Houston Museum of Natural Science facts for kids
Southeast entrance to HMNS.
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| Established | 1909 |
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| Location | Houston, Texas |
| Type | Natural history museum |
| Public transit access |
Red Line
Museum District |
The Houston Museum of Natural Science (called HMNS for short) is an amazing natural history museum. You can find it in Houston, Texas, right next to Hermann Park. It started way back in 1909. The people who created it wanted to offer a free place for everyone in Houston to learn about science.
The museum is a huge place! It has four floors packed with science halls and exhibits. Plus, it has a special planetarium, a cool butterfly center, and a giant screen theater. In 2022, over 1.5 million people visited HMNS. This made it one of the most popular science museums in the United States! Many people love it because it always has new and exciting exhibits.
Contents
Museum History: How It Started
The museum began in 1909 as the Houston Museum and Scientific Society. Its first collections were gathered between 1914 and 1930. These included a large collection of natural history items. They also got a special donation of gems and minerals.
At first, the museum's items were kept in the city auditorium. Then, they moved to the Central Library for seven years. In 1929, they found a home at the Houston Zoo. The museum started its wide-ranging education programs in 1947. In just its second year, 12,000 children came to learn!
The museum officially changed its name to the Houston Museum of Natural Science in 1960. Building the current museum in Hermann Park started in 1964. It was finished and opened in 1969.
Growing Bigger and Better
By the 1980s, the museum had many permanent displays. These included a dinosaur exhibit and a space museum. There were also exhibits on geology, biology, and energy. In 1988, the Challenger Learning Center opened. It was created to honor the brave Space Shuttle Challenger crew. This center teaches visitors all about space exploration. The Wortham IMAX Theatre and the George Observatory also opened in 1989.
More than a million people visited the museum in 1990. Because so many people were coming, the museum decided it needed more space. It also wanted to update its exhibits. Between 1991 and 1994, many exhibit halls were renovated. The amazing Cockrell Butterfly Center opened in July 1994.
In 2007, the museum opened a smaller location called HMNS Woodlands X-ploration Station. Kids could dig for a pretend Triceratops there. This location closed in 2009. Soon after, HMNS opened another satellite museum in Sugar Land.
HMNS celebrated its 100th birthday in 2009! They had many fun events, lectures, and classes for families. In 2009, the new HMNS at Sugar Land museum opened. It was built on land that used to be a prison.
In 2012, the Wortham IMAX Theatre got a big upgrade. It became a 3D digital theater and was renamed the Wortham Giant Screen Theatre. In June 2012, HMNS opened a huge new wing. This wing houses the incredible paleontology hall. It more than doubled the size of the museum!
Awesome Permanent Exhibits
The Houston Museum of Natural Science has many cool exhibits that are always there.
- The Foucault pendulum: This giant pendulum shows how the Earth spins! Its cable is over 60 feet long.
- Cullen Hall of Gems & Minerals: See over 750 sparkling mineral specimens and rare gemstones.
- Lester and Sue Smith Gem Vault: This vault shows off some of the most beautiful cut gems used in jewelry.
- Farish Hall of Texas Wildlife: Learn about animals and plants that live in Texas. There's a video wall showing different parts of the state.
- Evelyn and Herbert Frensley Hall of African Wildlife: This hall has many taxidermied animals from Africa. You can explore the seven different environments (biomes) of the continent. It has over 120 animal specimens!
- Strake Hall of Malacology: This exhibit is full of amazing mollusks, like shells and snails.
- Morian Hall of Paleontology: This is the biggest paleontology hall in the United States! It has over 60 huge skeleton displays. You can see three Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons and a Diplodocus. It also has the most complete Triceratops skeleton ever found!
- John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas: See ancient objects from more than 50 different cultures in the Americas. These are pre-Columbian archaeological artifacts.
- Welch Chemistry Hall: This hall has fun, interactive displays about chemistry. There's even a periodic table of elements with a real sample of each element!
- Wiess Energy Hall: Learn all about energy, how we find oil, and how we use it. This hall was updated in 2017. It has a working model of an offshore drilling rig. You can even take a pretend trip into the Earth!
- Hall of Ancient Egypt: Opened in 2013, this hall has very old artifacts. It also shows recreations of Egyptian temples and mummies from this ancient civilization.
- Cockrell Sundial: This is one of the world's largest sundials, opened in 1989. On special days, sunlight shines through a lens and shows an image of the Sun. You can even see sunspots!
- Earth Forum: Opened in 2002, this exhibit uses computers and hands-on activities. It teaches you about Earth and how it works.
Museum Facilities: More to Explore
The museum has several special facilities that offer unique experiences.
Burke Baker Planetarium shows many different science and astronomy programs. It has a super modern projection system. It's one of the first planetariums in the U.S. to have an 8k resolution system! The planetarium also has an outreach program called "Discovery Dome." It brings the planetarium experience to schools and events.
Cockrell Butterfly Center is a butterfly zoo inside the museum. It opened in 1994. The center is a three-story glass building filled with tropical plants and thousands of live butterflies. You can see many different kinds of butterflies, including the famous migratory monarchs. The center was updated in 2007 to be more interactive. It now has games for kids and a live insect zoo!
Wortham Giant Screen Theatre is a large theater with 394 seats. It shows educational films in amazing 4K digital quality. It also uses advanced 3D technology on its huge 60x80 foot screen.
George Observatory is an astronomy observatory with three powerful telescopes. One of them is a 36-inch research Telescope. There's also a special solar telescope to look at the Sun. This observatory is located south of Sugar Land, Texas at Brazos Bend State Park. It also has part of the Challenger Learning Center.
Images for kids
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Foucault Pendulum on display.
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Quartz crystal from Hot Springs, Arkansas, on display.
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Denversaurus and the "Wyrex" Tyrannosaurus specimen exhibited in the Morian Hall of Paleontology.
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Triceratops skeleton at the Houston Museum in a controversial running posture
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Sundial (right) and front exterior of Houston Museum of Natural Science.
See also
In Spanish: Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Houston para niños
