The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, NY is a great natural history and science center, and most of the experiences are geared to engage folks of all abilities, both academic and physical. There are outdoor spaces including trails, a pond, and an elevated walkway. They have educators who facilitate a variety of seasonally appropriate activities, from amphibian catching in the spring to snow shoe walk in the winter.
NatureBridge runs residential environmental education programs (3-5 days) in N.P.S. sites throughout the country. Their Yosemite campus has opened an
accessible building to bolster their ability to serve students of all abilities. I am unsure of their ability to offer adaptive programming on other campuses.
Full disclosure: I have previously worked for The Wild Center and NatureBridge, so I may be biased.
It's not a natural history museum, but The
National Museum of Math in NYC blew me away. In terms of presenting and making understandable things you cannot touch, see, or experience firsthand, they do a great job. When I was there lots of docents were available to help make their interactive exhibits meaningful. And they've built fun, playful tangibles that really do a good job of illustrating abstract math concepts.
American Museum of Natural History in NYC is good, but in my experience it's almost perpetually crowded - if anyone on this thread has a different experience, please feel free to chime in. I also feel they are a little light on docents, which can make some of the text-heavy exhibits hard to digest (if anyone from AMNH is reading this, I love the museum; I hope this doesn't come off as rude or mean, and I am open to your perspective if you feel I have misrepresented the experience). They have done a great job building beautiful, immersive experiences like their hall of biodiversity, and some of their classic exhibits like the Hall of Forests have aged really well. A big plus here is that they are trying to proactively address the issue of Native American/First Peoples representation/inclusion in museums. It's worth visiting just to see what they've done with their diorama of
Peter Stuyvesant meeting a delegation of Lenape. AMNH also offers
hands-on science programs. I believe they also utilize the public park adjacent to the museum (Theodore Roosevelt Park) to do some outdoor programming.
The
Cranbrook Institute of Science (affiliated with Cranbrook University) in Michigan is a great, somewhat smaller natural history museum. I recollect they had some very well designed exhibits about the Great Lakes watershed.
The
California Academy of Sciences is another good one. The building is incredible, and the exhibits are immersive and beautiful. They offer
programs with hands-on science. As far as an outdoor campus, they are located in
Golden Gate Park. I am not sure if they conduct any programming in the park, but there is tons to explore.
That's what immediately comes to mind. I'll add more if I think of them.
Best,
Simon Schreier
Informal Education Consultant and CIGT
simon@sciencesimon.com------------------------------
Simon Schreier
coordinator of interpretive programs.
Berkshire Museum
Pittsfield MA
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 12-09-2019 12:53 PM
From: Mimi Quintanilla
Subject: Outreach/ education centers that my colleagues recommend....
Since museum folks are the hardest to impress during a visit I am asking my colleagues make some recommendations for education/ outreach/ visitor centers that use hands-on science and outdoor experiences to engage folks of all abilities. More specifically education centers/exhibits that have impressed you---places that do a good job of presenting and making understandable things you cannot touch, see, or experience firsthand like water quality or underground aquifers. I am aggregating a list for potential site visits.
Feel free to contact me.
Mimi Quintanilla, Principal
Quintanilla Schmidt Consulting
210-240-9865
Mimi@quinsch.com