Member Events and Updates

For event reservations, please call the Membership Office at 215.448.1231, Monday-Friday from 9AM-5PM.

Visit this page often and watch your email for announcements about special Member events. Member emails contain information regarding events and exhibits, along with exclusive offers. If you are a current Member and do not receive Membership emails, please send your email address to . We won't share your email address with anyone!

Member Sundays | Night Skies in the Observatory | Science Book Club

Member Sundays
Cost: $5 per person (unless otherwise specified)
Advance Reservations are required.
Workshop Times: 11:30AM, 12:45PM and 2:00PM (unless otherwise specified)

Receive a free 4-hour parking sticker with Advance Reservations to any Member Sunday workshop!*

Come to The Franklin Institute on the following Sundays and discover the answer to fun and exciting scientific questions! From teaching basic scientific building blocks like electricity and machines, to showing wider scientific applications in robotics and ancient culture, these workshops are designed to help your child build a hands-on understanding of science.

January 17
Did you know that Benjamin Franklin was the first American to invent a musical instrument? In 1761 he invented a mechanical version of musical glasses he had seen in Europe and called it the glass armonica. To celebrate Ben's birthday, make your own musical instruments—one from each of the wind, percussion and string families! We'll also enjoy cake after playing Happy Birthday to Ben on a REAL Glass Armonica! Plus, Franklin Institute Senior Curator John Alviti will be on-hand with a "white glove" display of rarely-presented artifacts from our Frankliniana Collection!

Two-Part Electricity Series!
Explore the charged-up world of electricity in a two-part session on Attractive Science! A perfect complement to the soon-to-premiere Electricity, join lead exhibit developer Kristin Qualls for one or both of these exciting sessions of discovery into a phenomenon well-examined by Benjamin Franklin himself!

February 21
Investigate the basic principles of simple magnets and electrical charges, by making your very own floating magnet device and electroscope!

March 14
Discover the enhanced attractive powers of electricity and its ability to flow while you make your own circuit and electromagnet.

April 18
Enhance your visit to the brand new Changing Earth exhibition with a Member Sunday led by lead exhibit developer Rita Mukherjee-Hoffstadt! Did you know that Africa was once covered with glaciers? And that the Sahara Desert was once a tropical rainforest? Recreate the earth of the past and learn how the earth is always changing!

May 16
Explore the fundamentals of robotics with Rockit Robot, an award-winning intelligent robot with a touch/sound sensor that you will build yourselves during this special, 2-hour Member Sunday workshop! The Franklin Institute's Award-Winning PACTS Robotics Team will be on-hand to assist and show off some of their own self-constructed robots! Workshop available at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. $30 covers one attendee and the components to build one robot. Additional attendees $5 each.

June 6
Do you ever wonder about culture more than 2,000 years ago? Cleopatra inherited the throne of Egypt in 51 B.C.E., when she was just 18 years old. Find out about life in her time, and the customs that continued to form Egypt and the rest of the world so many years ago.

For reservations, please call 215.448.1231, Monday through Friday, 9AM - 5PM.

*Parking is first come, first served in The Franklin Institute's parking garage. Parking sticker will be given upon check-in for the event.

Night Skies in the Observatory

The Franklin Institute's Joel N. Bloom Observatory is open for evening public observing on the 2nd Thursday night of every month. On these special nights, The Franklin Institute invites the public to view celestial objects in the sky, like stars, planets, and if conditions are right, a galaxy or two, from five different telescopes.

Night Skies takes place from 6pm to 9pm (August - May) and 7pm to 10pm (June - July) and includes a Fels Planetarium show and a lecture or presentation (appropriate for all ages) on an astronomical or space science topic. The Observatory is staffed with knowledgeable observers and free star maps are provided.

The 2010 Schedule is AVAILABLE HERE.

Admission is $5, Members are FREE!
Please note that some programs require pre-registration.

To learn more about the Joel N. Bloom Observatory click here.

About Night Skies in the Observatory:
Hosted by Chief Astronomer at The Franklin Institute, Derrick Pitts, the Joel N. Bloom Observatory is open late to the public and offers 5 different telescopes for you to view celestial objects in the sky, including stars, planets, nebulae, and if conditions are right, a galaxy or two. The evening includes a Fels Planetarium show and a lecture or presentation (appropriate for all ages) on an astronomical or space science topic. The Observatory is staffed with knowledgeable observers and free star maps are provided. Meet some BIG STARS on the second Thursday of each month (6-9pm all months expect June & July when the event is held 7-10pm), as we feature expanded "Night Skies" observation programming during the run of the Galileo exhibition.