The kids will soon be out of school. One way to entertain them and possibly spark an interest in science is The Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville. One of Georgia’s premiere museums, Tellus has a Science in Motion Gallery featuring transportation and other machines and life-sized dinosaur skeletons that are sure to leave your kids open-mouthed in wonder.

Tellus will be open from midnight until 5:30 a.m. for the lunar eclipse on December 21. Guests can observe from the observatory’s 20-inch telescope or one of several other telescopes on the grounds just for the eclipse. The Tellus Café will be offering breakfast food and coffee – and the banquet halls and theaters will have streaming images from the observatory so you won’t have to miss anything.

The museum also has a 120 seat digital planetarium to help explain the solar system to children. On December 18, New Age composer Jonn Serrie will perform two Christmas-themed concerts in the planetarium, one at 7 and one at 8:30 p.m., with a cash bar and special appetizer menu available.

There are many other fascinating exhibits. One of the most popular features a large pendulum to teach about the rotation of the earth. There’s a fossil gallery in which children can uncover a fossil to take home and a panning-for-gems operation that also allows them to take home something they find.

Tellus sprang from the old Weinman Mineral Museum, opening this 120,000 square foot facility in January of 2009. There’s an extensive Mineral Gallery with dramatic geodes. Remember the meteorite that hit a house in Cartersville several years ago? That exhibit brings outer space indoors, with the damaged wood from the actual house showing the size of the hole.

The Solar Decathlon House was designed and built by Georgia Tech students as an entry in a 2007 competition between 20 universities. It is open Thursday through Saturday from 1-4, but the rest of the museum is open daily from 10-5.