Take a trip down space and time to discover Earth’s story with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and be prepared to be amazed what each collection of exhibits have to unravel. Step inside the most visited natural history museum in the world and a leader in the worldwide scientific community.
The virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device.
NARRATED TOURS
Sant Ocean Hall: It contains more than 600 specimens, as well as life sized models like Phoenix, a real Atlantic right whale who scientists have been tracking since her birth in 1987. The Hall features unparalleled collections, state-of-the-art technology, and dramatic displays that work together to communicate a critical message: the ocean is a global ecosystem essential to all life on our planet.
Hall of Human Origin: Visitors can walk through 6 million years of humans’ evolutionary history in the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins and find out how dramatic climate change drove the evolution of the characteristics that make us human. It also explains the characteristics that make us human evolve against a backdrop of climate instability. The story is told through 300 objects and artifacts on virtual display.
DIGITAL TOURS
Hall of Fossils: The newly opened David H. Koch Hall of Fossils-Deep Time will introduce visitors through the 3.7-billion-year history of life on Earth, as told through interactive exhibits and over 700 extraordinary fossils-including the Nation’s T. Rex. Along the way one can explore Earth’s past is connected to the present, and how our actions are shaping our future.
Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals: The Smithsonian’s mineral and gem collection at the National Museum of Natural History consists of approximately 350,000 mineral specimens and 10,000 gems, making it one of the largest of its kind in the world. Visitors can explore gem and mineral specimens of every size, shape, and color of the rainbow, including the Hope Diamond- a world famous 45.5 carat blue diamond excavated from India.
Eternal Life of Ancient Egypt: For more than 3,000 years, ancient Egyptians embalmed, preserved and entombed their dead with materials they would need for life in the next world. Offerings to the gods to help ease the deceased person’s passage were often included in tombs. The exhibition includes 3 human and 16 animal mummies, as well as pottery vessels, jewelry, tools, and other artifacts excavated from Egyptian tombs. Modern noninvasive scanning technologies allow scientists and visitors to explore the mummies’ secrets while preserving their bodies.
If the fascination of the exhibits confuses visitors on where to begin, it is suggested to start with an array of images that one can delve in, and wait for the curiosity to lead to the next room.
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