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With a bird's eye view, Roper Mountain Science Center keeps a close watch on the skies over Greenville. Owned and operated by the School District of Greenville County, the Science Center's primary purpose is to provide high quality enhancement to the school district's classroom curriculum. Through its numerous hands-on and attention-grabbing science programs available to school-age children, the Science Center has earned a reputation throughout the state of providing students with dynamic, entertaining and thought-provoking science programs that, no doubt, are leading many of today's students into future careers in science.One of the most highly visible and highly visited buildings on the Science Center's 62-acre campus is the Charles Daniel Observatory, home of the eighth largest refractor telescope in the country. This 23-inch telescope has quite a history; built in 1882 for Princeton University's Halsted Observatory, the telescope was completely rebuilt during the years that it was owned by the US Naval Observatory and was offered to the School District of Greenville County in 1978. The telescope is part of the show every Friday night, when the Science Center hosts its "Starry Nights" program for the public. In conjunction with programs offered at the T. C. Hooper Planetarium, guests have the opportunity to view the beauty of the night sky. The program runs throughout the year, giving people the opportunity to enjoy the planets and stars in their many positions in the sky. The T. C. Hooper Planetarium-Sciencesphere features a huge projection/multi-image video system and an incredible audio set-up. Their Digistar system can recreate the night sky from a particular location at any time of year. It can also simulate space flight and create many other dazzling visual effects, taking visitors on voyages far away from the face of planet Earth. The Planetarium is available to both student groups and public use (via the Friday night "Starry Nights" program).
A nice balance to the high-tech offerings at the Science Center is the Living History Farm, where authentic log cabins and outbuildings have been reconstructed, true to the period when the Upstate was first settled. The Living History Farm even includes a blacksmith shop and a one-room schoolhouse, helping today's children understand the humble beginnings of their ancestors in Upstate South Carolina. Volunteers in period costumes work the farm and explain their activities to visitors to the Farm. In the schoolhouse, children get a close look at what school was like back in the early 1800s as they listen to a "school marm" tell them about a life of self-sufficiency and sacrifice when settlers made and dyed their own yarn and fabrics, made candles, hunted for and grew their own food and cared for their own farm animals. The Science Center's Nature Trail, over one mile in length, is available for use all year long, any time the entrance gates are open. The Nature Trail winds its way through a mountainside of hardwoods and pines, open fields and the Center's butterfly garden and ponds. Several picnic areas are available along the trail and are a popular attraction during warm weather months. Markers identifying many of the trees, shrubs and native plants are located throughout the trail; trail maps are available at the main entrance lobby in the Symmes Hall of Science and provide additional information about the local vegetation. The Roper Mountain Science Center is located off I-385 at Exit 37 (Roper Mountain Road); cross over the Interstate bridge and the entrance is the second road on the right. For additional information, please call the Science Center at 864-281-1188 or visit their web site at www.ropermountain.org. (Photo and map provided by Roper Mountain Science Center.)
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The Hall of Natural Science and Technology is an incredible assembly of the life sciences, offering a first hand look at prehistoric South Carolina, a tropical rain forest and oceanic sea creatures, among others. Also available at this popular stop is a state-of-the-art computer lab as well as a life science lab.