The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is one of Chicago’s most family-friendly science museums for children and adults. Also known as one of the oldest public museums in Chicago, this museum is celebrating 165 years with a special Founder Day event where they will “open the vault” to the public and showcase rare specimens and artifacts from their 390,000-piece collection that dates to the mid-1800s.
Guests will be able to participate alongside Nature Museum scientists and view the “then and now”, a selection that houses plant species collected by teenagers in the 1900s. These brand-new specimens are by the Nature Museums’ Teenagers Exploring and Explaining Nature and Science (TEENS) program.
This collection of specimens dates back 165 years ago. This provides an opportunity for scientists to observe how ecology in the Midwest has changed over time. Guests will be able to learn more about the collection, techniques to preserve specimens, and current efforts to digitize thousands of these specimens and make them accessible to students and researchers worldwide.
Admission for this event is free for Illinois residents, and families will have the opportunity to take home a fossil.
The event is on Thursday, January 13th, 2022, from 11 am to 2 pm on the Wilderness Walk (second floor of the Nature Museum) at the Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 24 North Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL 60614.
Due to the Chicago Vaccine Mandate, all guests ages five and older will be required to show proof of vaccination and a valid photo ID to enter the Nature Museum.