Kalamazoo Valley Museum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is a "hands-on" museum located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. The museum is largely aimed at families, and focuses on science, technology, and history. The museum is operated by Kalamazoo Valley Community College, and admission to the facility is free.
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[edit] Beginnings
The Museum’s collection dates to an 1881 gift to the Kalamazoo School Board of corals, shells, and rocks from Horace M. Peck, a local banker. In its early years, the Museum acquired natural history specimens, ethnographic materials, and antiquities. Currently, the collection includes over 50,000 items.
[edit] Planetarium
The museum offers a state-of-the-art planetarium facility. There are 109 seats available in the domed theater. A variety of presentations and programs are available for public audiences and also groups, such as school groups.
[edit] Challenger Learning Center
The Challenger Learning Center (CLC) is an innovative educational facility. Challenger Learning Centers are founded in memory of the Challenger 51-L crew to carry on its educational mission. The CLC is a hands-on, fun, learning experience, designed to complement science and math curriculum for middle school and up.
[edit] Exhibits
[edit] The Mystery of the Mummy
This exhibit features a 2,300 year old Egyptian mummy that was donated to the museum in 1928. The exhibit also features the results of carbon dating, CT-scans, X-rays, and forensic reconstruction done on the mummy. This exhibit also includes artifacts from the museum’s ancient Egyptian collection.
[edit] Science in Motion
Science is an active process of experimentation and observation. The hands-on exhibits in this gallery invite visitors of all ages to participate in science by seeing, touching, feeling, hearing, and discovering. Explore the concept of motion in the three sections of the gallery: Energy, Human Body, and Technology.
[edit] On the Trail of History
The exhibits in this gallery are steeped in the history and heritage of the city of Kalamazoo.
[edit] Kalamazoo Direct To You
The exhibits in this gallery include artifacts representing Kalamazoo products including Gibson guitars, Kalamazoo stoves, Upjohn pharmaceuticals, Stryker orthopedic equipment and many more.
[edit] Special exhibitions
The special exhibitions galleries feature an ever-changing variety of traveling exhibits.
