By Marlyn Rodriguez |Opinions Editor|
The Natural History Museum in Los Angeles is quite a sight to see.
Walking in, there is a display of two dueling dinosaurs ready to engage in a fight as they welcome the visitors.
The museum is made up of a variety of displays that showed different species that lived on different continents throughout a variety of eras.
Some of the animals are still commonly seen and some are endangered or extinct species.
Life sized displays replicate the animals in their natural habitat.
The artwork and detail put into these displays was incredible and exquisite.
All of the animals looked like they were alive while surrounded by a real ecosystem behind the glass window.
The artists of these displays did such a good job in making them look realistic that I heard a lot of the wandering children asking if the animals were real.
If I didn’t know any better I would have thought the same thing.
Different attractions in the museum include an African Mammal Hall, a North American Mammal Hall, a Gem and Mineral Hall, a Bird Hall, the Dinosaur Hall and many more.
The African Mammal Hall displayed animals like the Arabian oryx, an endangered animal that lives on the Arabian Peninsula, and the Savanna elephant, which can be found in the Sahara Desert but has been confined due to the spread of human civilization.
Dioramas of animals like the bison, moose and the endangered polar bear can be found in the North American Mammal Hall.
The Gem and Mineral Hall are composed of an array of stones from all over the world. They were in a dark room, in viewing boxes that cast a spotlight on every single gem individually.
The gems were of all shapes, sizes, and colors.
The most eye catching ones were the few that looked like clusters of shiny silver.
They reflected so much light and were so neatly filed that they almost served as mirrors.
The most popular display that attracted the most viewers was the Dinosaur Hall that was made up of skeletal replicas of different dinosaurs.
The dinosaur skeletons were life sized as well. I was barely about half the height of a Tyrannosaurus Rex’s leg.
You can only imagine what the children looked like standing around the dinosaurs in awe.
Hanging from the ceiling over the dinosaurs that were bound to the ground, were the dinosaurs that had the ability to fly. A pterodactyl hung among them.
Mrs. Frances Delores Graham-Kennedy is a fourth grade teacher at Simpson Elementary School in Rialto and was one of the many teachers that were at the museum with their class.
“I bring the students back every year because I love it,” said Kennedy.
“All the things in the museum are things that they’ve been learning about all year, things that they see in their text book,” added Kennedy. “This is an opportunity for them to see it in real life.”
She jokingly added, “I take them there instead of the zoo because they get the same thing without the stench coming from the real animals themselves.”
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is located in the city of Los Angeles on Exposition Boulevard.
It’s a great place to visit for all ages. The information and exhibits are eye-catching and memorable.
Leave a Reply