The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is one of my favorite places in the world. As I mentioned in a previous post, my family has DMNS days, just for the sake of going to the museum. Personally, I really like the dioramas. They offer a really cool opportunity to look at a unique environment and notice things about it that you would normally not notice unless you were in the environment. I love how they are like a 3D picture of an area in nature. I am always astounded at how in depth and realistic they are. Also, if you ever go to the dioramas with me, I will be more than happy to point out every single interesting detail in the dioramas and tell you where all of the hidden gnomes are.
Personally, my favorite dioramas are the Savuti Waterhole Diorama and the smaller Brown Bears Diorama. The Savuti Waterhole Diorama is basically a massive 3,000+ square foot diorama filled with African animals posed around a central waterhole in the middle of an outcropping of trees. I have actually been inside of this diorama, so seeing all of the animals is really cool to me because I remember seeing them from another angle and learning more in depth about them. The small Brown Bears diorama is one of my favorite dioramas because of how detailed and beautiful every element of it is. Brown bears in and of themselves are cute and look cool in the wild, and in the diorama they are surrounded in flowers, and who doesn't find flowers beautiful.Other exhibits that I enjoy in the museum are Ancient Egypt, Gems and Minerals, and Prehistoric Journey. Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the Ancient Egypt exhibit and all of the artifacts. I always hated the manatee diorama, and I kind of have an irrational fear of the diorama. My sister absolutely hates the Ancient Egyptian exhibit as irrationally as I fear the Manatee diorama. In some ways, we have both always ended up torturing each other with our favorite exhibits. The Gems and Minerals exhibit is one of my favorites because of how cool all of the artifacts are and how there is so much attention to detail in all of the exhibits. For example, the crystal cave at the beginning is just a series of mirrors reflecting the walls repeatedly to create a seemingly endless cave. Prehistoric Journey is just cool all around.
I am so so so glad you have had a chance to explore the inner workings of DMNS! It is so up your alley! I am a big fan of the gems and minerals, myself. Rocks are cool, in my book. As far as the dioramas, I like how you can experience different ecosystems and organisms, but I'd rather be outside:).
ReplyDeleteYeah, pal... you know more about DMNS than many of the people who work there. Honestly, someone should give you an all-access pass to the whole thing and watch you go, because they know you wouldn't touch anything.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, I'd like that too. Even though that giant elevator terrifies me more than it should. I just can't take elevators with weird doors or horizontal grates. This is not weird.