Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Dino Week Jr: The Academy of Natural Sciences

 
 
One of the most famous locations for discovering Dinosaurs in Greater Philadelphia is the Academy of Natural Sciences.  Just a glimpse into their Dinosaur Hall will get anyone excited for a visit.  The main floor of the Hall holds an impressive collection of fossils and full Dinosaur skeletons, including a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex.
 
The upper floor of the Hall (or Mezzanine, if you are looking for it on the map), is where the hands-on action begins.  Hop on a treadmill and walk like a dinosaur to see how our movements compare to the way that these creatures walked.  Once you have the movement down, head to the footprints on the floor to see if you can match your steps to a dinosaur's.  Got that down?  Next try all fours and match steps with a crocodile.  Then examine the insides of a stegosaurus!
 
For some real interactive fun, make sure you don't miss The Big Dig where you can hunt for real Dinosaur bones in a replica of a dig site in New Mexico.  Put on some protective eyewear and take in a chisel and brush and start looking.  Finding dinosaur bones takes time and takes patience, but many diggers have discovered things here, including bones from a type of Hadrosaurus.
 
Daily Vacation mentioned the Fossil Prep Lab last week during DINO WEEK, but we wanted to make sure and talk about it again for DINO WEEK Jr.  Located on the other side of the stairs from the Green Screen Room (where you can get in the picture with Dinosaurs!), the Fossil Prep Lab is a place to see real people working on real dinosaur fossils that have recently been discovered.  When Daily Vacation visited, volunteers were working on a Hadrosaurus!

If you visit the Academy of Natural Sciences up until March 30th, then make sure that you do not miss the amazing Dinosaurs Unearthed exhibit!



 



Daily Vacation did not find our plush Haddy here, but the Academy has fantastic Dinosaur gift shop items.  Stay tuned to DINO WEEK Jr to see where we got him!







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- Visiting information for the Academy of Natural Sciences. -
 
- Click Here for more on the Dinosaurs at this location. -
 
- See more of Daily Vacation's PHOTOS. -
 
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Day 1 - Delaware Museum of Natural History
Day 2 - Philadelphia Zoo
 Day 3 - Camden Children's Garden and Adventure Aquarium
 
 
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Follow on INSTAGRAM to see where we are going!
 
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2 comments:

  1. My son loves the "Dinosaur Museum!" I love it too - it's the perfect size for young kids!

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    1. We LOVED this museum - definitely one of our favorite spots on the Dinosaur Tour for Dino Week and Dino Week Jr. Our favorite part was how wonderful the staff was. As we wandered around, people would come over to talk to us bringing real fossils for us to hold and examine!

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