North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
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The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences or NCMNS is located in Raleigh, NC.
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[edit] Exhibits
[edit] North Carolina focused exhibits
- "North Carolina's Natural Treasures", 2000 year old trees, oldest in the US east of the Rocky Mountains
- "Prehistoric North Carolina", which chronicles prehistoric life in the state and throughout the southeastern United States
- Acrocanthosaurus skeleton in the "Terror of the South" exhibit.
- "Mountains to the Sea" exhibit displays natural habitats from the western mountains, through the central Piedmont and on to the Coastal Plain highlighting the interrelationships between them.
- "Coastal North Carolina" exhibit is a mini aquarium which includes live exhibits of sea cucumbers, fish native to North Carolina's coast and inland waterways and a popular sea horse exhibit. Here visitors will find the museum's famous whale skeletons including the massive sperm whale which has become a symbol of the museum.
[edit] General Exhibits
The ""Prehistoric North Carolina"" and "Terror of the South" exhibits feature a one of a kind [Acrocanthosaurus] skeleton in a spectacular glass-enclosed dome as recreations of winged pterosaurs. This section also features a rare fossilized dinosaur heart. The "Nature's Explorers" exhibit covers the museum's beginnings showing the tools and techniques naturalists used 100 years ago to collect and preserve. Anchored by a large interactive globe which allows visitors to highlight the climate regions of the globe, the "Tropical Connections" exhibit focuses on environmental issues.
[edit] Interactive exhibits
Museum volunteers and employees give frequent lectures and demonstrations in the "Windows on the World" theater to museum visitors as well as remotely to classrooms throughout the state. The Discovery Room, a hands on exhibit staffed by museum volunteers, give visitors the opportunity to pet a cockroach, dress up as their favorite animal, play games, or just explore the many draws full of artifacts. Visitors watch palaeontologists work in the "Fossil Lab" as they recover fossils sent to the museum from dig sites in North Carolina and beyond. When staff are not working monitors show video of recent activity there.
[edit] Special Exhibits Gallery
Past traveling exhibits include artifacts from the Titanic, annual nature photography shows. Jane Goodall's work with chimpanzees, SuperCroc, the Hubble Space Telescope, and other exhibits.
[edit] Special Events
[edit] Bugfest
Bugfest is the museum's largest and most popular special event. Visitors can taste bug-filled dishes, enjoy special exhibits, activities and shows throughout the museum. The event extends outside the museum along the street mall towards and around the grounds of the North Carolina State Capitol building where the main stage offers family entertainment on into the evening hours.
