Boonshoft Museum of Discovery facts for kids
The main entrance to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery
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| Established | 1893 (Museum of Natural History), 1995 (Boonshoft) |
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| Location | 2600 Deweese Parkway Dayton, Ohio |
The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery is a super cool place in Dayton, Ohio, USA. It's like three places in one: a children's museum, a science center, and a zoo! This museum is all about science and natural history. You can see amazing collections of old things from nature. They also have live animals from Ohio and other parts of the world. The museum even helps schools by bringing programs right into classrooms. It also has special events at the museum itself. SunWatch Indian Village is another cool place connected to the museum.
The Boonshoft Museum is a top-notch place. It is approved by important groups like the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). It is also part of the Association of Children's Museums (ACM). Plus, it is a main member of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC). The zoo inside the museum, called the Discovery Zoo, is also fully approved by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This museum is the only place in Dayton with a zoo, an aquarium, a planetarium, or a science center. It also has the Apollo Observatory, which is a special place to look at stars. The Miami Valley Astronomical Society runs this observatory.
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History of the Boonshoft Museum
The museum started way back in 1893. It was first called the Dayton Museum of Natural History. It was part of the Dayton Public Library and Museum. In the 1990s, the Children's Museum of Dayton joined with the natural history museum. After big updates, it reopened as the Dayton Museum of Discovery. In 1999, the name changed again to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. This was to honor Oscar Boonshoft, who gave a lot of money to the museum.
How the Planetarium and Observatory Grew
In 1960, the museum built a 10-meter wide dome for its planetarium. The equipment in the planetarium has been updated many times over the years. In 1982, they used a Spitz A3P projector. A bigger planetarium was built later. By 1991, the planetarium used Digistar II software. As of 2025, it uses Digistar 5, which is very advanced. The museum's Apollo Observatory opened in 1961. They used a special Cassegrain telescope there. This telescope helped them study how city lights might affect looking at the stars.
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Boonshoft's Satellite Museum in Springfield
In March 2013, the Dayton Society of Natural History opened a smaller version of the museum. It was called the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery Springfield. This smaller museum was about 4,000 square feet. It was located in the Upper Valley Mall near Springfield. Later, in November, it moved to a much bigger space, about 20,000 square feet. On March 25, 2016, the Dayton Society of Natural History said they would close this smaller museum. It closed on April 30, 2016.
Managing Fort Ancient Earthworks
From 2009 until at least 2018, the Boonshoft Museum helped manage the Fort Ancient Earthworks site. This site is outside of Lebanon, Ohio. They worked with the Ohio History Connection on this. Fort Ancient was like a second sister site, similar to SunWatch. By 2023, the Ohio History Connection took back full management of Fort Ancient.
What Can You See at the Museum?
The Boonshoft Museum has many cool exhibits that are always there.
Science On a Sphere
This exhibit has a 68-inch (1.7-meter) wide globe that hangs in the air. It can show amazing moving pictures of Earth and space. You can even see things like commercial airplanes flying around the world. It also shows how animals like turtles migrate.
Hall of the Universe
In this exhibit, you can learn all about the Solar System in a fun, hands-on way. It also has the Exoplanet Exploration exhibit. Here, you can learn about planets outside our solar system.
Explorers Crossing
Explorers Crossing is a special area where kids can play and learn. It has a pretend veterinary clinic where you can be an animal doctor. There's also a recycling center and a landfill to learn about waste. You can even find a pizza kitchen and a car repair shop. Kids can role-play and use hundreds of different items to learn about these topics.
Oscar Boonshoft Science Central
This exhibit is full of interactive fun. It has a water table where you can learn about water and how it works. There's also a place to make rubber band art. This helps you learn about points, lines, and curves. You can also find a laboratory for demonstrations and other hands-on areas.
Nesiur the Mummy
This exhibit features a real mummy that was given to the museum from Egypt. You can also see other interesting items from Africa here.
Mead Tree House
The Mead Tree House is a fully enclosed tree house. Inside, you can learn about protecting our environment. You can also use binoculars to do bird watching through the windows.
The Tidal Pool
The Tidal Pool exhibit has live sea creatures from the Pacific Northwest. You can see animals like starfish here. A museum employee or volunteer is usually there to help you learn about them.
The Bieser Discovery Center
This center has thousands of real specimens. You can see animal skeletons, shells, and fossils. There are also live snakes, including a large burmese python. Plus, you'll find many science-related children's books to read.
The Discovery Zoo
The Discovery Zoo is an indoor zoo. It is fully approved by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). This zoo shows off mammals, reptiles, birds, and amphibians. These animals have special ways to survive in their habitats. The Discovery Zoo is home to over 150 animals! You can see a Linne's two-toed sloth, bat-eared foxes, North American river otters, African meerkats, and a Mertens's water monitor named Nessie.
The museum does not take care of injured animals itself. But many animals, like the zoo's Virginia opossum, came to the zoo after being hurt and helped somewhere else. They couldn't live on their own in the wild. Two otters named Eno and Sikwa live in the zoo now. They are part of a national breeding program. The Discovery Zoo was updated in 2010. This made it bigger and gave it a new look. The project also added about 18 new kinds of animals to the zoo. The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery is one of only four museums in the United States that is also an official zoo! The updates cost $1 million.
Fun Activities at Boonshoft
Scientific Research
The museum is a scientific organization. Its staff and researchers study many things. They work in anthropology (studying humans), paleontology (studying fossils), biology (studying living things), astronomy (studying space), and zoology (studying animals). They have helped with scientific research in these areas. Articles about their research or the museum's collections are in many science publications.
Educational Outreach Programs
In the 1970s, the museum made handbooks about different science topics. These included protecting the environment. They were for both beginners and experts who wanted to learn more.
Besides the Apollo Observatory, which is open to everyone, the museum has the Junior Observing and Training Station. This was built in 1971. It gives young people a chance to volunteer and learn about astronomy.
The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery is a very popular place for school field trips. The museum also has a program called Exhibits-To-Go. These are exhibits that can be taken directly to school classrooms in the Dayton area.
Every day, the staff puts on special programs. These include hands-on science experiments and otter feedings. You can also watch Planetarium shows and listen to story times. There's bird watching at the Mead Tree House. They also have live presentations on the Science on a Sphere and visits with live animals.
Special Events at the Museum
The museum hosts many special events each year. Some of these are Red White & Boonshoft, GeekFest, and Eureka!. The Education Department also holds big activities. These support Biology, Nanotechnology, and Chemistry. The Astronomy Department has Astronomy Day and special Friday night star gazing events.
What's Next for Boonshoft?
In 2010, NASA gave over $800,000 to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. This money was for creating an Exoplanet Exploration exhibit. This exhibit helps people learn about planets outside our solar system.
Along with the museum's permanent exhibits, there are also traveling exhibits. These are often shown at the museum for a limited time.
After the smaller museum in the Upper Valley Mall closed in 2016, the Dayton Society of Natural History thought about moving it. They considered a building on South Fountain Avenue in downtown Springfield. The society thought they would need to raise $2 million for building updates. They also needed $2 million for a fund to run the smaller museum. Updates were planned to start in early 2017, with reopening in late 2017 or early 2018. But in July 2016, the society decided against this location. The cost and the short time for fundraising were too much. The society and Springfield leaders said they were still looking for another location.
In 2017, some parts of the museum were updated and moved. The pretend courthouse and grocery store were removed. The pizza kitchen moved to where the courthouse was. A "shape shop" opened, and the Vet Hospital moved to the old grocery store space and got bigger. In late 2018 and early 2019, updates began on the lobby, restrooms, and education labs.
See also
- SunWatch Indian Village
- List of astronomical observatories
- List of museums in Ohio
- List of planetariums
