Member Tip: Know Before You Go
With changes to the COVID-19 dial, the Museum has reopened more venues and adjusted some ticketing procedures. We wanted to highlight some of those changes for you as you plan for your next visit.
- The Phipps IMAX Theater, Gates Planetarium and T-Rex Café are all open.
- Timed tickets for “Space Odyssey” are still required.
- Timed tickets for “Discovery Zone” are now only available at the Museum for same-day visits.
- Timed tickets are still required for Museum entry and entry into temporary exhibitions.
For the most up to date information, visit dmns.org.
Here at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, we don't take too kindly to viruses. That's why we're working harder than ever to make sure that you can learn, play, and take part in #safescience without fear.
Catalyst is Now Digital!
Thank you to everyone who was part of the response to our second survey on the future of “Catalyst.” We hope you are enjoying the robust digital version and are so glad to hear that you feel comfortable using the new digital format moving forward. As always, your feedback is important to us. As you continue to get familiar with this digital format, please send your feedback to [email protected].
Strategic Plan Update
We’re on a mission to nurture the enduring spirit of curiosity that lives in us all. We have this big idea that when the community links arms with us to co-create the future of its Museum, we can connect with everyone, everywhere.
The Everyone, Everywhere strategic plan includes several projects and initiatives to make nature & science learning experiences accessible and fun! Projects and initiatives are designed to reach people both in the Museum’s building and outside of our walls where people live, work, play and learn.
Future First
The move of millions of specimens to the Avenir Collections Center has cleared a path to bring to the public 20,000 square feet of the first floor in order to create “wow” moments in immersive environments. In an all-new experience currently titled “Choose Your Adventure,” guests will explore the interconnectedness between all of life on Earth. As guests experiment and create, the experience itself responds to guest input, and those of others, in an ever-changing, interconnected playground of cause-and-effect.
A transformation of the Coors Gems & Minerals Hall will delight all ages in a new experience of wonder and delight, enveloping guests in a cave-like setting. The cave of wonders enables guests to explore why gems and minerals look the way they do, how iconic pieces found their way to Denver and how minerals are woven into our everyday lives.
Take a peek at a very early concept for the transformation of your museum's first floor!
Nearby Nature
Nature is a powerful connector, linking people to science and their communities. This initiative creates greater permeability and access between the Museum and City Park, restores natural park features, and creates nature play experiences.
Together with Denver Parks & Recreation, City Park neighbors, and our community, we will create equity and access to natural, immersive environments for wonder, respite, and play in Denver’s iconic City Park
Space Odyssey Reimagined
Space Odyssey Reimagined transformed our most popular permanent exhibition and opened to the public on Nov. 13, 2020. Our generous community provided input to shape the experience, and donated nearly $7.8 million to ensure the exhibition serves as a catalyst for exploration and problem-solving.
ExciteEd!
ExciteEd! is the result of collaboration with teachers and students to bring new STEAM activities into the classroom. Hands-on experiences are complete with all the tools a teacher needs to fuel students’ passion and curiosity for nature and science and challenge them to imagine possibilities, experiment, build and solve mysteries together. This project continues to serve teachers and learners in a variety of formats—in school, online and at home—as they deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Visit dmns.org/learn for an overview of these experiences.
Museum on Wheels
Through the Museum on Wheels initiative, the Museum will bring all-new nature and science experiences to both schools and the community through two different-sized vehicles with unique programming. The Curiosity Cruiser is a pop-up trailer that connects with people in a variety of venues. We’re booking now for mid- to late-2021!
The Time Traveling RV
The Time Traveling RV, an expandable RV, themed as a time machine will offer a technology-rich and highly dynamic experience, primarily serving schools throughout the State of Colorado. More details coming in late 2021!
In the Community
Our In the Community initiative is built on the idea that learning something revolutionary can happen when you least expect it. Imagination needs a home everywhere, from mountain tops to shopping malls. This is why you’ll find us at Cherry Creek Shopping Center, Colorado Mills, and occasionally taking citizens on archeological digs in Golden. We are exploring where to pop-up next!
The Institute for Science & Policy
The Institute for Science & Policy was born out of a desire for science to be a valued part of the policy-making process and to show how civil dialogue and scientific thinking can positively impact policy making and problem solving. We are kicking off a new 3-year plan to engage with our community and gather input that will shape the Institute’s strategic planning efforts in 2021 and into the future. Want to get involved?
IMAX Lineup
Great Barrier Reef
Grab your mask and snorkel and dive into an unforgettable adventure! “Great Barrier Reef” captures the natural beauty and exquisite strangeness of the world’s largest living wonder, and introduces us to the visionaries and citizen scientists who are helping us better understand this awesome, bizarre and vibrant living world.
Back from the Brink
Experience on the giant screen the remarkable true story of three animal species rescued from brink of extinction. Join this amazing adventure to save California’s enchanting Channel Island Fox, China’s fabled Golden Monkey and the wondrous migrating crabs of Christmas Island. Discover the heartfelt and ingenious human efforts to rescue endangered species around the world in “Back from the Brink.”
One More Thing
Digital Earth’s Evolution
Once in the dome, now in your home: our long-running “Digital Earth” series has gone virtual! Since summer, Research Associate Bob Raynolds and Curator of Space Science Ka Chun Yu have taken a national audience on online streaming tours of deserts, craters, plates and volcanoes. The 2021 itinerary includes visits to glaciers, oceans, Stonehenge, and more. Register at secure1.dmns.org.
New this year is “Digital Earth Academy,” a special series designed especially for schools based on this popular program. With data from community surveys, we’ve crafted FREE, monthly episodes that bring classrooms, homeschools and organized youth groups on virtual trips across the globe, from wherever they are.
Digital Earth Academy gives students the opportunity to wander the world virtually.