Get Into the Game at the Kamin Science Center

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

There’s science behind Pittsburgh’s designation as The City of Champions.

The Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Science Center, formerly the Carnegie Science Center, on the North Shore has a new permanent exhibition that allows fans to get into the game.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Sports360 is a 9,500-square-foot, interactive experience divided into four zones – Prepare, Practice, Participate and GoPro. It features 25 hands-on stations inspired by football, baseball, hockey, basketball, soccer and Olympic sports.

It opens to the public on Dec. 13 with a family-friendly tailgate that’s included with general admission. Local team mascots, including the Pirate Parrot and Pierogies, Iceburgh, Steely McBeam and AMO will be available for photo ops from noon to 2 p.m. You can also strike a pose next to the Riverhounds’ new SC USL Championship Trophy.

DJ B-Renn, the official deejay for the University of Pittsburgh’s football and volleyball teams, will be spinning tunes.

As part of the exhibit, you will be able to dash, jump, weave, and race through challenges inspired by the real NFL Combine. Test your accuracy, reflexes and athletic instincts. Design a team logo. Learn CPR. Investigate the forces that send soccer balls whizzing past professional goalies. Drive a virtual Zamboni.

Even this food editor, whose favorite sport is eating, enjoyed fueling a virtual athlete with various forms of grub. (Turns out pierogies and pizza aren’t the best ways to power a long-distance runner.)

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Sports360 is the first of nine new exhibitions and experiences the 34-year-old science center is rolling out over the next two years. More than 75% of the exhibit spaces will be reimagined at the facility, which is Pittsburgh’s largest and most-visited museum. More than 500,000 guests stop by each year to enjoy five floors of wonder, along with the Rangos Giant Cinema, Buhl Planetarium, the Cold War-era submarine USS Requin, two live-demo theaters and the Miniature Railroad & Village.

Kamin Science Center is at One Allegheny Ave., North Shore. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. six days a week. It’s closed on Tuesdays.