Questakon

• Address: King Edward Terrace, Parkes ACT 2600, Australia;
• Website: questacon.edu.au;
• Phone: +61 2 6270 2800;
• Open: 09.00-17.00

Questakon is a place where the world of science opens its secrets and at least for a short time becomes much closer and more understandable to a person. Annually, about half a million tourists come to the Australian capital, the city ​​of Canberra , including to visit this amazing interactive museum of science and technology.

General information about Questacon

The territorial location of Questacon - the shore of Lake Burley Griffin - is very popular among tourists and locals. There is a museum in the so-called "Parliamentary Triangle". The building of Questacon in the form in which it exists in our time is a gift received by Australia in honor of the bicentennial of the country from Japan. This memorable event happened on November 23 in 1988. The museum holds over two hundred interactive exhibitions related to science and offering visitors a closer look at the incredible discoveries and achievements of the scientific community.

From past and present Questakon

Initially, Questakon was opened in 1980 in an old building belonging to the elementary school of Ainslie. The initiator of the opening of the museum was then the physicist Mike Gora, who is a professor at the Australian National University. It was Gora who acted as the founding director of the museum, which later "moved" to a building donated by Japan. The questacon is built in the form of a cylinder, with a height of 27 meters. In total, it accommodates 200 exhibitions, which are permanent. Questakon consists of seven so-called galleries, and transitions from one gallery to another become possible due to inclined spiral transitions along the perimeter of the building.

What is interesting for tourists in Questakon?

So, being in Questakon, tourists hurry to explore seven galleries located here, each of which is unique and interesting in its own way:

1. "Imagination Factory" - Imagination Factory - a gallery in which visitors can plunge into the world of games and inventions. For example, by controlling a mechanism that resembles a robot's arm, you can try to perform a variety of mechanical maneuvers.
2. "Perception Deception" - a gallery that allows its visitors to learn about how the human brain is able to perceive curvatures of reflected objects. In addition, in the same exhibition hall you can see an exposition called "Wavelength", which is a combination of light and sound phenomena, including polarized light, diffraction gratings, and holograms. This hall is replete with various exhibits. For example, visitors are allowed to try themselves in the role of musicians and play a harp that does not have strings, or on a piano without using the keys for it.
3. "Awesome Earth" is a hall in which models are collected demonstrating natural disasters, as well as an exhibition of geological topics. In addition, one can become a witness to the lightning generated by the Tesla transfarmer with a time interval of every 15 minutes. Also in this room, guests are able to feel the strength of the earthquake in three points. For this, it is enough to lower your hand into the tornado stimulator.
4. "Questakon Laboratory" - "QLab" - a place where the secrets of the human structure are revealed and visitors are invited to look at the human structure, see x-ray pictures of animals, birds, and watch a film about evolution.
5. "MiniQ" - MiniQ with an exposure for the youngest, those to whom from zero to six years. In the hall there is a playground, exhibits, each of which is allowed to touch, smell and even taste.
6. "Sports Quest" is a hall in which people are accustomed to make a real spectacle for all visitors thanks to the large number of attractions that are very popular. For example, a portion of adrenaline will be presented by a huge hill, the height of which is 6.7 meters, and a simulator of the roller-coaster "Track attack".
7. "Our Water" - "Our Water" - a gallery that "tells" about a wide variety of uses and conservation of such an important natural resource as water. For example, a variety of types of rain are shown here, and thunder is heard from time to time.

However, Questakon is interesting not only for its galleries, but also for the three theater halls, which regularly display performances played by the theater troupe of the Museum "Excited Particles". It's about entertaining performances, designed to be viewed by the whole family. In addition, there are puppet shows for young visitors.

Questacon is famous for its visiting programs with Australians. Among these programs include the program "Shell Questacon Science Circus", uniting about one hundred thousand people. Under the auspices of this program, experts of Questacon travel around the country and stop in small towns, where they organize performances in schools, hospitals and nursing homes.

Questakon works seven days a week from 10 am to 5 pm, and the adult ticket costs 16 Australian dollars and 9 Australian dollars for children.