Arizona Museum of Natural History facts for kids
Main entrance of the Arizona Museum of Natural History
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| Established | 1977 |
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| Location | Mesa, Arizona, United States |
The Arizona Museum of Natural History (which used to be called the Mesa Southwest Museum) is in Mesa, Arizona. It's the only natural history museum in the larger Phoenix area. This museum shows off the natural world and the history of people in the Southwestern United States.
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Museum History
The Mesa Southwest Museum started small in 1977. It was located in the Mesa City Hall building. This building was built in 1937. It held many city offices, like the library and police station.
The museum grew bigger in 1983 and 1987. A new part was added in 2000. Today, the main museum building is about 74,000 square feet. About 46,000 square feet are for exhibits. The museum has 60,000 objects. These include items about nature, people, history, and art. There are also 10,000 old photographs.
In 1995, a research center was added. Experts in paleontology (the study of fossils) and archeology/anthropology (the study of human history and cultures) work there. The museum changed its name to the Arizona Museum of Natural History in 2007. Around 140,000 people visit the museum each year.
Awesome Exhibits to Explore
The museum has a cool, three-story indoor waterfall. It's on Dinosaur Mountain. This area has animatronic (moving robot) dinosaurs. There's also a flash flood display that happens every 30 minutes.
Other fun exhibits include Dinosaur Hall. You can also see a real old-time jail. There's even a copy of the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine.
Southwest Gallery: Ancient Peoples
The Southwest Gallery teaches about native peoples. It shows how Paleoindian big game hunters and gatherers lived. These were the first people in North America. You can also learn about later desert cultures.
There's a recreated Hohokam village. It has pithouses (houses built partly underground). These are filled with real old tools and items. It shows how people lived from A.D. 600 to 1450. Another exhibit is about the Ancient Cultures of Mexico.
Origins Gallery: Journey Through Time
The Origins gallery takes you on a trip through time. It shows the history of the universe. You learn about big events in Earth's past.
Hands-On Fun
You can also find a hands-on Exploration Station. There's a Paleo Dig Pit where you can dig for fossils!
Special Changing Exhibits
The museum often has new, temporary exhibits. One popular exhibit was "Rulers of the Prehistoric Skies." This exhibit helped answer how flight evolved. Did it start from the ground or from trees?
Pterosaurs: Masters of the Sky
This exhibit was about pterosaurs. These were flying creatures that lived long ago. They were the first animals with backbones to fly! They flew in their own special way. Pterosaurs had thin, hollow bones. Their wings were like membranes. Scientists are still learning exactly how they flew.
The exhibit showed how different pterosaurs could be. Volunteers helped build models. Don Puffer made a 4-foot mechanical pterosaur. It showed how its wings opened and closed. Ed Mack's sculpture of a Pteranodon sternbergi is a huge, life-size model. It hangs over Dinosaur Mountain.
"Rulers of the Prehistoric Skies" also looked at how flight developed. It covered insects (the first flyers), birds, and bats. This exhibit was very popular. It stayed open for about four years, starting in 2012.
The Primal Desert Next Door
Another changing exhibit was "The Primal Desert Next Door: Land of Black Volcanoes and White Sands." It was open from 2011 to 2013. This exhibit focused on the Sonoran Desert in Mexico. It showed the desert's many animals and plants.
The exhibit had big wall murals. They showed dark volcanic fields and bright sand dunes. Visitors learned about the rocks, plants, and animals of this area. There were interactive parts too. A dune machine showed how sand dunes move. A hands-on display showed mountains and valleys. Kids could even climb through a pretend lava tube.
Most of the museum's exhibits get money from donations. These donations come from the Arizona Museum of Natural History Foundation.
The museum also cares for the Sirrine House. This is a beautiful Queen Anne style home built in Mesa in 1896. The museum says it's the only fully restored Victorian-era home museum. The Sirrine House is open for special events.
Paleontology: Digging Up the Past
The Paleontology Section studies past life, like fossils. This is a big part of the museum's natural history focus. They explore, dig up, record, and study fossils. The museum is a special place where fossils from Arizona are kept.
In Dinosaur Hall, you can see many dinosaur skeletons and skulls. These include a "Zuni coelurosaur," a Tarbosaurus skeleton, and a Tyrannosaurus rex skull. There's also a Gastornis. For long-necked dinosaurs, they have a Camarasaurus skeleton and an Apatosaurus femur (leg bone). Horned dinosaurs include a Psittacosaurus skeleton, a Zuniceratops, Protoceratops, Pentaceratops, and Triceratops. They also have a Probactrosaurus.
Archeology and Anthropology: Learning About People
The Anthropology Section studies human cultures and the history of people. They do research and create exhibits about Native American cultures. They also study the archeology of southern Arizona.
Since 1977, studying archaeology has been very important to the museum. The museum helps with ongoing digs at the Mesa Grande Ruin. This is a large mound in Mesa from the Hohokam people's Classic Period. A main goal is to open Mesa Grande as a place for the public to learn about the Hohokam and O'odham people.
Images for kids
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Collage of some of the many fossils on display
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Children posing in front of the skeleton of a Columbian Mammoth in the museum’s lobby.
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Another view of the Columbian Mammoth in the museum’s lobby
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Arizona Museum of Natural History Lobby.
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Children posing behind the Tucson Meteorite on exhibit in the “Origins Hall”
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The skeleton of a Pterosaur on display in the Arizona Museum of Natural History in Mesa Arizona.
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Mesa-Arizona Museum of Natural History-Probactrasarus.jpg
An adult and baby Probactrasarus.
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Partial Dinosaur Hall display
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Tyrannosaurus Bataar located in “Dinosaur Hall”
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Artist Ed Mack working on his Pteranodon sternbergi.
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This shows all 3 levels of the museum waiting to be explored.
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Arizona's First Mission exhibit.
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17 Century Spanish Blunderbuss.
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Children in the interactive gold panning exhibit.
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Arizona Native-American exhibit.
See also
In Spanish: Museo de Historia Natural de Arizona para niños
