Smithsonian
About Smithsonian  |  Websites A-Z
Home | About SI | Exhibitions | Events | Visitor Information | Hours | Museums | Research | Membership |  Giving | Shop
Home › Exhibitions › Museums & Galleries › Natural History Museum
New & Upcoming Exhibitions
Exhibitions
New: Dig It! The Secrets of Soil
July 19, 2008 - January 3, 2010
Through dioramas, soil cross-sections, cultural artifacts, and hands-on interactives, this exhibition introduces the study of soil science and demonstrates the vital role soil plays in sustaining human welfare, assuring future agricultural productivity, and environmental sustainability.

web Web: forces.si.edu/soils

New: Nature's Best Photography: Ocean Views
June 11, 2008 - Nov. 2008 (TBA)
On view are a selection of images -- taken by photographers of all levels from around the world -- from a special Nature's Best Photography contest created to complement the museum's upcoming Ocean Hall. The images provide insight into ocean life -- its beauty, its fragility, its importance to health of our planet.

web Web: www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/ocean%20views

New: Research Case: Botanica Magnifica
April 18, 2008 - TBA
Botanica Magnifica is collection of photographs that integrates art and science by dissolving the boundaries between our appreciation of nature and our understanding of how nature works. In his images, photographer Jonathan Singer captures the essence of plant form, color, and texture and the complexity of the botanical world.

Objects on view include:
• large color photograph of wild ginger flower Hedychium longicornutum, native to Southeast Asia
• dried, pressed specimen of wild ginger
• Hasselblad digital camera, model H2D-39

New: The Lost Amazon: The Photographic Journey of Legendary Botanist Richard Evans Schultes (new title)
April 17, 2008 - Oct. 2008 (TBA)
Black-and-white photographs of the Amazon River and adjacent regions -- including portraits of people, landscapes, and plants -- taken in the field in the 1940s by Dr. Richard Evans Schultes bring together natural history science and photographic art. Schultes was one of the most important ethnobotanists of the 20th century.

web Web: www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/Lost%20Amazon/index.html

New: Butterflies + Plants: Partners in Evolution
February 15, 2008 - New Permanent
This exhibition shows how butterflies have evolved, adapted, and diversified with their plant partners over millions of years. Housed within this exhibition is a special Butterfly Pavilion, which looks like a cocoon, where visitors can walk among hundreds of live butterflies and pesticide-free plants to observe butterfly behaviors ranging from flying and sipping nectar at flowers to roosting and emerging from chrysalides. These butterflies will hatch from pupae raised on farms in Africa, Asia, and North and South America.
Note: To maintain an environment conducive for butterflies, the temperature inside the Pavilion will be 80-85 degrees with high humidity.

Butterfly Pavilion Ticketing:
To cover operating costs and for crowd control, timed tickets for admission will be required daily. Timed tickets for entry on Tuesdays are free; see below for details.
• First timed ticket entry at 10:15 AM; last timed ticket at 5 PM.
On heavy visitation days, line forms within the exhibition.
Please Note: New Hours for the Butterfly Pavilion: Beginning Monday, June 23 through Sunday, August 10, the Butterfly Pavilion will remain open until 7:30 PM with the last entry at 7 PM. This new schedule is a test and may change if attendance is low.

Free Tuesdays:
Free, timed, same-day tickets required for individuals and groups and are distributed beginning at 10 AM on the day of visit only at the special Box Office within the exhibition. There is no limit to the number of tickets requested, but only 40 tickets are distributed for each 15-minute time slot. There must be one adult for every 10 children or students.

Individual tickets available as follows:
-- $6.00 Adults
-- $5.00 Youths (ages 2-12)
-- $5.50 Seniors (60+)
-- $5.00 Members: National, Resident, Contributing, Air and Space/Society members "in person" with valid membership card (limit 4 tickets per person)
-- $5.00 Add-an-IMAX Show (when purchasing a Butterfly ticket at full price)

Group tickets available by phone only: 202-633-4629 (IMAX) or 1-877-932-4629 (IMAX) (toll-free) (10 AM-5 PM)
-- $5.00 Groups of 10 or more, no complimentary tickets
-- $4.50 Groups of 10 or more with advance reservations (1 complimentary ticket allowed per 20 paid)

Payment Options:
Cash, personal checks with proper I.D., travelers checks, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Card, JCB, and VISA.

Ticket Sales (Same Day and Advance):
Tickets can be purchased same day and up to 2 weeks in advance (except Tuesdays, see above) as follows:
-- In Person: At any Smithsonian IMAX Box Office and special Box Office within the exhibition
-- By Phone: Call 202-633-4629 (IMAX) or 1-877-932-4629 (IMAX) (toll-free) (10 AM-5 PM). A small handling fee applies.
-- By Web: At butterflies.si.edu/tickets. A small handling fee applies

Pickup of Pre-Paid Tickets at Box Office:
Note: No tickets will be mailed, but can be picked up as follows:
-- Pre-paid tickets (same day or advance) for individuals or groups can be picked up at any Smithsonian IMAX Box Office or special Box Office within the exhibition

See Smithsonian magazine, Dec. 2007, "From the Secretary" (p. 28) and Feb. 2006 (p. 10)

Photography permitted

Wheelchairs permitted in Pavilion, but no strollers allowed

web Web: www.butterflies.si.edu

New: Discovering Rastafari!
November 2, 2007 - TBA (new closing date)
Featuring rare photographs, artifacts, and ephemera, this exhibition moves beyond the popular Jamaican music known as reggae to explore the origins and practice of the Rastafari religion in Jamaica and the movement's subsequent spread across the Caribbean and around the world.

Video footage featuring male and female Rastafari of different ages, nationalities, ethnicities, and socioeconomic classes highlights the unity of the movement. An overview of the three major "mansions" (organizations) reveals the diversity of Rastafari and the core of sacred practices that guide the daily lives of its practitioners.

New: Korea Gallery
June 8, 2007 - Indefinitely
To celebrate the country's distinctive art, culture, and 2,000-year history, on view are some 85 objects, including Korean ceramics, wooden furniture, stone and wooden sculptures, paintings, and textiles.
African Elephant
- Permanent
The museum's African elephant is in a setting that re-creates the Angolan bush. Important ideas in botany, entomology, mineral sciences, and zoology, as well as information on the ancestors of modern-day elephants and the elephants' importance in African cultures, are discussed.
African Voices
December 15, 1999 - Permanent
This exhibition examines the diversity, dynamism, and global influence of Africa's peoples and cultures over time in the realms of family, work, community, and the natural environment. Included are historical and contemporary objects from the museum's collections, as well as commissioned sculptures, textiles, and pottery. Video interactives and sound stations provide selections from contemporary interviews, literature, proverbs, prayers, folk tales, songs, and oral epics.

web Web: www.mnh.si.edu/africanvoices

Birds of the District of Columbia
- Indefinitely
Year-round and seasonal residents, migrants and vagrants--hundreds of bird species--are displayed. They all live in the region extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Allegheny Mountains. Learn where and when to look for a snowy owl or ruffed grouse, warbling vireo or orange-crowned warbler, chickadee or indigo bunting.
Blast from the Past (case)
June 27, 1997 - Indefinitely
This showcase features a 11.5-meter tubular core sample that shows physical and biological effects of Earth's collision with a giant asteroid 65 million years ago, which resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs. The sample, taken from 130 meters below the ocean floor east of St. Augustine, Florida, contains the best preserved Cretaceous/Tertiary sequence yet recovered. The exhibition highlights the work of Smithsonian micropaleontologist Brian Huber, who interprets past climate change by studying tiny marine fossils.

web Web: paleobiology.si.edu/blastPast/

Dinosaurs: Reptiles: Masters of Land
December 4, 1981 - Permanent
All of the old favorites are on view in the exhibition hall, including the gigantic 90-foot-long Diplodocus, horned Triceratops, and the Stegosaurus model. Other attractions include Quetzalcoatlus, a huge toothless pterosaur with a 40-foot wingspan, posed in flight; a nest of dinosaur eggs; and the meat-eating Allosaurus -- 8 feet tall and 20 feet long -- challenging newly re-mounted Stegosaurus.
Fossil Mammals: Mammals in the Limelight
May 30, 1985 - Permanent
This exhibition focuses on the spectacular evolution of mammals as the dominant class of vertebrates following the extinction of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago.
Fossil Plants and Animals: The Conquest of Land
April 17, 1980 - Permanent
This exhibition focuses on the earliest plants and animals to evolve the complex adaptations needed to live on land. In an animated video, evoking television coverage of the first lunar landing, characters Frank Anchorfish and Arthur Pod explain the characteristics plants and animals needed to pioneer the harsh, dry terrestrial environment. Just beyond an arbor formed by a diorama of the first forests are still more fossils: specimens of a 16-foot fossil of an early tree, Callixyon; other fossil trees and smaller plants from the ancient coal forests of North America.
Garden: Butterfly Habitat Garden (outside, seasonal)
June 30, 1995 - Permanent
The Garden has signs that identifies four habitats: wetland, meadow, wood's edge, and urban backyard. The signage discusses the connections between plants and butterflies and explains butterfly behaviors. As many as 30 species of butterflies may be attracted to the native plants in the Garden. The Garden is a joint project of the Horticultural Services Division and NMNH, with partial funding from the Smithsonian Women's Committee.

web Web: www.nmnh.si.edu/VirtualTour/Tour/Second/Butterfly

Geology, Gems, and Minerals, Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of
September 20, 1997 - Permanent
This hall features 2,500 minerals and gems, including the Hope Diamond, Hooker Emerald Brooch, and Star of Asia sapphire. It also explores the birth and evolution of the solar system and the earth's changing surface through computer interactives and video presentations

web Web: www.mnh.si.edu/earth/main_frames.html

Insect Zoo, O. Orkin
September 10, 1993 - Permanent
The Insect Zoo focuses on insects and their relationships with plants, animals, and humans. The exhibition contains a section about the evolution of insects and showcases live insects and their environments, including:

• The Termites' Turf
• Water-loving Bugs
• Familiar Insects
• The Bee Hive
• Desert Dwellers
• Rain Forests--Home to Millions

web Web: www.mnh.si.edu/education/insect_zoo.htm

Life in the Ancient Seas
May 18, 1990 - Permanent
Fantastic marine fossils tell the story of evolution and extinction in the seas in three acts: the Paleozoic Era (540 to 250 million years ago), when odd prehistoric creatures such as trilobites abounded; the Mesozoic Era (250 to 65 million years ago), when marine reptiles such as mososaurs appeared; and the Cenozoic Era (65 million years ago to today), when the numbers and kinds of shelled animals increased, and when the primitive whale took to the seas.
Mammals, Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of
November 15, 2003 - Permanent
This hall showcases some 274 mammals and explores their diversity and how they originated and adapted to changing landscapes and environments over the last 225 million years -- from polar to desert regions and from dry to humid environments. The exhibition addresses such questions as: What is a mammal? Why do some mammals live in groups while others live alone? How many kinds of mammals are there and what are their habitat preferences? How are mammals related? How and why do scientists study mammals? The exhibition also shares information about the unusual -- the oddest specimens (including egg-laying mammals), the rarest specimens (an okapi from Africa), and the oldest known mammal (Morganucadon) from 210 million years ago.

web Web: www.mnh.si.edu/mammals

Osteology: Hall of Bones
- Permanent
Hundreds of skeletons of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes -- ranging from the gigantic extinct Steller sea cow to the tiny pocket mouse -- are shown in characteristic poses and grouped by order to illustrate their relationships. Exhibits show how bone structures evolved in adaptation to environment.
Reptiles
- Permanent
Life-size displays illustrate the eating habits, defenses, and locomotion of a variety of snakes and amphibians. Reptiles on view include a preserved king cobra, reticulated python, and boa constrictors from the Malayan and Amazonian jungles; sea turtles; crocodiles; and lizards.
Western Cultures Hall: Origins of Western Culture
- Permanent
The institutions, traditions and ideals of North American cultures are deeply rooted in those of western Asia, northern Africa, and Europe. This hall explores some examples from various cultures in the western world including northern Iraq, ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome and the recent discovery of the Iceman, a Copper Age mummy found in an Italian glacier.

Last update: June 9, 2008, 11:32

More Exhibitions
Natural History Museum
Contacts | FAQ | Privacy | Copyright
Top  Top