Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia Discovering the Earth: A Permanent Museum Exhibit on Earth Science Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences, one of America's leading and oldest natural history museums, will develop and install a permanent 3,500 square foot exhibition on gems, minerals, and earth sciences, DISCOVERING THE EARTH. The exhibition, using a wide range of interactive exhibit techniques, will draw heavily on the Academy's collection of gems and minerals and on the museum's scientific resources. Exhibit themes will includes such topics as Plate Tectonics, Geologic Times, Deep Earth Processes, Earth Surface Processes, Products of the Earth, and Geology is History. The exhibition will be designed with substantial use of formative evaluation for school children, adults, and family groups, and will be accompanied by extensive supplementary educational materials. NSF support will be augmented by nearly $1,000,000 in cost sharing from museum and private foundation sources.
