Discovery Center | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
Let Us Bug You!
Check out our permanent Insect Zoo exhibit! We have bugs all year round.
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Do Dolphins Have Hair?
Our mammal researchers answer this and other questions on our Mammalogy FAQs page.
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First Fridays: Science is Sexy
Our latest installment of what might be L.A.’s hottest, smartest nighttime event starts January 6, 2012. Come have a cocktail, explore the Museum after hours, and get enlightened.
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The Discovery Center has Moved!
The Ralph M. Parsons Discovery Center is now located on Level 2. Enjoy hands-on activities and re-discover forgotten favorites. Now in a bigger and brighter, beautiful new space overlooking Exposition Park and the Pavilion of Wings. Open daily.
Get Your Hands on Discovery:
- Touchable minerals, furs, and fossils are highlights in the Discovery Center that allow you to explore the diversity of Earth's natural history.
- Saunter up to a sloth, stampede with a herd of African antelope, or pose next to our iconic polar bear.
- Microscopes and magnifying glasses allow you to investigate anything in the Discovery Center up close.
- Binoculars let you get a birds-eye view of what's going on outside, whether at our bird feeders or in the skies.
- Search for unknown fossils in blocks of rock and re-assemble a saber-toothed cat skeleton from the La Brea Tar Pits.
Behind-the-scenes with Dinosaur and Ice Age Encounters
See the T.rex and Triceratops from Dinosaur Encounters, and the Saber-toothed cat from Ice Age Encounters up-close and personal in their new home inside the Discovery Center. Watch puppeteers get ready for performances and see the puppets when they are not in use.
Polar Bear
Our polar bear was collected in Norway in 1964, before the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. The Los Angeles Dodgers donated it as a gift to the Museum, specifically so that it could be used for “hands-on” display. According to our sources, the bear was formerly housed in the VIP lounge at Dodger Stadium. The polar bear has remained of the Museum's most beloved specimens since its move to the Discovery Center in 1991.
Daily Programs
Daily live animal presentations and story times are temporarily taking place in the former Inter/Act space on Level 1, just through the Garland Hall of American History.
- Live animal presentations occur at 3:00 pm daily, and also at 11:00 am on weekends.
- Story times occur at 2:00 pm on weekdays and 12:00 pm on weekends.