The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is an impressive downtown museum that was fun for us to visit on our Raleigh vacation in August.
The ground floor shows many flora and fauna of North Carolina, including cute animals, adorable insects (like butterflies), and pretty birds. Naturally, we were drawn to the items below...
The first floor also shows some of the local sea and water life, including aquariums with fish, crabs, and other swimmers.
The second floor features a large room showing the various inland regions of North Carolina, including wetlands, savanna, and piedmont forests.
They also explained the geology of the area, along with common minerals, like quartz and emerald, found in the region. They even explained what's in soil!
A nearby tree was hollowed out and had a mirror up top so visitors shorter than me could see what it looked like to be a bat.
Nearby was the most amazing exhibit of all--an exhibit about museums! It explains the collecting and processing of various items. The history of the museum is also explained.
We found a favorite part of the museum, the dinosaur exhibit. One of the first items is a tyrannosaurus rex skull, which my children found off-putting.
The exhibit shows lots of skeletons in action.
We even found a chart showing various species and their differences.
A special room has an exhibit on a locally-discovered dinosaur, the Acrocanthosaurus. The skeleton is only 54% real bone but it is the most complete example extant. Scientists studied the bones and saw the many different injuries that helped flesh out the lives of predators in the Cretaceous period.
On the top floor we found an exhibit devoted to insects, which was a bit scary for everyone.
Since the insect world is so small, many exhibits blew them up like a 1950s sci-fi horror film. We were not amused.
The top floor also has a living conservatory where many South American animals live. We saw a sloth, a tarantula, and a host of butterflies. We were told not to touch anything (easy to follow with the tarantula). The toddler was a little worried about the butterflies landing on him. Older brother and sister both had landings for which they were excited. The young one was happy to get out unassailed.
We went back downstairs and watched Museum Alive 3D, a fun and imaginative look by David Attenborough at the contents of the London's Natural History Museum. The 3D glasses were too much for the toddler. When he's older, he'll appreciate them more.
We had a fun visit to the museum, even without seeing the whole other wing across the street (with the space and genetics stuff). We did find a copy of the Liberty Bell on our way back to the car.
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| North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, with a boy running across |
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| Awesome quote on the way in |
The ground floor shows many flora and fauna of North Carolina, including cute animals, adorable insects (like butterflies), and pretty birds. Naturally, we were drawn to the items below...
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| Venus fly trap |
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| Red bat |
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| Massive shark jaws |
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| Fierce feline predator |
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| Unassuming red drum fish |
The first floor also shows some of the local sea and water life, including aquariums with fish, crabs, and other swimmers.
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| Water and land collide! |
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| Tank with a hermit crab, among others |
The second floor features a large room showing the various inland regions of North Carolina, including wetlands, savanna, and piedmont forests.
 |
| Beaver dam display is not too exciting to the toddler |
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| Interactive exhibit! |
They also explained the geology of the area, along with common minerals, like quartz and emerald, found in the region. They even explained what's in soil!
 |
| 4 food groups of soil--Water, Air, Weathered Rock, Organic Material |
A nearby tree was hollowed out and had a mirror up top so visitors shorter than me could see what it looked like to be a bat.
 |
| In the tree |
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| More fun posing |
Nearby was the most amazing exhibit of all--an exhibit about museums! It explains the collecting and processing of various items. The history of the museum is also explained.
 |
| What is a museum?(!?) |
 |
| Old-fashioned processing of specimens |
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| Old-fashioned collecting of specimens |
We found a favorite part of the museum, the dinosaur exhibit. One of the first items is a tyrannosaurus rex skull, which my children found off-putting.
 |
| T-rex about to get us |
The exhibit shows lots of skeletons in action.
 |
| Prowling predator |
We even found a chart showing various species and their differences.
 |
| Divvying up the dinos |
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| More dino action |
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| Big foot of an herbivore |
A special room has an exhibit on a locally-discovered dinosaur, the Acrocanthosaurus. The skeleton is only 54% real bone but it is the most complete example extant. Scientists studied the bones and saw the many different injuries that helped flesh out the lives of predators in the Cretaceous period.
 |
| Acrocanthosaurus |
On the top floor we found an exhibit devoted to insects, which was a bit scary for everyone.
 |
| Either pretending to be bugs, or hiding from bugs |
Since the insect world is so small, many exhibits blew them up like a 1950s sci-fi horror film. We were not amused.
 |
| Bees defending their honeycomb |
The top floor also has a living conservatory where many South American animals live. We saw a sloth, a tarantula, and a host of butterflies. We were told not to touch anything (easy to follow with the tarantula). The toddler was a little worried about the butterflies landing on him. Older brother and sister both had landings for which they were excited. The young one was happy to get out unassailed.
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| Butterfly garden |
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| Tarantula behind glass |
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| Hard to get a butterfly in focus with a toddler tugging on you |
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| Butterflies, including a blurring flying one on the bottom left |
We went back downstairs and watched Museum Alive 3D, a fun and imaginative look by David Attenborough at the contents of the London's Natural History Museum. The 3D glasses were too much for the toddler. When he's older, he'll appreciate them more.
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| Ready for the show |
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| Me in 3D glasses over my regular ones |
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| The poster |
We had a fun visit to the museum, even without seeing the whole other wing across the street (with the space and genetics stuff). We did find a copy of the Liberty Bell on our way back to the car.
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| Inspiration for a Philadelphia trip? |
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