Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens facts for kids

The Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens is a cool place to learn about history and nature. It's located at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in El Paso, Texas, United States. This museum was built in 1936 to celebrate 100 years of Texas being independent. That makes it the oldest museum in El Paso!

The museum helps people understand the amazing plants, animals, and cultures of the Chihuahuan Desert. It shows off its collections, including the beautiful Chihuahuan Desert Gardens. It also supports students and teachers at UTEP who are doing research.

What You Can See at the Museum

The Centennial Museum is right on the UTEP campus. It focuses on the history and cultures of people who have lived in the border areas of the southwestern United States and Mexico. This includes ancient groups and folk cultures.

Nature and Science Exhibits

The museum also explores the natural world of the Southwest and Mexico. It pays special attention to the Chihuahuan Desert. You can see permanent exhibits about:

• Paleontology (fossils and ancient life)
• Geology (rocks and how the Earth is made)
• Ethnology (the study of cultures)
• Archaeology (studying human history through digging up old things)
• Regional higher vertebrates (animals with backbones, like mammals and birds)

The museum has a special collection of pottery from Casas Grandes. Many of these items are shown on their website and in the museum.

Special Exhibitions

The museum often has temporary exhibits. These cover many different topics related to the museum's goals or UTEP's mission. They often highlight the El Paso Border Region between the United States and Mexico.

Exploring the Chihuahuan Desert Gardens

The Chihuahuan Desert Gardens are located right on the museum's grounds. They are home to over 600 different kinds of plants that grow naturally in the desert.

Why Native Plants Matter

These gardens show how using native plants in your yard can be both beautiful and smart. Native plants need less water, which helps save this important resource. Over 600 species from the greater Chihuahuan Desert region are grown in different "theme" gardens.

Learning in the Gardens

The gardens are also a great place for learning about plants and the environment. They have a huge online database with pictures of plants and lots of information. The Chihuahuan Desert Gardens work with the UTEP Biodiversity Collections. Together, they create exhibits and share information with the community.

The gardens' website is one of the best places online to learn about the flora (plants) and fauna (animals) of the Chihuahuan Desert ecoregion. It's made for everyone, not just scientists!

Online Resources

The museum also offers other cool stuff online. You can find transcripts of over 1300 short radio talks about Southwestern topics. These were aired by the local National Public Radio station, KTEP. They even have online courses like An Introduction to the Chihuahuan Desert and Mammalogy on the Web.

Images for kids

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  Nook in Chihuahuan Desert garden at UTEP.

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  The Contemplative Garden.

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  Pool in the Contemplative Garden

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  Garden walk

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  Chihuahuan Desert Garden walkway

Visiting the Museum

It's free to visit the Centennial Museum! They also have special access for people with special needs and some parking available. If you want a tour, you need to book it ahead of time.

The museum is open Monday through Saturday, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. It closes on university holidays and when UTEP has home football games.

See also

• Flora of the Chihuahuan Desert