BUSAN — Weekend science classes where children can run experiments on principles from their textbooks and work with robotic arms and coding to explore artificial intelligence are opening in Busan.
The Busan National Science Museum said on the 17th that it will run its "2026 Fall Semester (2) Education Program" over six weekends from Nov. 7 to Dec. 13, open to children from preschool age through middle school.
The semester features 76 programs across six fields: preschool science, creative inquiry, experimental inquiry, artificial intelligence, creative maker and thematic inquiry. The courses comprise 240 sessions in total, with room for up to 3,384 participants. The museum is a regional hub for science education, with about 20,000 of its roughly 100,000 annual students enrolled in individual courses.
The new programs focus on pairing scientific principles with the social meaning of technology. "Thinking Science," offered in the creative inquiry track, examines Tesla's alternating current and Pasteur's pasteurization, and is designed to prompt students to consider technology ethics and the responsibility of scientists through Nobel's inventions.
The experimental inquiry track, which has drawn strong demand each session for its links to school curricula, will run the fourth installment of "Finishing Science Experiments From the Textbook." Students will experiment with topics tied to school coursework, including electricity and magnetism, thermal equilibrium and the sun's altitude, to confirm the underlying principles. In "AI Robotics," part of the artificial intelligence track, participants will learn how multi-joint robotic arms work and try hand-gesture recognition and coding a rock-paper-scissors game.
The creative maker track has also added a range of new courses combining making, coding and engineering design. New offerings include "Coding Expedition: Music" for first and second graders, "A Terrarium of My Season" and "Maker Lab" for third and fourth graders, and "3D Engineering (Custom Keycap Design)" for fourth graders and above, providing tailored hands-on practice.
The thematic inquiry track, which covers science and the environment in everyday life, will offer "Sci-Port Lab" and "Eco Science," addressing scientific principles in areas such as architecture and the environment along with ecological issues. The preschool science track pairs three-week courses with one-day programs, giving parents a wider range of choices.
Classes will be held at the education center on the third floor of the Busan National Science Museum. Students who attend at least 80% of a six-week course will receive a certificate of completion issued in the name of the museum's director.
Applications open at 2 p.m. on the 21st on the museum's website, with registration staggered by grade level. Preschool courses open at 2 p.m., first and second grade at 3 p.m., and third grade and above at 4 p.m.
Lee Jin-hee, a researcher at the museum's education research office, said, "We hope children and teenagers will experience science firsthand and feel the joy of inquiry through education suited to their own areas of interest."