North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Encyclopedia
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) is located in Raleigh, North Carolina
. This museum
is the oldest established museum in North Carolina
and the largest museum of its kind in the Southeast
. It has about 700,000 visitors annually, making it the most visited attraction in the state.
, is currently on exhibit through September 12, 2010. Past traveling exhibits include fantastic exhibits of artifacts including the Dead Sea Scrolls
and the Titanic, annual nature photography shows, Jane Goodall
's work with chimpanzees, SuperCroc, the Hubble Space Telescope
, a Megalodon
exhibit, Wild Music, Hunters of the Sky, and others.
(SECU) of Raleigh. The $54 million addition, to open in April 2012, will allow children visiting the museum to play a hands-on role in new research. It will include a spherical
theater called the SECU Daily Planet.
building where the main stage offers family entertainment on into the evening hours. The event became part of the North Carolina Science Festival
in 2010.
parade and festivities in Moore Square.
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
. This museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
is the oldest established museum in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and the largest museum of its kind in the Southeast
Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....
. It has about 700,000 visitors annually, making it the most visited attraction in the state.
First floor
- "North Carolina's Natural Treasures" contains dioramas of various wildlife and artifacts pertaining to nature in North Carolina, including 2000 year old trees (the oldest in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
east of the Rocky MountainsRocky MountainsThe Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
) and a part of a trunk of a 700 year old tree. - "Coastal North Carolina" includes exhibits of live sea cucumbersSea cucumber (food)Sea cucumbers are marine animals of the class Holothuroidea used in fresh or dried form in various cuisines.The creature and the food product is commonly known as bêche-de-mer in French, trepang in Indonesian, namako in Japanese and in the Philippines it is called balatan...
, fish native to North Carolina's coast and inland waterways and a live sea horse exhibit. Here visitors will find the museum's five whaleWhaleWhale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
skeletonSkeletonThe skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
s, including the massive 55-ton sperm whaleSperm WhaleThe sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. The sperm whale is the only living member of genus Physeter...
(nicknamed "Trouble") which has become a symbol of the museum. - High-definition filmsHigh-definition videoHigh-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
are shown daily in the 250-seat auditorium. The IRIS Award-winning short Wilderness North Carolina is a regular feature.
Second floor
- "Mountains to the Sea" exhibit displays natural habitats from the western mountains, through the central PiedmontPiedmont (United States)The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
and on to the Coastal Plain highlighting the interrelationships between them. A two-story, 20 feet (6.1 m) waterfallWaterfallA waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
, snapping turtlesChelydridaeChelydridae is a family of turtles which has seven extinct and two extant genera. The extant genera are Chelydra the snapping turtles, and its larger relative Macrochelys, of which the Alligator Snapping Turtle is the only species. Both are endemic to the Western Hemisphere...
, and native fishes are on display here also. - The "Nature's Explorers" exhibit covers the museum's beginnings showing the tools and techniques naturalists used 100 years ago to collect and preserve.
- 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 explore artifacts.
Third floor
- "Prehistoric North Carolina", which chronicles prehistoric life in the state and throughout the southeastern United States. The ""Prehistoric North Carolina"" and "Terror of the South" exhibits feature a one of a kind AcrocanthosaurusAcrocanthosaurusAcrocanthosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur that existed in what is now North America during the Aptian and early Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Like most dinosaur genera, Acrocanthosaurus contains only a single species, A. atokensis. Its fossil remains are found mainly in the U.S...
skeleton in a spectacular glass-enclosed dome as recreations of winged pterosaurs circle the domed ceiling from wires. This section also features a rare fossilized dinosaur heart, from the ThescelosaurusThescelosaurusThescelosaurus was a genus of small ornithopod dinosaur that appeared at the very end of the Late Cretaceous period in North America. It was a member of the last dinosaurian fauna before the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event around 65.5 million years ago...
(nicknamed "Willo"). 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. "Prehistoric North Carolina," which chronicles prehistoric life in the state and throughout the southeastern United States. - 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 and includes beautiful live emerald tree boas and tree frogs.
- Museum volunteers and employees give frequent demonstrations, talks, and share visits with live animals in the "Windows on the World" theater to museum visitors as well as remotely to classrooms throughout the state.
- Museum Birthday Parties with interactive animal themes are offered on the weekends in the classrooms on this floor.
Fourth floor
- Arthropod Zoo
- Living Conservatory, a dry tropical forest exhibit with live butterflies, live mosquito fish, a pair of live ornate wood turtles, a live Stuart's Milk SnakeMilk SnakeThe milk snake or milksnake is a species of king snake. There are 25 subspecies among the milk snakes, including the commonly named scarlet kingsnake...
, a live tarantulaTarantulaTarantulas comprise a group of often hairy and often very large arachnids belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species have been identified. Some members of the same Suborder may also be called "tarantulas" in the common parlance. This article will restrict itself to...
, and a live two-toed slothTwo-toed slothCholoepus is a genus of mammals of Central and South America, within the family Megalonychidae consisting of two-toed sloths. There are only two species of Choloepus : Linnaeus's Two-toed Sloth and Hoffmann's Two-toed Sloth...
. Live plant life includes kapokKapokCeiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae , native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and to tropical west Africa...
, vanillaVanillaVanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
, cashewCashewThe cashew is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae. Its English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree, caju, which in turn derives from the indigenous Tupi name, acajú. It is now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew nuts and cashew apples.-Etymology:The...
, pineapplePineapplePineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
, and cecropiaCecropiaCecropia is a Neotropical genus presently consisting of sixty-one recognized species with a highly distinctive lineage of dioecious trees....
. There are currently no hummingbirds in the exhibit. A windowed chamber preceding the exhibit displays chrysalides of developing butterflies, and butterflies that have recently emerged. - Naturalist Center
- Acro Cafe
Special exhibits gallery
Glow: Living Lights, an exhibit on bioluminescenceBioluminescence
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. Its name is a hybrid word, originating from the Greek bios for "living" and the Latin lumen "light". Bioluminescence is a naturally occurring form of chemiluminescence where energy is released by a chemical reaction in...
, is currently on exhibit through September 12, 2010. Past traveling exhibits include fantastic exhibits of artifacts including the Dead Sea Scrolls
Dead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
and the Titanic, annual nature photography shows, Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...
's work with chimpanzees, SuperCroc, the Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
, a Megalodon
Megalodon
The megalodon and ὀδούς ) is an extinct species of shark that lived roughly from 28 to 1.5 million years ago, during the Cenozoic Era .The taxonomic assignment of C...
exhibit, Wild Music, Hunters of the Sky, and others.
Nature Research Center
The Nature Research Center is a new 80000 sq ft (7,432.2 m²), three-story wing under construction across the street from the current museum. The center is funded in part by the State Employees Credit UnionState Employees Credit Union
State Employees Credit Union is a state chartered credit union headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina regulated under the authority of the Credit Union Division of the NC Department of Commerce. SECU member deposits are insured by National Credit Union Administration of the U.S. federal...
(SECU) of Raleigh. The $54 million addition, to open in April 2012, will allow children visiting the museum to play a hands-on role in new research. It will include a spherical
Sphere
A sphere is a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space, such as the shape of a round ball. Like a circle in two dimensions, a perfect sphere is completely symmetrical around its center, with all points on the surface lying the same distance r from the center point...
theater called the SECU Daily Planet.
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 very large event extends outside the museum along the street mall towards and around the grounds of the North Carolina State CapitolNorth Carolina State Capitol
The North Carolina State Capitol is the main house of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Housing the offices of the Governor of North Carolina, it is located in the state capital of Raleigh on Union Square at One East Edenton Street. The cornerstone of the Greek Revival building was...
building where the main stage offers family entertainment on into the evening hours. The event became part of the North Carolina Science Festival
North Carolina Science Festival
The North Carolina Science Festival is a multi-week event encompassing hundreds of science education and outreach events throughout the state of North Carolina. The festival is organized by Morehead Planetarium and Science Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., and highlights the educational, cultural and...
in 2010.
Reptile and Amphibian Day
In conjunction with Raleigh's Saint Patrick's DaySaint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of :Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion , the Eastern...
parade and festivities in Moore Square.