Heartland View

Media Credit: Jessica Hartley Eight-year-old Dylan O'Connor learns about the "Age of Dinosaurs" in the Mesozoic Gallery.

Media Credit: Jessica Hartley Visitors are encouraged to get up close and personal with nature in the hands-on Discovery Center.

Media Credit: Jessica Hartley A sandbox takes up half the room where anyone can pretend to be a paleontologist digging for fossils, like father-daughter duo Larry and Melissa Rock.

Media Credit: Jessica Hartley Made for all ages, there are jars to sniff of natures wonders like spices and skunk, feathers of different birds and toys to play with, like Lincoln-natives Lance and Mandy Balkus, and nephews Jaxson and Cobey Cragg.

A towering woolly mammoth statue greets visitors to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Morrill Hall, a museum of natural history, which features three floors of fossils, wildlife and ancient art.

"My favorite part is seeing all these bones," 8-year-old Dylan O'Connor said. "And I wonder how it all happens."

Lincoln, Neb., resident Heidi O'Connor said she brought her grandson's to Morrill Hall because of the exhibits featured.

On the main floor, guests are greeted by world famous ancient elephants in Elephant Hall, which also showcases the world's largest mammoth skeletons. Visitors are invited to run their fingers over the surfaces of recovered teeth and bones.

Lighted holes in the floor of the Mesozoic Gallery guide you through the "Age of Dinosaurs," which houses the longest marine fossil and other Nebraska fossils. These fossils, and all of the exhibits, except the African Heritages display, are native to Nebraska.

"When you walk into Elephant Hall and see these large fossils, it's pretty amazing to think that they all come from our own state," public service coordinator of the museum, Linda Thompson said.

The Ralph Mueller Planetarium, also on the main floor, features a full dome experience. However, there are different hours of operation and additional fees for the planetarium not covered under general admission into the museum.

Down a short flight of stairs, guests can wind in and out of cavernous exhibits in the famous wildlife dioramas. Little ones can push buttons to hear a harmony of birds, or feel the hide of a buffalo.

One of the most popular attractions of the museum is the Dr. Paul and Betty Marx Science Discovery Center, a hands-on, natural science discovery room, where children of all ages can dig for bones, feel textures, play with dinosaurs and draw.

"As kids, we always visited Morrill Hall, so we brought our nephews here because they like fossils and dinosaurs," Lance Balkus said. "The whole museum, like the Discovery Center, gives them a chance to touch and make things work, so they can do more then look."

The third floor is filled with cultural diversity, from archives of nomadic peoples of the Great Plains, to costumes and artifacts from Africa. Visitors are encouraged to explore evolution and see the life-size Allosaurus, one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs.

The Cooper Gallery features special exhibits that change twice a year. "On the Land," displays through December 31. The photographs were taken by National Geographic contributing photographer Joel Sartore.

A Discovery Shop is located on the main floor.

Hours are Monday-Saturday 10:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., and Sunday 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. General admission for adults is $5, children 5-18 is $3 and young children are free.

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