The Museum of Natural History in Providence is Rhode Island’s only natural history museum. The museum houses many treasures from fossils, replicas of area wildlife, aboriginal artifacts from the Pacific, and even a tire used on the shuttle Discovery.
Benny and I entered the Museum of Natural History in Providence one Sunday afternoon, and were pleasantly surprised that admission is only $2 a person. Families, take note! If you want to see a planetarium show, the price is $3 (and it includes admission to the museum).
Urban Wildlife
Our first stop was in the Urban Wildlife Room. This exhibits shows local wildlife and how certain species adapt to live in our urban jungle. Many animals here you may have seen in person. This area reminds us that not only do these creatures exist, but also that they live even among city dwellers.
Benny loved exploring this room and tried to make a friend. The opossum didn’t respond, though. “Well,” he said. “Maybe I’ll have better luck in the next exhibit.”
Earth Through Time
Our next stop in the Museum of Natural History was the Earth Through Time Room. This room has many interesting fossils from eons ago. Also, it has a sample of the Rhode Island State Rock, cumberlandite.
Of course, as Benny posed with the cumberlandite, he screamed, “Rhode Island rocks!” That turned a few heads, and it was a bit embarrassing. Was he sorry? Of course not.
In this room, he tried again to make friends. For the life of him, he just couldn’t understand why the birds and the hare were ignoring him. They just stayed motionless, as if they were common stuffed animals. Resigned to the fact that they wouldn’t acknowledge him, he jumped off the glass stand and found a slice of an old tree trunk.
Because it looked like a huge version of the hickory cookie he tried to eat at Simmons Pond in Little Compton, he started to take a bite before I could yell at him. I tried to explain to him that that every ring marks a year the tree lived, and that scientists can use these rings to study years past. He wasn’t listening; he was a bit sore that I told him not to bite it.
Before leaving this room, he wanted to meet the polar bears. “Bears will definitely say hi to me! I’m a bear! They’re bears! We’re all bears!” Benny exclaimed.
As Benny tried to engage his distant cousins, he was again disheartened to see that he couldn’t evoke any more of a response than he did from the other animals.
As we left this room, I tried to take his mind off of being ignored. As we climbed the steps to the second floor, we talked about what we saw in that room: ancient fossils, geological evidence of the most recent Ice Age, and a foreboding map showing what our coastline would look like if the polar caps melt.
The Victorian Past to the Present
“What a fancy name!” Benny exclaimed. I suppose I understand. Anything with “Victorian” in it does evoke a sort of “fanciness.” This area is dedicated to showing how naturalists in the later part of the 19th century collected specimens. This photo shows what a typical naturalist’s study would have looked like.
Again, Benny tried to make a few friends. Unfortunately, the owl didn’t give a hoot about him, and the other birds remained as motionless as the animals we saw downstairs. Frustrated, he called them “bird brains” and huffed as he walked away.
Benny decided not to pose with the lioness. I think he was a bit intimidated.
This room also has an enclosed bee hive, but the bees weren’t very active that day. They’ll get more active in the warmer weather. If we go back, we’ll update this section with some cool photos of the bees.
Space! The Apollo 11 Moon Landing
As we traded the 19th century for the 20th, we saw a really cool exhibit about the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. This room has the most hands-on displays of the whole museum.
Here I am, trying to look smart as I inspect and compare the different type of light waves emitted by hydrogen and helium atoms. (Wow. I feel wicked smart just reading that last sentence!) Benny kept my hubris in check by reminding me that looks can be deceiving.
Our favorite part of the this room was the map below, which displays the size of lunar craters using Rhode Island as a measurement. Apparently, even on the moon, the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is a standard of measurement.
Imagine yourself in the near future, traveling from one crater to another. “How how away are we from our destination?” you may ask. Your driver responds brusquely with, “Oh, we’re two, three Rhode Islands away. We’ll be there soon.” (Side note: the driver probably isn’t from Rhode Island.)
RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) participates in a human-powered rover-making contest, and the school has won a few awards. Here’s the rover they constructed for the 2017 competition. Benny wanted to take it for a spin, but we probably would have been kicked out of the museum.
Instead of taking the bike, buggy, or rover, for a spin, Benny was content with sitting on some plasma.
Circle of the Sea
Our next stop brought us to Oceania! Here, we learned about the native cultures of the area and saw interesting specimens related to their culture. It’s difficult to imagine traveling hundreds of miles in small boats to islands that you can’t see on the horizon. And doing so without GPS!
Benny wanted to try this warrior’s clothing on, but it was too big for him. Thankfully, the glass prevented him from actually trying it on and forcing me to take a picture.
Our last stop
Our last stop at the Museum of Natural History in Providence was an exhibit entitled “Celebrating Michael Kieron.” Michael was an avid naturalist in the state of Rhode Island.
At this point, Benny was still disgruntled that nothing in the museum spoke back to him. But, just as he was turning away, the Indiana Jones Mr. Potato Head winked at him!
He didn’t see it happen, so it was a good thing I was there to tell him that he was finally acknowledged.
For more information about the Natural History Museum in Providence, check out their website.
If you’re in the area, make sure you check out the Botanical Center. It’s only five minutes away!
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The Museum of Natural History is located in Roger Williams Park, in Providence, Rhode Island.
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This was wonderful! I not only enjoyed all the pictures but Benny’s adventures made it a spectacular adventure!! Thanks Bob & Benny!
We’re glad you enjoyed reading about our adventure! 🙂