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Natural History Museum
By Melissa Corley
Click to enlarge
For ABQjournal
My latest excursion was to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science to see the much-hyped Mars exhibit and to watch "Whales," the current movie showing in the Dynamax Theater.
I was kind of disappointed by the Mars exhibit. It's not uninformative, but I wanted to see some real Mars rock — not the touchable sample of simulated Mars dirt (made on Earth) that stood in the center of the room. I soon found out there had been a Mars meteorite there, but only for two days.
More impressive is a computer terminal displaying the latest images taken by Pathfinder of the Mars terrain and a map that shows its exact location.
I had already noticed the similarities between the land of New Mexico and that of Mars from what I'd seen on TV, but the exhibit showed the striking parallels between the terrains with two opposing floor-to-ceiling photos — one of a rocky New Mexico hillside, and the other from Mars. The exhibit explains the simalarities exist because both lands are made up of large quantities of lava rock.
(I still think Pathfinder is really somewhere in the New Mexico desert and we're all being fooled.)
Also in the Mars exhibit is a video of how the Pathfinder landed on Mars and further explanations of the planet's climates and atmosphere.
Far more impressive to me was the Dynamax movie "Whales."
When viewing the movie on a screen 26 feet tall and 42 feet wide you feel as if you are really underwater or riding the waves as the whales swim by. You haven't truly experienced surround-sound unless you've visited this theater, either. Because the screen is so huge, it allows you to see every detail of the whales. Since I'm afraid of heights, the aerial photography made me dizzy — I felt like I really was moving.
After the first few minutes, I got used to the special effects and began to pay more attention to the film itself. The movie takes place off the coasts of the Peninsula Valdez, Hawaii and Alaska as it tracks the lives of right whales and humpbacks.
The film is often as amusing as it is educational. There is footage of whales sleeping upside-down, with their tails sticking straight up out of the water. There also is the mischevious baby right whale covering up its mother's blowhole to get attention.
The sound of the humpback whales singing is deafening and makes the entire theater vibrate.
Seals, penguins and dolphins are also featured in the film. About 45 minutes long, the film can be viewed without having to buy a ticket for the museum itself.
When purchased separately, tickets for the movie or the museum are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students and $2 for children ages 3-11.
A combination package costs $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students and $3 for children.
The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Films start on the hour.
On September 2, a new film about tropical rainforests will come to the Dynamax. It will run until April of 1998.
There are several other exhibits at the museum. Kids would enjoy the Naturalist Center, which is almost entirely hands-on. It has games and educational demonstrations about the exhibits in the musuem.
Next to the whales movie, my favorite exhibit is about the dinosaurs. There is an observation room where you can see scientists trying to piece together real dinosaur bones, and there are plenty of fossils to look at.
Kids would love the volcano exhibit with its see-through floors, pulsating noises and steam seeping from the walls. There is a similar cave exhibit with stalagtites, stalagmites and information on bats.
Another attraction for kids is an elevator ride through time. The narration seemed corny to me, but since it is in a real elevator, it does seem like you are really going somewhere.
The beginning of the universe is explored in another exhibit with a planetarium whose special lights make even the people walking through glow in the dark.
Unfortunately, the New Mexico seacoast exhibit is partially closed until September due to construction. The open portions contain a tank with small sharks and a pool with anenomes, starfish and other ocean creatures. There are still a couple games for kids to play and a telescope that gives you a 'bugs-eye view' of things.
There are other exhibits on gems, seismology and the reintroduction of wolves.
The latter features a "Two-bit Opinion Poll" about whether New Mexico Grey Wolves should be reintroduced into the state. At 25 cents per answer, it was apparent by the amount of money deposited in the display that visitors overwhelmingly agree they should.
If you should get hungry while touring the museum, there is a Subway to meet your needs. There is also a gift shop featuring lots of whale merchandise becuase of the movie, plus the usual books, toys and shirts. My favorite was the canned dinosaur — a tiny stuffed dinosaur pops out when you open it.