Science Museum of Minnesota

Welcome to the Mississippi River Gallery at the Science Museum of Minnesota. This 5,000-square-foot exhibit invites you to explore the Mississippi River on its 660-mile journey through Minnesota from its headwaters at Lake Itasca to Lock and Dam #8 at the Minnesota/Iowa border. The exhibit components developed by the Mississippi RiverWeb Museum Consortium are in several locations within the Gallery.

The Dead Zone computer kiosk is in the Lake Pepin area of the Mississippi River Gallery. This area reveals how the lake and its surrounding landscape have evolved since the lake formed at the end of the last Ice Age. The Dead Zone kiosk focuses on the dramatic increases in the amounts of nutrients in the river and the resulting profound changes in the ecology both of Lake Pepin and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Digital River Basin (DRB) is in the Port of St. Paul area of the Mississippi River Gallery. This area focuses on the Gallery's beautiful panoramic view of the River as it winds through downtown St. Paul. Through state-of-the art visualization techniques, the DRB allows museum visitors to interact directly with scientific datasets describing the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities area.

The River Pilot Simulator (RPS) is in the Lock & Dam #8 area of the Mississippi River Gallery. This area of the Gallery explores commercial navigation on the River and the conversion of the River through a staircase of locks and dams from a free-flowing stream into a series of pools. The RPS allows you to experience the challenges of piloting a tow of barges along a stretch of the Mississippi River in St. Paul.