You won’t collect any CME credits but you can refresh your knowledge of cardiovascular anatomy with a walk through the iconic Giant Heart at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute.

The heart, built in 1954 and renovated in 2004, is scaled to fit in the chest of a 220-foot-tall human, in case you know of one needing a transplant. It is surrounded by cardiologically themed exhibits including a video recreation of open-heart surgery and the Bloodmobile Video Theater, showing how blood transports chemical messages, nutrients, and oxygen through the body.

Famous as it is, the heart is by no means the only jaw-dropping attraction at the Franklin Institute, which was a science museum long before science museums were cool—and ubiquitous. The institute was founded in 1824 to honor Benjamin Franklin and advance the usefulness of his inventions. The present building and its museum opened in 1934.

Future (or current) scientists of any age can get a hands-on experience at the Interactive Science Carts located around the institute. At one, visitors can make a sheet of paper, using pulp made from recycled office paper. At another, they can explore properties of light by playing with lasers, mirrors, prisms, and other objects. Ben’s Curiosity Show offers the chance to learn about Franklin’s inventions and ideas.

On the roof, the Joel N. Bloom Observatory treats visitors to day- and nighttime viewing with a 10-inch Zeiss refractor telescope and four computerized eight-inch Celestron telescopes.

Usually visible are most planets and brighter stars, several star clusters and nebulae, a few galaxies, and the sun. The observatory is one of the few in the country that provides optically safe, real-time direct observation of solar activity like flares and prominences.

For a wider choice of sky views, take in a show at the institute’s Fels Planetarium, the country’s second oldest planetarium. It was built in 1933, and its 2002 renovations gave it a premium aluminum seamless dome 60 feet in diameter and four stories tall.

Closer to planet Earth, the Franklin Air Show displays the institute’s 1911 Wright Model B Flyer, restored in 2003 at Aeroplane Works in Dayton, Ohio.

If an airplane made of wood and canvas is too tame, visitors can also pilot a T-33 jet flight simulator on which thousands of real pilots have trained. (There is an additional $5 charge for the simulator—and riders must be at least 50 inches tall.)

The Franklin Institute’s namesake is well represented on the premises. The Benjamin Franklin National Memorial is located in the rotunda and features a 20-foot-high, 30-ton marble statue of old Ben himself.

The statue was unveiled in 1938 and named the official national memorial to Franklin in 1972. It may be the only national memorial in private hands. The memorial is open to the public without charge during all times when the institute is open.

Surrounding audiovisual programming introduces Franklin as a curious tinkerer—and demonstrates his impact on the world as an international citizen, statesman, civic leader, and scientist.

The nearby rotating display of Frankliniana might include Franklin’s ceremonial sword used in the court of King Louis XVI of France or the odometer that Franklin used to measure the postal routes in Philadelphia.

The institute’s electricity exhibition highlights one of Franklin’s lightning rods, his electricity tube, a Franklin Electrostatic Generator, and Franklin’s 1751 publication Observations and Experiments on Electricity.

The museum is continuously updating its offerings. Construction will start in April on a neuroscience wing that will open in 2014. Combined with the Giant Heart, the addition will get the museum a step closer to the ideals of a certain 1939 movie about a Kansas farm girl and her traveling companions.

“We have a heart, we’re getting a brain, we just need courage,” cracked Kat Stein, the institute media relations director.

The Franklin Institute Science Museum is located at the intersection of 20th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Information is available by phone at (215) 448-1200 and online at www2.fi.edu.