Categories: Museums
Museums & More: The Field Museum
Author: Jennifer Nunez
When it comes to The Field Museum, most all agree it's one of the top Chicago museums.
Overview:
Museums are often classified as “boring” or “mind numbing,” but the exhibits at Chicago’s Field Museum are exciting for people of all ages and interests. From Sue, the Field’s towering dinosaur sculpted from remains of a T-rex, to the latest DNA research performed live at the Pritzker Laboratory, the Field has much to offer visitors with its engaging interactives and rare artifact collections. The Field Museum resides on the downtown lake front property known as the Museum Campus, where other prestigious museums like the John G. Shedd Aquarium and the Alder Planetarium can be found. The Field is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and costs $14 for adults, $9 for children, and $11 for students and seniors. Thanks to discount shopping chain Target, the Field offers free general admission and admission to all specialty-ticketed temporary exhibits on the second Monday of every month.
History:
The Field Museum, formerly known as the Columbian Museum of Chicago, was founded for the purpose of accommodating biological and anthropological collections assembled for the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. By 1905, the name was changed to the Field Museum of Natural History to honor the Museum’s first major supporter, Marshall Field, and to tighten the focus on natural sciences. The Museum houses over 20-million specimens thanks to world-wide expeditions, exchanges, purchases and several generous gifts.
Exhibits:
DNA Discovery Center
The Field’s latest permanent exhibit is the DNA Discovery Center, the first molecular systematic facility in the country open to the public. Few museums in the world house their own DNA labs; however, the Field Museum’s lab is the only one you can view close-up. The center features a DNA overview video narrated by William Petersen, star of the television program, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, as well as hands-on interactives and displays to help refresh and inform on the basics of DNA and genetics. Be sure to catch the video before making your way to the Pritzker Laboratory to watch scientists in action, making new discoveries every day!
DNA is nothing new to the folks at the Field. There are many other exhibitions to explore like “What is an Animal?” There, you can learn how animals are related to one another through their DNA and how they evolved through common ancestors. “The Evolving Planet” exhibit takes you on a voyage through four-billion years of life on Earth, utilizing animated videos, hands-on interactive displays and a recreated seascape and landscape that make learning fun. From single-celled organisms to gigantic dinosaurs and our earliest of ancestors—the ape—you can discover how DNA sequencing can reveal the linkages between modern and ancient species. While exploring “The Evolving Planet,” be sure to check out the Hominid Gallery, where “Lucy,” a model of a 3.2-million-year-old hominid, and “Magdalenian Girl,” a 13,000-year-old skeleton, roam.
Crown Family PlayLab
The Crown Family Playlab has six exciting, interactive-heavy play areas for young children to engage and learn by having fun. In the “Illinois Woodland” they can dress up in their favorite animal costume and become part of a giant diorama, listen to animal sounds, crawl through a hollowed log, or search for animals hiding in the forest mural. Other activities include playing in a replicated Southwestern pueblo; becoming a scientist and discovering your own findings with fun tools; or making music with unique instruments from Native America, India and Indonesia.
The Ancient Americas
This 19,000-sq.-ft. exhibition takes you back to the Americas 13,000 years ago. From the tip of the Arctic to the foot of South America, you will learn about the people that lived on these continents, and how the cultures changed over time, expanding farming, crafting new forms of artistic expression and building powerful empires. You can examine more than 2,200 artifacts, dozens of videos and interactive displays, and experience true reconstructions that illustrate the skillful resourcefulness of the people who came before us. Learn how the first humans could have appeared and endured a harsh climate. Experience how people lived during the ice age at the virtual ice age environment where digital animation will create herds of caribou and mammoths that roam forests that once covered the Chicago area. Be sure to check out the original collected works of the Field, the Columbian Collection; there, you will see remarkable luxury goods made of redstone, greenstone and gold.
Dining at the Field:
After uncovering thousands of pieces of history, enjoy lunch at McDonald’s or Corner Bakery on the first floor of the museum, or grab a snack at one of the Field’s many vending machines. Grass-covered picnic areas are scattered around the perimeters of the Field if a brown bag lunch is what you prefer.
Shopping at the Field:
Like its exhibits, the Field Museum offers unique merchandise in all four of its gift shops. Souvenirs, books, educational toys, hand-crafted arts and jewelry inspired by the Field’s Hall of Jades and Hall of Gems, are just some of the products you can find. The Sue Store, located on the second floor of the Field, overlooking the towering Sue sculpture, sells anything and everything T-Rex related. From fashion statements made in T-shirts and hats, to other commodities like dinnerware and DVDs, the store pays tribute to Sue in every way possible.
Check out places of interest near Museums & More: The Field Museum:
Lincoln Park Zoo
2200 N. Cannon Dr.,
Chicago, IL 60614
Lincoln Park Zoo, located in Chicago, is among the oldest zoological gardens in the country (established in 1868) and is also among the most modern. Generations of Chicago kids and visitors to the city alike take the time to stand face to face with apes and even go palm-to-palm with them through the glass. Human-to-animal interaction is mixed with the heavily scientific- and research-based initiatives here.
The Field Museum
1400 S. Lake Shore Dr,
Chicago, IL 60605
Chicago's famed Field Museum, housed in the Fine Arts Building of the 1893 Columbian Exposition, is dedicated to the study of the naturial sciences.
