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Boonshoft Museum of Discovery

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Boonshoft Museum of Discovery
The main entrance to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery
Map
Established1893 (Museum of Natural History), 1995 (Boonshoft)[1]
Location2600 Deweese Parkway Dayton, Ohio
Coordinates39°47′20″N 84°12′06″W / 39.78882°N 84.20179°W / 39.78882; -84.20179
Websitewww.boonshoftmuseum.org

The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery is a children's museum, science and technology center and zoo in Dayton, Ohio, United States that focuses on science and natural history. Exhibits include an extensive natural history collection as well as maintaining a collection of live animals native to Ohio and abroad. Educational outreach extends to the community by providing in-school programming and on-site special programs. SunWatch Indian Village is the sister site to the museum.[1]

The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM),[2] affiliated with the Association of Children's Museums (ACM), and is a governing member of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC).[3] In addition, the museum's indoor Discovery Zoo is fully accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.[4] The museum is the only zoo, aquarium, planetarium or science center in Dayton,[5] and also houses the Apollo Observatory.

History

The museum was founded in 1893 as the Dayton Museum of Natural History, organizationally part of the Dayton Public Library and Museum.[6] In 1999, the name was changed in honor of Oscar Boonshoft.[7] In 1991 the museum added a Digistar II Planetarium to its facilities.

In March 2013, the Dayton Society of Natural History opened a satellite version of their main museum, called the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery Springfield, in an approximately 4000-square-foot space in the Upper Valley Mall near Springfield,[8] moving to 20,000 square feet in the former Elder-Beerman space in November. On March 25, 2016, the Dayton Society of Natural History announced that it would close this satellite museum;[9] it did so on April 30.[10]

Permanent museum exhibits

Science On a Sphere is a 68-inch-diameter (1.7 m) globe, suspended in mid-air, capable of showing dynamic visualizations of Earth and space. It also has the capability of showing commercial air traffic around the world while presenting other things such as turtle migrations.[11]

Hall of the Universe is an exhibit where interactive learning can take place about the Solar System. Also contains the Exoplanet Exploration exhibit and the Caryl D. Philips Planetarium.

Explorers Crossing consists of a play veterinary clinic, pizza kitchen, Strictly Briks, Carl's Body Shop, and more where children can learn, role play, and interact with hundreds of different pieces to learn more about associated topics within each setting.[12]

Oscar Boonshoft Science Central is an exhibit that contains a water table where children can learn about water and its properties, Science Theater, a demonstrative laboratory, and Do Lab, a hands on, science lab space and several other interactive areas.[13]

Ancient Egypt is an exhibit that houses Nesiur the Mummy, a mummy donated to the museum from Egypt, and other beautiful African pieces.[14]

Our Tree House is a fully enclosed tree house where children can learn about environmental preservation and use binoculars to do bird watching through windows within the tree house.[14]

Collections A-Z is a large collection of artifacts, fossils, and antiquities from all around the world and also includes our Sonoran Desert exhibit which houses two desert tortoises.

The Bieser Room of Wonders is an exhibit that contains several real specimens such as animal skeletons, shells, and fossils. Also located in the exhibit are artifacts, models, and rocks and minerals. Along with these things are many science related children's books and sitting areas with activities.[15]

The Paleo Lab is a new exhibit located inside the Eco Eatery cafe that houses dinosaur fossils and a paleontology lab where guests can watch the paleontologist and volunteers work on molding, casting, and articulating our Edmontosaurus.

The Discovery Zoo is an indoor zoo that is fully accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) that showcases mammals, reptiles, birds, and amphibians with special adaptations for survival.[16] The Discovery Zoo is home to over 150 animals including a Linne's two-toed sloth, bat-eared foxes, North American river otters, African meerkats, prehensile-tailed porcupine, kinkajous, a sand cat, three-banded armadillo, Von Der Decken's hornbills, and a Mertens's water monitor named Nessie. Although the museum does not itself rehabilitate injured animals, many of the animals, including the zoo's turkey vulture, came to the zoo after being injured in the wild and rehabilitated elsewhere, and would be unable to survive on their own.[16] Two otters currently live in the zoo, and are part of a national breeding program; their names are Eno and Sikwa. The Discovery zoo was renovated in 2010 to expand its capacity and recreate a new style to the zoo. The project also included the addition of around 18 new species of animals to the zoo. The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery is one of only four museums in the United States that are accredited as an official zoo. The renovation project came at a cost of $1 million.[17]

Education

The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery is a popular spot for school field trips. In addition to school field trips, the museum offers both traveling and digital programs which are a set of exhibits that can be taken directly to school classrooms in the Dayton area.[18]

Each day the staff presents special programs such as hands-on science experiments, otter feedings, Planetarium shows, story times, and bird watching,[14] Science on a Sphere live presentations,[11] and visits with live animals at the scheduled keeper talks.[19]

Events

The museum hosts many special events each year, such as Red White & Boonshoft, Eco Bash, STEM for All, ChemFest, and Military Child Night. The Education Department also holds large-scale activities in support of Biology, Nanotechnology and Chemistry, and the Astronomy Department holds Astronomy Day and special Friday night star gazing events.[19]

The future

In 2010, NASA awarded more than $800,000 to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery for the creation of an Exoplanet Exploration exhibit.[20]

See also

  1. ^ "Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton, Ohio". city-data.com. City-Data. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
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