Touring, Pittsburgh, PA - Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Touring, Pittsburgh, PA - Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Recently while visiting Pittsburgh Nicholle, Euphemia, and I spent a day at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. We decided to spend the day there because Euphemia wanted to see “Dinosaur fossils and bones”.
The museum was easy enough to find, located near University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning. There was plenty of parking in the parking garage. Things turned sour though when we entered the facility and the security guard told us we could not bring in our diaper/toddler bag because it was a backpack. The problem is that the bag fit the dimensional allowable guidelines and should have been permitted as long as it was carried on the front, side or in hand. The guard we met was rigid and absolute. The locker cost $0.50USD for one use. Not practical for a diaper/toddler bag.
We then witnessed someone stopped and told that their water bottle was not permitted beyond the lobby. They had to throw it away or put it in a locker. It dawned on me at that point that my family could be going the next several hours with limited access to water. Not a pleasant thought.
We shared the days experience with many school groups. They were each about ten people in size and escorted by a museum guide. In general most of the school aged children were poorly behaved when compared to my toddler. Yet the guards always seemed to watch her more closely.
The dinosaur exhibit was very well done. The skeletons were displayed in lifelike dioramas, not merely erected to be gazed at. Displaying them in context helped to make them more exciting and understandable. Euphemia seemed to really appreciate them. There were problems though with the layout of the floor plan. Guides tended to stop groups at choke points which hindered free circulation. Guards also were snapping at people who got to close to or who touched the barriers.
The museum does an excellent job of tracing creatures through the various ages/epochs of the dinosaurs. Seeing a juvenile T-Rex skeleton and adult T-Rex skeleton near each other was eye opening. In the back of my mind I knew that they hatched from eggs and grew to adulthood. It was just the first time that I had seen a T-Rex skeleton which was not a full grown adult.
There was a dinosaur dig site for kids were they can don eye-protection, grab chisels and brush and learn field paleontology. This is exhibit is near the ice age animal skeletons which proved to be quite interesting. The dig site occupied Euphemia for about 35 minutes. “Scrape, scrape, and brush it away!”
We did tour most of the rest of the museum as well. The American Indian exhibit had been folded in to the Polar Life exhibit and focused on aboriginal life in the Arctic. It was comprehensive and well done enjoyed by toddler and adult. The Ancient Egypt exhibit was good with one real human mummy and several animal mummies. The smaller artifacts were good and the virtual computer tour was excellent. Euphemia enjoyed the computer tour as it seemed like a video game to her. The exhibit was smaller than I thought it would be and slightly cramped. It could have done with some type of smell to enhance it since it was a self contained gallery.
I enjoyed the bird gallery. The gems and stones were really interestingly exhibited with dim lighting and lots of glass and mirrors. It seemed maze like and easy to get lost in. Euphemia actually treated the gallery like a place to play hide-and-seek while looking at displays.
There was no public restroom on the third floor available and we did not tour the second floor Natural History Museum exhibits.
We did go to the Discovery Center in the basement. This was a hands-on area for children. It was small and crowded. It did have excellent exploration and discovery activities involving science and imagination. There were animals and habitat, evolution, dinosaurs, Native American folkways, Neanderthal cave art, ancient Egyptian activities, exploring Pennsylvania land and animals.
We ate at the café the museum shares with the Carnegie Art Museum. The food was of good quality and a reasonable price, with a health conscious selection.
Justinian
Recently while visiting Pittsburgh Nicholle, Euphemia, and I spent a day at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. We decided to spend the day there because Euphemia wanted to see “Dinosaur fossils and bones”.
The museum was easy enough to find, located near University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning. There was plenty of parking in the parking garage. Things turned sour though when we entered the facility and the security guard told us we could not bring in our diaper/toddler bag because it was a backpack. The problem is that the bag fit the dimensional allowable guidelines and should have been permitted as long as it was carried on the front, side or in hand. The guard we met was rigid and absolute. The locker cost $0.50USD for one use. Not practical for a diaper/toddler bag.
We then witnessed someone stopped and told that their water bottle was not permitted beyond the lobby. They had to throw it away or put it in a locker. It dawned on me at that point that my family could be going the next several hours with limited access to water. Not a pleasant thought.
We shared the days experience with many school groups. They were each about ten people in size and escorted by a museum guide. In general most of the school aged children were poorly behaved when compared to my toddler. Yet the guards always seemed to watch her more closely.
The dinosaur exhibit was very well done. The skeletons were displayed in lifelike dioramas, not merely erected to be gazed at. Displaying them in context helped to make them more exciting and understandable. Euphemia seemed to really appreciate them. There were problems though with the layout of the floor plan. Guides tended to stop groups at choke points which hindered free circulation. Guards also were snapping at people who got to close to or who touched the barriers.
The museum does an excellent job of tracing creatures through the various ages/epochs of the dinosaurs. Seeing a juvenile T-Rex skeleton and adult T-Rex skeleton near each other was eye opening. In the back of my mind I knew that they hatched from eggs and grew to adulthood. It was just the first time that I had seen a T-Rex skeleton which was not a full grown adult.
There was a dinosaur dig site for kids were they can don eye-protection, grab chisels and brush and learn field paleontology. This is exhibit is near the ice age animal skeletons which proved to be quite interesting. The dig site occupied Euphemia for about 35 minutes. “Scrape, scrape, and brush it away!”
We did tour most of the rest of the museum as well. The American Indian exhibit had been folded in to the Polar Life exhibit and focused on aboriginal life in the Arctic. It was comprehensive and well done enjoyed by toddler and adult. The Ancient Egypt exhibit was good with one real human mummy and several animal mummies. The smaller artifacts were good and the virtual computer tour was excellent. Euphemia enjoyed the computer tour as it seemed like a video game to her. The exhibit was smaller than I thought it would be and slightly cramped. It could have done with some type of smell to enhance it since it was a self contained gallery.
I enjoyed the bird gallery. The gems and stones were really interestingly exhibited with dim lighting and lots of glass and mirrors. It seemed maze like and easy to get lost in. Euphemia actually treated the gallery like a place to play hide-and-seek while looking at displays.
There was no public restroom on the third floor available and we did not tour the second floor Natural History Museum exhibits.
We did go to the Discovery Center in the basement. This was a hands-on area for children. It was small and crowded. It did have excellent exploration and discovery activities involving science and imagination. There were animals and habitat, evolution, dinosaurs, Native American folkways, Neanderthal cave art, ancient Egyptian activities, exploring Pennsylvania land and animals.
We ate at the café the museum shares with the Carnegie Art Museum. The food was of good quality and a reasonable price, with a health conscious selection.
Justinian