Discovery Lab

This bright, accessible gallery is a place for young visitors to have fun and learn about the natural world. Colourful, graphic illustrations introduce marine and rainforest environments, highlighting key species and some of the threats to their survival, including plastic pollution, poaching and climate change.

Under the microscope

Interactive displays and resources encourage children to test their knowledge – there are questions to puzzle over, flaps to lift, buttons to press and objects such as fossils, dinosaur bones, hand axes and sharks’ teeth to touch. Exhibits range from the colossal jawbone of a fin whale to some of the scientific equipment that might have been used in the past to analyse, measure and catalogue objects in our natural history collections.

Birds and animals threatened with extinction, such as kiwis and yellow-eyed penguins, feature in one display case, and you can also see the Bird of the Month chosen by Booth Museum staff.

The gallery hosts Museum Explorers events each Friday morning during term time for pre-school children to get creative with natural history.