The Sam Noble Museum’s latest traveling exhibit, Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice™, takes visitors back in time 65 to 145 million years to the Cretaceous period, when some of the most famous and widely known dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops, roamed the Earth.
The exhibit is designed for children ages 3 to 10 and features many hands-on and interactive components. Children can scamper across the bog walk, climb onto dinosaur statues and play around inside a dig pit, all while learning about dinosaurs that lived in particularly hot and cold environments.
“Most children have an interest in dinosaurs to begin with, but this exhibit offers a way to get them interested in the science behind it as well,” said Kyle Davies, museum preparator. “The exhibit provides scientific context to these dinosaurs and how and when they lived, instead of just painting them as magical creatures.”
Davies explained that the exhibit is intentionally designed to show that certain dinosaurs, and sometimes even the same dinosaurs, existed in very different environments.
“The dinosaurs that existed in warm climates then could be found north of us, but so could the dinosaurs that existed in cold climates only even farther north,” Davies said. “The cold climate the exhibit refers to is actually northern Alaska, so when that was first discovered, it really surprised folks.”
The interactivity of the exhibit really increased its popularity amongst visitors.
“Kids are interactive learners with their environment, so all of those elements are great to have for that targeted age range,” Davies said. “I can remember being a kid myself and always seeing signs that said, ‘don’t touch,’ so it’s nice to have exhibits built for kids to run around in and touch things.”
In addition to being kid-friendly and interactive, the exhibit is also bilingual in English and Spanish. Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice™ will be on display at the Sam Noble Museum through May 16.
