kids to explore. We love the giant slide and the merry-go-round. Little ones love the kids-size seated "zip line", and I enjoyed the adult zip line. I love the volunteer Cindy Julius - she is so good with kids and adults. Water bottles and drinks for sale. We definitely will be back.

I took my 2 daughters there because we had a coupon. I am Christian, but the beliefs of this place are extreme!!!! I wanted to plug my children's ears when they told my girls that dinosaurs were on Noah's ark!!! What!!??! The play area outside was ok.

I went a while ago, and haven't had the time to write a review. This is an amazing museum! I loved the bible area. Most museums never focus on the biblical history. The outside area was amazing as well! The zip line was by far the best part of the outside area. All in all, I would definitely go here again!

The words 'fossil' and 'science' do not belong in the center's title as there are very little fossils and absolutely NO science. If you believe the earth is 6,000 yrs old (num obtained by adding up the ages of all people in the bible, lol) and humans walked along side dinosaurs than this is your place. Also, the facility itself is the size of the ave home with maybe 5 fossils and the 1 acre of grounds is poorly maintained, for example; there is a sliding board approximately 20 ft high that looks to be built by a child, extremely unsafe and in poor condition. Do not waste $3 and valuable time!