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Ocean Discovery Centerworking name · Planning phase, home

Proposed Experiences

Ideas to test with visitors, teachers and scientists.

Everything here is in the planning phase: exhibit ideas, a reference plan for a temporary exhibit, and a planned program for a small center. Each idea carries the rule that keeps it honest.

Exhibit ideas

What visitors could do.

Each idea shows the formats that include it: A = temporary exhibit, B = discovery center.

  • Ocean Exploration Gallery

    Formats A and B

    A walk from the sunlit surface to the trenches, with light, sound and scale changing as the depth increases.

    Kept honest: Depths, pressures and zone names follow NOAA. Animals shown are identified from their source footage, never invented.

  • Seafloor Data Lab

    Formats A and B

    Interactive 2D and 3D seafloor views that show how each depth is known: measured by sonar, predicted from satellites, filled in by computer, or seen by a camera.

    Kept honest: Real public data with attribution (for example GEBCO, “not for navigation”). Maps and data from Aethon, the data and mapping partner, would carry Aethon's credit. On this website, Aethon's map viewer is linked, never copied or embedded.

  • Deep-Sea Theater

    Formats A and B

    Short films of real expeditions, with live talks by scientists and engineers when possible.

    Kept honest: Only footage that is public domain (such as NOAA Ocean Exploration) or licensed in writing. No reconstructed “discoveries”.

  • ROV and Robotics Lab

    Formats A and B

    Build and test small underwater robots, try a pilot simulator, and see how robots work at sea: remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), driven from a ship through a cable, and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which swim on their own. A discovery center would add a freshwater test tank; a temporary exhibit would have one only if the host allows water.

    Kept honest: Education-grade robots, always supervised. No claim that visitors are exploring the deep sea.

  • Ocean Chemistry, Geology and Habitats

    Format B

    Why seawater is salty, how plates build ridges and trenches, how habitats from kelp forests to vents work, and why pH is changing.

    Kept honest: Each statement links to its source, with the source's date where it has one; ranges are shown where the science gives ranges.

  • Citizen Science and Monitoring

    Formats A and B

    Join stream checks, species surveys and data projects with the watershed groups that already run them.

    Kept honest: Any watershed group's programs would stay theirs and be credited; the center would connect people rather than duplicate work. Nothing alive is collected or brought back for display.

  • River to Ocean

    Formats A and B

    Follow water from Bethlehem down the Lehigh, into the Delaware at Easton, through the estuary and out to the Atlantic.

    Kept honest: Distances and basin figures come from PA DCNR, USGS and the Delaware River Basin Commission.

  • Conservation Starts Upstream

    Formats A and B

    How water use, stormwater and litter in the Lehigh watershed reach the Atlantic, and what families can do about them. It could share the River to Ocean space.

    Kept honest: Figures only from the Delaware River Basin Commission, PA DEP or watershed groups, each with its source; actions credited to the groups that run them.

  • Little Explorers

    Formats A and B

    A hands-on space for younger children: sorting, building, water-free play and story time.

    Kept honest: To be designed with early-years educators, with quiet hours and sensory-friendly sessions planned from the start.

  • Ocean Worlds

    Formats A and B

    Europa, Enceladus, Ganymede and Titan: what the evidence says about water beyond Earth, the spacecraft now traveling to Jupiter's moons, and the Dragonfly rotorcraft being built for Titan.

    Kept honest: Careful wording: evidence suggests subsurface oceans; no life has been detected. Titan's ocean is debated.

  • Rocks and Exploration Objects

    Format B

    Real samples and tools that tell exploration stories, from seafloor rocks to sonar parts.

    Kept honest: Only lawfully held material with documented provenance; loans and gifts recorded in writing.

  • Small Library, Classes and Talks

    Format B

    A reading corner, evening talks, teacher workshops and school classes.

    Kept honest: Programs are free or low-cost where possible; volunteers are credited and never replace paid roles.

  • Food and Water Hub, Restrooms, Quiet Spaces

    Format B

    Free water refill, a small affordable café and a food and water hub with shared fridges and freezers, so good food is saved, not wasted. Modern, accessible restrooms with all-gender and family rooms, and quiet rooms for people of all ages.

    Kept honest: A named food-safety lead runs the hub. No bottled water, no single-use giveaways; quiet room available without asking. No store or food partner is named until it agrees in writing.

  • Ocean Play Area (outdoors)

    Format B

    A planned ocean-themed play area beside the center, such as a whale or reef climbing structure, free for everyone. Before it is built, ocean play days with portable pieces would run in an existing outdoor space.

    Kept honest: Only on land whose owner agrees in writing. Play days would use portable pieces only, set up and removed the same day and checked by a qualified person before children use them. The permanent play area would be built to public-playground safety standards (the CPSC Public Playground Safety Handbook and ASTM F1487), with accessible play under the ADA, and checked by a certified playground safety inspector before first use and regularly after.

Format A · Temporary exhibit

A 2,000 sq ft reference plan.

Designed to fit an existing venue without structural changes, and without water unless the host allows a small test tank. Select a zone to see what happens there.

Reference plan · Planning phase · Venue not chosen50 × 40 ft · 2,000 sq ft
Reference plan of a 2,000 square foot temporary exhibit; zone 1, Welcome and status wall, is selectedA 50 by 40 foot room divided into 8 numbered zones: 1, Welcome and status wall; 2, How deep?; 3, Little Explorers; 4, Quiet corner; 5, How do we know the depth?; 6, Deep-sea video nook; 7, ROV corner; 8, River to ocean. A dotted accessible route runs from the entrance in the bottom wall through every zone except the quiet corner. A bar shows 10 feet.1122334455667788EntranceEntrance10 ft10 ft
Numbers match the zone list. Dotted line: accessible route, at least 60 in. wide with 60 in. turning circles. Open plan: each zone's area includes its share of aisle. Scales to 1,000 or 3,000 sq ft.

Welcome and status wall

What this is, what it is not, and how to get involved. The project's status is the first thing visitors read.

Smaller or larger, to fit the host's room

About 1,000 sq ft
The status wall, the depth strip, the seafloor table, the video nook and a kids' table.
About 2,000 sq ft (reference)
All 8 zones in the plan above.
About 3,000 sq ft
Adds an Ocean Worlds alcove, a 30-seat talk space and, only if the host allows water, a small test tank.

Format B · Discovery center

A planned program, in three sizes.

Net areas for each space, the gross building they imply, and its footprint on one story or two. Planning sizes for discussion only, never drawn on a real site.

Planned program · Planning phase · Not a design
  • Welcome, free water, lockers, strollers, Welcome and comfort700
  • Ocean Exploration Gallery, Explore2,000
  • Seafloor Data Lab, Explore700
  • Rocks and exploration objects, Explore400
  • Ocean Worlds alcove, Explore300
  • River-to-Ocean and citizen-science lab, Learn and make700
  • Deep-Sea Theater, Explore1,100
  • ROV and Robotics Lab with test tank, Learn and make1,200
  • Little Explorers, Learn and make800
  • Classroom / workshop, Learn and make900
  • Small library and reading corner, Learn and make300
  • Quiet / sensory room, Welcome and comfort200
  • Affordable café and seating, Welcome and comfort450
  • Reusable-goods shop, Welcome and comfort200
  • Staff and volunteers, Behind the scenes450
  • Exhibit workshop, storage, loading, Behind the scenes600
Net program
≈ 11,000 sq ft
Gross building
≈ 14,300 sq ft

Gross = net × 1.3 (planning assumption for walls, corridors, restrooms and plant).

Footprint

One story of about 130 × 110 ft, or two stories of about 90 × 80 ft each.

Planning sizes only, not drawn on any site.

  • Clear heights: gallery and theater 18–22 ft; ROV lab 16 ft; classrooms 11–12 ft.
  • Test tank: about 16 × 10 ft, 5 ft deep, freshwater, about 6,000 gallons (about 50,000 lb), so it sits on a ground slab.
  • Reuse first: an existing building is preferred to new construction if an owner offers one.

Illustrations

Imagine the rooms.

Stylized drawings to start a conversation. They are not designs, and screens show abstract shapes rather than real or invented data.

Illustration · Planning phase
Illustration of the immersive Ocean Exploration Gallery, an idea rather than a designA dark room wrapped in projected ocean light that fades from bright blue at the top to black at the bottom, with soft light rays, drifting particles, a few soft glows and a dark ridge on the curved wall. A column of five small glowing markers on the left wall stands for the depth zones, and glowing contour rings cover the floor. A person sits on a rounded bench, seen from the side, thighs on the seat and feet on the floor; an adult holds a child's hand; another adult points up at the light; a wheelchair user and a companion watch from the right; a small group stands further back.
Ocean Exploration Gallery: projected light deepens from blue to black as visitors move through the depth zones, each marked on the wall from the sunlit surface down (0, 200, 1,000, 4,000 and 6,000 m, NOAA's zone depths); glowing contours on the floor; benches and step-free routes throughout. Source: NOAA, Layers of the Ocean (undated)
Illustration · Planning phase
Illustration of the ROV and Robotics Lab, an idea rather than a designA bright workshop under a high, plain ceiling. In the middle, a glass-sided freshwater test tank holds a small underwater robot with a yellow float, its camera light shining through the water; a yellow tether runs from the robot to a pilot desk on the left, where an adult's hand is on the joystick beside a screen and a child points at the tank. A wide screen on the back wall shows soft underwater shapes. A child watches the robot through the glass. On the right, a wheelchair user sits at a low build bench with their knees under the top and a hand on a small robot; an adult standing on the far side, the bench at his hips, helps; shelves on the wall hold coloured storage bins.
ROV and Robotics Lab, in a discovery center: a glass-sided freshwater test tank, a pilot station with a tether, build benches at accessible heights, and storage.

Deep-Sea Theater

Described here rather than drawn.

  • A flat floor, with wheelchair spaces on every row.
  • About 70 seats at the reference size.
  • Short films of real expeditions, and live talks by scientists and engineers when possible.
  • Only footage that is public domain or licensed in writing.
Illustration · Planning phase

  • Classroom / workshop

    ≈ 900 sq ft

    School classes, teacher workshops and evening talks. A folding wall (the dashed line) splits it into two rooms, and a sink counter allows messy making.

  • Small library and reading corner

    ≈ 300 sq ft

    Shelves, soft seats and a low table on a rug, for reading alone or together.

  • Little Explorers

    ≈ 800 sq ft

    For younger children: a story-time rug with cushions, low tables for sorting and building, cubbies and a soft play mat. Water-free play.

  • Quiet / sensory room

    ≈ 200 sq ft

    Low light, soft seats and no audio. Open to anyone who needs a break, without asking.

Learning areas, in plan, at one shared scale: each grid square is 5 × 5 ft, and each area is the reference size of the planned program. Door arcs show the swing; dashed circles show 5 ft (60 in.) wheelchair turning space. Room shapes and furniture are illustrative, not a design.

The real thing

How exploration actually works.

The ROV room would connect visitors to how teams at sea work: robots on deck, pilots and scientists in the control room.

Youth robotics is already active here: the FIRST Mid-Atlantic District Championship was held at Lehigh's Stabler Arena in April 2026.Source: FIRST, FMA District Championship Event Packet 2026 (11 April 2026) Robots for learning come in many sizes and prices. SeaPerch build-it-yourself underwater robot kits are listed at about $175–179 each; a shared tool kit is sold separately.Source: RoboNation, SeaPerch kits (undated) The BlueROV2, a low-cost professional underwater robot that researchers also use, is listed from $4,900 for the base package before options; US orders also carry a tariff surcharge.Source: Blue Robotics 1, BlueROV2 (undated)Source: Blue Robotics 2, Tariff surcharge (undated)

Two remotely operated vehicles secured on a ship's deck with a coastline behind them
ROVs Deep Discoverer and Seirios. Secured on the deck of NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer in the Gulf of Alaska, 2022. They work as a two-body system. Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration.
Two engineers in blue hard hats working on a large white remotely operated vehicle on a ship's deck
ROV engineers at work on deck. Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration.
A darkened shipboard control room, a wall of monitors showing live seafloor video, sonar and navigation data, with the team watching from two rows of consoles
The control room, mid-dive. NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, 2026 ROV Shakedown. Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration.
A remotely operated vehicle lighting a hand-painted mural inside a sunken aircraft carrier
A mural on the USS Yorktown. Imaged by ROV Deep Discoverer, Papahānaumokuākea, 2025. Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration.