Experience 15,000 years of Northwest cultural history and 200 million
years of geology. Realistic environmental displays portray four geographic
regions of Oregon, each a different time in history.
The Great
Basin environment portrays an autumn, 6,000 years ago, when the
area we now know as desert, bloomed with abundance. View a traditionally
made wikiup and a cache of tui chubs, a food staple.
One of North
America's largest Native fishing and trading centers at Celilo Falls
is illustrated in the Columbia Plateau environment during the
summer fishing season some 250 years ago. Observe up close the span
of a fishing net used at the Falls for over 10,000 years.
A highlight
of the Pacific Coast environment is a three-dimensional replica
of a traditional winter plank house, situated in village at the mouth
of an inland estuary around 1,500 years ago.
In the Western
Valleys, view a mural of Native women gathering camas roots during
the spring harvest, in a valley surrounded by an oak savanna and a
pine forest some 1,000 years ago.
Murals of these
four regions have been painted by Don Prechtel, an Oregon artist known
for historically accurate paintings of the Western frontier and Native
American culture. You can find more information on Don at www.prechtelfineart.com.
Explore an
interactive laboratory that offers hands-on science-based activities
for visitors of all ages. Discover how to relate to science through
these four questions: What is it? How old is it? Where was it found?
How was it used?
Scientific at the Core also
provides mini-exhibits on the most current museum research.
When visiting find out what's new in Science in the News - The History
Mystery.
PaleoLab - Oregon's Past Revealed: Whales of Deep Time
January 29 - June 13, 2010
Fifty-four
million years ago, after the extinction of dinosaurs, the earliest
known relatives of whales lived on land. These four-legged ancestors
were far different from the hairless streamlined swimmers we call
whales today. Over millions of years, the bodies of these
early ancestors adapted to life in the water. learn about these
transformations as you explore the evolution of these fascinating
creatures. In a working paleontology lab visitors will be able to
observe and visit with specialists as they prepare and conserve
fossil specimens for the museum's Condon Collection. Visitors
of all ages will also have the opportunity to "find" a
specimen and take it through the steps a paleontologist uses to
bring fossils from the field to the museum.
The Earth has many faces.
Some are smooth and flowing, others rocky and ravaged; all are shaped
by dynamic geologic processes. The landscapes that we see today are
the result of more than four and half billion years of transformation
by powerful forces such as volcanoes, oceans, earthquakes, rivers
and glaciers.
Understanding how this transformation takes place, University of Oregon geology graduate students and faculty photographed the ever-changing planet for an exhibit, Down to Earth: A Geologist's Perspective.
