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Evidence | Museum News
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Auckland
1) Auckland War Memorial Museum,
Auckland
www.aucklandmuseum.com
The Museum is currently hosting an excellent, extensive exhibition on Charles
Darwin and evolution (till January 13 2008). Details are on the website:
About
Darwin Introduction - Darwin Exhibition at Auckland Museum - Auckland Museum New
Zealand. This includes a section designed specifically for teachers who are
teaching evolution and/or might be considering taking their classes to the
exhibition.
The Origins gallery on the first floor begins about 100 million years ago at the time when New Zealand began to break away from the vast continent of Gondwana and is evidenced with examples from the Museum's Geology department. This gallery tells the story of the beginnings of the land itself (geology) and the origins of its plants and animals. Within the Origin gallery (and the galleries that follow it) are numerous examples of New Zealand animal and plant evolution including the kea/kaka, moa and other ratites, tomtits and robins, and a variety of plants including the podocarps and the beech trees. The Auckland Museum provides also hands on sessions that focus on human evolution. This is only available to booked groups (contact School Bookings schools@aucklandmuseum.com).
Opening Times:
Access to the natural history galleries on the First Floor is available
Mon-Sun 10am - 5pm (except Christmas Day and ANZAC Day morning).
2) Department
of Geology, University of Auckland, 1st Floor, 23 Symonds
St, Auckland
There are a number of displays in the public areas of the department (corridors and foyers) which are able to be viewed by the public at any time the building is open. Individuals are welcome to visit at any time our building is open. Groups need to arrange their visit. A guided tour of some of the displays tailored to suit the group and their particular interest can be arranged. Please contact Dr Neville Hudson, Collections Manager, Phone: 64 9 3737599 ext 87431 or n.hudson@auckland.ac.nz
Opening Times:
8.30am to 5.00pm weekdays (excluding public holidays)
Christchurch
Canterbury Museum, Rolleston
Avenue, Christchurch 8001
www.canterburymuseum.com
The Canterbury Museum does have a geology gallery with rocks and fossils. They also run programmes which are related to rocks and fossils tying in with NCEA level one.
Opening Times: Open
seven days, 9.00 am - 5.30 pm (Summer), 9.00 am - 5.00 pm (Winter)
Contact the museum by email on info@canterburymuseum.com
Dunedin
Otago Museum, Dunedin
www.otagomuseum.govt.nz
The Otago Museum's Southern Land, Southern People gallery portrays the natural origins of Southern New Zealand and the pattern of human settlement based on the use of natural resources.
The gallery describes the region's dynamic landforms and geology and traces the evolution of its flora and fauna through an extraordinary array of fossils. Other exhibits describe the varied climate and the way New Zealand's oceanic isolation has produced one of the world's most intriguing bird communities.
The Otago Museum also provides education programmes with unique inspiring hands-on experiences which link directly into the New Zealand Curriculum. Programmes that link into Evolution and Geological time include:
- Geology Rocks!
- Bone Detectives Needed!
- Butterflies Abound!
- NCEA Evolution
For further information contact the Education Team on 03 474 7470 or education@otagomuseum.govt.nz
Opening times: Mon - Sun 10am - 5pm (except Christmas Day and Good Friday). The Southern Land, Southern People is located on the second floor of the Otago Museum.
Palmerston North
Te Manawa, 396 Main Street, Palmerston
North
http://www.temanawa.co.nz
"Dinosaur Hunter" is a permanent exhibition at Te Manawa: "Join
the adventure... Hunt for fossilised clues and join the
investigation to discover how one of New Zealand's ancient dinosaurs
would have lived."
Opening times:
Te Manawa is open
10.00 - 5.00 every day except Christmas Day, Boxing day, New
Year's day and Good Friday.
Timaru
The South Canterbury Museum, Perth Street,
Timaru
The website is part of the Timaru District Council site- follow this link
The Museum features local geology in its permanent natural history exhibition areas. This includes images and information about how our region's landscape has formed, examples of local rock types, and local palaeontology using local fossils. We can prepare age-appropriate lessons based on these displays for visiting schools, and can also host sessions on general geological topics, such as volcanoes and earthquakes, as well as provide hands-on specimens for use in our teaching area.
Opening Times: Tuesday - Friday
10am - 4.30pm Saturday - Sunday 1.30pm - 4.30pm Closed Monday (except
holidays), Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day.
Wellington
Te Papa hosts "Science Express" -
monthly discussions on current (& sometimes controversial) science
topics:
Science Express
Awesome Forces Exhibition at Te Papa,
Cable Street, Wellington
http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/default.asp
Awesome Forces tells the story of the New Zealand landmass and the forces
that have shaped it.
The origin of New Zealand is traced back 160 million years to its
association with other landmasses making up the gigantic southern
Gondwanaland. An animated projection illustrates the breakup of
the continents and the drift south of New Zealand to its current
isolated position, carrying with it the proof of these former connections.
This proof is in the rocks - notably the fossils that came as cargo
from Gondwanaland. Included here are the original first dinosaur
finds in New Zealand, and the unique treasures both extinct and
living that are our biological icons, such as flightless moa, kiwi
and wrens, tuatara, weta and land snails.
Opening Times: Awesome
Forces is located on Level 2 at Te Papa. Admission is free. Te Papa
is open every day of the year from 10am - 6pm, and until 9pm on
Thursdays.
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