goSmithsonian - June 2008 - (Page 34)

IMAX ® GROUND FLOOR BIRDS OF WASHINGTON, D.C. A collection of 500 species of mounted birds found throughout the District of Columbia includes the 3-inch-long golden-crowned kinglet and the 16-inch-tall pileated woodpecker. Stadium seating, six-channel digital sound and a sixstory-high screen at the Johnson IMAX® Theater, accessed from the first floor, transport visitors back through time to the days of the dinosaurs. In the evenings, get up close to one of the most successful rock bands of all time. ■ Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia 3D ■ U2 3D (until Aug. 31) Call for current information about special evening and weekend films: 202.633.IMAX (4629), or visit www.si.edu/imax FIRST FLOOR At the rotunda’s center is one of the museum’s signature artifacts, the 8-ton, 14-foot-tall African bull elephant, which has been on display since 1959. Today, it can be seen in a setting very much like an African elephant’s native habitat. DISCOVERY ROOM In the renovated and popular Discovery Room, located near the “African Voices” exhibition, find fossils, skulls, shells and minerals, as well as hands-on activities especially designed for families with children. Check out the Biodiversity Wall, featuring plants and animals found in the Washington, D.C. area. Regular hours: Tuesday through Thursday, noon to 2:30; Friday, 10:30 to 2:30; Saturday and Sunday, 10:30 to 3:30; closed Mondays. Free timed-entry passes, available at the door, are distributed on busy days. KENNETH E. BEHRING FAMILY HALL OF MAMMALS Featuring 274 masterfully crafted taxidermic specimens, nearly a dozen fossil casts and several dramatic interactive displays, this 25,000-square-foot exhibition tells the story of the evolution of mammals and how they adapted to different habitats, from the sweltering desert to the bonechilling poles. Join “Harriet,” a life-size chimpanzee sculpture, in the audience in the Evolution Theater. Hang out among the mammals gathered at the African savanna water hole, but don’t get wet during the dramatic rainstorm re-creation that visitors can see and hear. View the world as a jaguar does hunting at night in a South American jungle. PALEONTOLOGY In the “Dinosaur Hall,” gigantic fossilized bones of the creatures that walked the earth as long as 210 million years ago are number one with many visitors. At the center of the hall is the 90-foot Diplodocus longus, which was found in Utah in 1923. Don’t miss Tyrannosaurus rex, 40 feet long and still fearsome after 65 million years. The adjacent hall, “Life in the Ancient Seas,” encom- Stop by the FossiLab near the Ice Age Hall. Smithsonian scientists just may be there at work. 34 www.goSmithsonian.com http://www.si.edu/imax http://www.goSmithsonian.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of goSmithsonian - June 2008

goSmithsonian - June 2008 Contents Visitor Information Smithsonian Institution Building—The Castle The S. Dillon Ripley International Gallery Dining Guide Donald W. Reynolds Center Smithsonian American Art Museum National Portrait Gallery National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Discovery Theater, SITES, Folklife Festival and more National Museum of American History Map of the National Mall National Museum of Natural History National Museum of the American Indian Arthur M. Sackler Gallery/Asian Art Freer Gallery of Art/Asian and American Art Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden/Contemporary and Modern Art National Museum of African Art Renwick Gallery/American Art National Postal Museum Anacostia Community Museum National Zoological Park

goSmithsonian - June 2008

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