If you’re a parent in Fargo-Moorhead, you know the feeling: it’s Saturday, the kids are ready to go, and you’re trying to come up with something that feels fun and worth leaving the house for, especially in winter.
I now have an 11-year-old and a 14-year-old, and my husband and I have been chasing curiosity for years.
Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum
I serve as the Executive Director of the Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum. This project started from the same place many family decisions start: wanting something better for our kids right here at home.
Where it Started
My inspiration for the Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum comes from three places: my own childhood, my work as an educator, and my experience as a parent.
I was in sixth grade when I visited my first science museum, and I still remember it clearly. There was an exhibit where you could ride a stationary bike to generate electricity. I pedaled hard and watched a light bulb turn on. Nearby was another challenge: a cathode ray tube television. I had to pedal much harder to power it, and that contrast stuck with me.
Then came the moment that changed everything. I learned that recycling a single aluminum can could save enough energy to power that television for hours. I was stunned, both by the scale of the energy savings and by the realization that aluminum cans come from rocks.
Suddenly geology, energy, recycling, and everyday life were connected.
From Classroom to Community
In my 15 years as an educator, I’ve seen how powerful learning can be when it’s hands-on and relatable. In my classes, exploration was encouraged and I tried to connect science to everyday life. But I kept wishing we had a place I could take students. I longed for a museum where they could move, touch, test, and follow questions beyond a single class period.
Alongside teaching geology and paleontology at North Dakota State University, I curated scientific collections and coordinated outreach. I brought earth science into the community through pop-up museums and hands-on programs at schools, libraries, and parks.
At those events, parents often asked me “Why don’t we have a science museum here?” I began to wonder myself. And that’s when the community began to respond with a vision of what a science museum in Fargo could look like.
The Vision
At its core, the Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum will be a hands-on museum designed for all ages. A place where families, friends, and generations can explore together. It’s built for movement, discovery, and shared experience, not just for kids and not just for watching from the sidelines.
We’re building it to be a destination science museum. The kind of place you can spend an entire day, whether you’re coming from across town or visiting from out of state. We also want Fargo-Moorhead to be on par with other major cities, with a premiere science museum our region can be proud of.
The Layout
The museum will be organized into exhibit zones, along with spaces like the Growing Scientists Lab where kids, teens, and families can go deeper through hands-on activities and programs. Beyond the exhibits, we’ll also have community classrooms for camps, classes and workshops, event spaces, and traveling exhibitions from across the globe.
We’ve been especially mindful of real family rhythms. Early mornings, nap schedules, busy toddlers, and kids who are ready to go long before noon. That’s why our largest exhibition space, Breakthrough, will open early in the day alongside a coffee shop. It focuses on water, land, and people, with interactive stream tables for little hands and hands-on tinkering at the CuriosiTree.
A Museum for All Ages
And what’s special is that you can grow up with a science museum. You come back again and again. As a toddler, you’re splashing, stacking, and experimenting. As a grade-schooler, you’re testing ideas and building new skills. As a teenager, you’re connecting ideas to the real world and starting to see career paths opening. As an adult or grandparent, you’re still wondering and discovering. Very few places grow with families like that.
This isn’t only a place for children. I look forward to visiting on date nights or with friends, wandering through exhibits and learning something new together. Science museums are powerful when generations learn side by side.
Why a Science Museum Matters Now
Now that I have a tween and a teen, I know how limited the options can feel. We need more places where multigenerational families can go together and everyone feels included. That’s what makes a science museum special. It’s designed for all ages to explore side by side and return to again and again.
In a place like ours, especially in the winter, a science museum is more than a building. It’s a warm, welcoming space where families can gather, explore, and spend time together.
For me, this work is personal. I’m helping build the museum I wanted as a kid, the resource I wanted as an educator, and the place I want as a parent. I can’t wait to walk through its doors someday with Oscar, Hazel, and Mike, knowing this place will be part of their story, and part of many others, for generations to come.
How You Can Help
Want to help make the FMSM come to life? The Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum is participating in Giving Hearst Day! Your donation can help make this incredible vision come true, and bring a science museum in Fargo to life.
Want to Learn More?
Find out more about the proposed location of the Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum, keep up to date with progress, and see their community outreach efforts at fmsm.org. You can also see upcoming outreach events on their Facebook page.
Jessie Rock is the founder and Executive Director of the Fargo–Moorhead Science Museum, a community-led effort to design and build a hands-on destination science museum for all ages. A lifelong science educator and advocate, she believes science should be accessible to everyone and that museums should reflect diverse voices and lived experiences.
Jessie works with families, educators, STEMM partners, and museum professionals to shape a shared vision through community input, place-based learning, and inclusive design.
She previously spent nearly 14 years teaching hands-on geoscience at North Dakota State University and leading outreach across the region. She’s driven by curiosity and a belief that science is something we explore together as a community, with multigenerational audiences learning side by side.
