Guided Group Tours

Groups of 10 or more people will take a guided visit The Bakken Museum´s galleries including fun hands-on exhibits and historical displays on electricity and magnetism. They will hear fascinating stories about the history of electricity and medicine. Everyone will learn what part they play in science by making connections between the artifacts, experiments, scientists and inventors highlighted throughout the museum.

Visitors who take a guided tour may:

• Learn about Earl Bakken, inventor of the first battery-powered transistorized cardiac pacemaker, cofounder of Medtronic and founder of The Bakken Museum
• Play the theremin, the first electronic musical instrument, and make a 60,000-volt spark with the Wimshurst generator.
• See a Black Ghost Knife fish, an Elephant Nose fish and more, and hear the natural electricity generated by fish in The Bakken Aquarium.
• Experiment with magnets and discover the relationship between electricity and magnetism.
• See, hear and feel the natural electricity that powers the human heart.
• See how everyday life has been shaped by electrification since one of the nation´s first hydroelectric plants began operations 125 years ago on the Mississippi River.
• Enjoy a 12-minute multimedia show that brings Frankenstein´s character to life and learn how Mary Shelley´s creature inspired Earl Bakken to combine electricity and medicine.
  
• Experience electrifying fun just like Ben Franklin did in The Bakken´s Electricity Party Room.
• Discover how lives are saved using electricity to jumpstart the heart.
• See how electricity was promoted in the late 19th century through images used in advertising to give it a friendly and familiar human form.
• See herbs, shrubs and trees that are used as medicine in the Florence Bakken Medicinal Garden.

For more information about Guided Group Tours or to schedule a tour, contact Visitor Service at 612-926-3878.