The San Diego Natural History
Museum
By: Stephanie Foster
The San Diego Natural History Museum has
an impressive range in its collection. As of this writing, there’s the
fossil section, a section on the big fire in San Diego in 2003, rocks and
minerals and a variety of educational programs.
We watched a movie in their movie theater. The current one is on Vikings,
but of course the selection changes regularly, so don’t count on this being
current information for long. The theater is large and comfortable - almost
stadium seating with how the seats are tiered, but the chairs are not so
high backed as in other movie theaters. The entire family enjoyed the movie.
The second floor is where the fossils are, and this was the area we spent
the most time on. There’s a cave for the kids to play in, and it was hard to
get my daughter to leave that area.
The kids will also enjoy joining magnetic parts to make various animals.
Depending on age, it can be a bit tricky for them to figure out which part
goes where, but since there are only about 5 or 6 parts per animal, it’s not
too tough.
My kids weren’t all that impressed by the microscopic fossils that could be
examined. A quick look, then they were bored. I found those quite
interesting, however, and older children may as well.
If you think back to October 2003 and the gigantic fire we had here in San
Diego, you’ll find the section on that fire quite interesting. Brings back a
lot of memories, even though my home was not threatened at that time.
In the basement level there is currently an exhibit called “Dinosaurs: Reel
and Robotic”. The kids loved this part. No pictures are allowed, so I can’t
share anything like that with you. It’s a great exhibit, though. The
basement exhibit changes at least once or twice a year. Last year it was
robotic bugs. However, the times I have been there it has always been
something really interesting for the kids.
The outside of the building is quite interesting. They’ve made changes to
the building through the years, so one side is very old fashioned with lots
of accents while the other side is quite modern. The building is just huge,
but quite a bit of it is not open to the public.
The museum is free for San Diego city and county residents and active duty
military the first Tuesday of each month. ID is required. If there are
exhibits that require separate admission, those will still require
admission.
About The Author
Stephanie Foster has lived in San Diego since she was 2 years old. She
decided to start
http://www.gettoknowsandiego.com/ to share her knowledge of the
area.
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