For more than 50 years, the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science has fed the curiosity and imagination of those who walk through its doors and embark on a journey of the natural world that surrounds all of us.

Photos by Jim Coarse
Text by Richard L. Gaw

On a recent weekday afternoon at the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science, a father held his young daughter by the hand and walked her through the Museum’s Paleozone exhibit, pointing out the Earth’s progression from the Pre-Cambrian Period to the time when Dinosaurs roamed to the world she lives in today – an incredible sweep of a story that described millions of years of evolution.

Within minutes, she was led to the African Savanna and the Artic Tundra and the Tropical Rainforest and was introduced to animatronic dinosaurs and interactive exhibits. By the time she and her father returned to the broad daylight outside, the young girl’s imagination and curiosity had taken a giant and permanent leap forward.

The young girl is far, far from alone. Each year, the Museum – which first opened to the public in 1972 -- annually hosts over 90,000 visitors – targeted to everyone from pre-K through gray – and has already conducted 406 Discovery Tours and mobile unit visits to schools this year, led by a team of educators who bring both experience and enthusiasm to each tour.

“Our mission is to ignite a lifelong passion for exploring, discovering and valuing nature and science,” said Christina Zampini, the Museum’s assistant director of programs and a former classroom educator. “At the first step, we are excited that they even walk through the doors. At their second step, we are excited when they pause for a second and take an exhibit in. Our mission, however, is fulfilled not just when they come back but when we hear that they have connected this Museum to their lives, because the more connected they are to the content, the more likely they are to live that content.”

The Delaware Museum of Nature & Science is located at 4840 Kennett Pike, Wilmington, Del. 19807. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Museum is closed on Wednesdays from Labor Day to Memorial Day. To learn more about upcoming exhibits and schedule a Discovery Tour for your class, school or youth group, visit www.delmns.org or call (302) 658-9111.