Coming to South Fargo in the fall of 2028, The Fargo Moorhead Science Museum (FMSM) is one of the area’s most anticipated projects. The community project, which will be located at Urban Plains, will “reimagine what a science museum can be,” where curious minds of all ages can explore and engage in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM)-here’s everything we know so far.

The Backstory

“Like so many in our community, I have dreamed of having something like this available for my family and students (I taught geology and paleontology for 15 years),” Interim Executive Director Jessie Rock said. “In 2018, a reporter followed me to an outreach event at a local elementary school and quoted me saying, ‘FM needs a natural science museum.’ The community response to this statement was overwhelming—educators and families began asking how they could help make this a reality—and the fire was lit.”

Rock and her assembled team spent the next few years researching and developing a business plan, gathering community input, and working with museum planning professionals at Gyroscope Inc. to develop a visitor experience plan.

Fast forward to 2024, the project has gained significant momentum through community support, with detailed plans and renderings showing everything visitors can anticipate.

Things To Get Excited About

The Fargo Moorhead Science Museum plans to host blockbuster traveling exhibitions, adult evening programs, science-themed expos, festivals, and movie screenings. The museum will also offer workshops, camps, and classes, providing interactive learning experiences for all ages.

Permanent exhibits will integrate all aspects of STEMM, featuring topics that uniquely focus on our region while remaining globally relevant. Year-round rotating programming will allow visitors to have a novel experience each time they visit. Community classrooms and event spaces will be available to the public, and a museum-based mobile outreach team will provide STEMM programming and activities for the Fargo-Moorhead community and beyond.

Tons of Space for Learning
The Science Museum will feature 23,000 square feet of exhibit space, offering 5 permanent experience zones, 2 traveling and sponsored zones, and event spaces.

A Glimpse Into The 5 Main Experience Zones

1. We’re In This Together

We’re in This Together honors healthcare, medical, and research professionals whose STEMM contributions enhance our lives and community. This free-admission zone invites visitors to view local science as a means to support one another, spotlighting community caregivers. It will provide a collaborative space where medical professionals, technologists, engineers, and researchers can partner with the museum to promote public health and wellness with broad impact, showcasing the science and technology that drive our region’s global competitiveness.

In the “Adapt” area, visitors can experience adaptive sports like archery, cycling, and horseshoes, demonstrating that participation is possible for everyone, regardless of strengths.

The “Repair” space, inspired by the International Café Repair Movement, encourages the preservation of repair skills and the use of repairable products. It features an extensive toolkit library, 3D printers for fabricating parts, and opportunities for retirees and volunteers to teach repair skills to a new generation. Tinkering is encouraged, creating a hands-on environment for exploration and learning.

2. The Growing Scientist Lab

The Growing Scientists Lab is a launchpad for cultivating future scientists through hands-on experiences with real tools, data, and experts. It encourages lifelong scientific exploration and connects visitors and classrooms to scientists worldwide. Local STEMM companies will offer programming that includes application processes for tours, internships, or employment, providing aspiring scientists with the skills and confidence for their future careers.

Key features include:

Test Tubes: Large glass cylinders display ongoing experiments.

Cheeky Culture: Visitors participate in a community-sourced cheek swab activity at a digital workbench, with each sample linked to data and magnification for deeper exploration.

Color Harvest: Guests extract pigments from plants, fungi, and yeasts, creating bio paints for STEAM activities, and guests can paint when they visit.

Portal and Bench: This interactive media wall connects museum visitors with local biotech and medical sectors, global scientific institutions, and regional K-12 classrooms.

Support Lab: Visitors learn general lab skills with classes by guest scientists and the opportunity to apply for tours. Badges can be earned for new skills, fostering growth and responsibility.

STEM Workforce Development: FMSM serves as a science learning scaffold, sparking curiosity and providing practical pathways for passionate visitors to pursue STEMM careers.

3. Science + Fiction

Science + Fiction blurs the lines between fact and fiction, inviting visitors to explore their complex relationships through engaging STEM experiences. This zone provides accessible entry points for everyone—even those who might feel a museum “is not the place for me.” Here, imagination meets reality as visitors explore themes from pop culture, sci-fi, and world fairs in a hybrid design studio, collector’s den, and screening space.

Features include:

Design Studio: Visitors can assemble robots, experiment with artificial intelligence, and program a techno dinosaur.

Ag Tech Zone: Celebrating the Red River Valley’s soils, farming practices, and agricultural innovations, this area explores big questions like the future of robots in agriculture and the possibility of farming in space. The permanent ag tech theme deepens understanding of soil, seeds, and sun while feeding imaginations.

4. Into The Storm

Into the Storm features an interactive double helix slide and tornado simulator, honoring Dr. Ted Fujita. Fargo’s 1957 tornado played a role in Fujita’s research, who later developed the F-scale for measuring tornado intensity in 1971. Visitors explore dynamic weather science through a ramp with immersive storm tunnel experiences, enhanced by sound, vibration, and projections.

Key attractions include:

Weather Arcade: Offers hands-on exhibits like a wind tunnel, ground blizzard simulator, and frost-growing station where visitors magnify ice crystals.

Shut That Door: A rotating digital display behind a “front door” reveals crowd-sourced global weather scenes—from tropical storms to dust storms.

Citizen Science: Museum members’ homes and fields contribute real-time weather data to a live dashboard.

Forecasting Station: Visitors use real data to predict weather and track a shipping container from FM as it faces global weather extremes.

5. Breakthrough

Breakthrough is a series of unique environments for discovery, inspired by the Lindenwood section of the Red River. This winding passage explores water, wildlife, and community stories through ecological and geographic borders, highlighting the river’s connection to our lives.

Key features include:

Imagine: From a rooftop vantage, visitors use augmented reality to simulate local and global flooding and drought, view community flood photos, and explore the STEMM behind flood mitigation.

Boundary Games: A large digital floor and augmented reality wall offer immersive experiences for all ages, shifting scales and boundaries in real time.

I See You: This neuroscience-focused space explores brain function through bias tests, face merging, and doppelganger discovery. Visitors can even participate in ongoing research in the Living Laboratory.

Did You Know?
In addition to the five main experience zones, a sixth zone is currently in development called “Zoom In Zoom Out” and will include concepts like energy, scale and perspective, magnification, and quantum computation.

The FMSM outreach program offers free educational programming throughout the FM region, sparking curiosity in STEMM fields. Through mobile outreach and admission-free events at libraries, parks, and other public venues, FMSM targets underserved communities, providing hands-on science experiences that make scientific concepts tangible and inspire lifelong enthusiasm.

The program is led by one full-time staff member and supported by community volunteers dedicated to delivering STEMM learning opportunities at local events.

Visit fmsm.org to learn about outreach activities, volunteer opportunities, project updates, and more.