International Museum Day at the RMBR

Children's Season 2012 has kicked off! This is honestly my favourite time of the year because there are so many fun activities being held for kids. It's a great time to bring them out and let them get to know the museums, and think of them as fun places.

This year's opening weekend coincided with International Museum Day on 19 May, where participating museums held Open Houses, with free entry and special programmes being organised. Being spoilt for choice, I plumped for the Raffles Museum for Biodiversity Research (RMBR). Learning from our visit last year, I remembered to sign us up in advance for the behind-the-scenes tour, and I'm glad I did. We were led through a series of stations and shown additional exhibits, which were not on display, and learnt some interesting facts both about the specimens, as well as the work of the museum staff and volunteers.

 The "Can-we-go-in-now??" face. This one is not good at waiting.

 First stop: Our guide explained how museums collect and prepare their bird specimens. Some of the specimens are really old! The bird in her hand was collected in the 1930s. 

Rarrr!

We were told how a museum conservator goes about cleaning up and updating specimens for display. The turtle specimen on the table was apparently stuffed with old newspaper dating back to 1907! It looked remarkably good condition for paper that was more than 100 years old.

Specimens from the Insect Room! We were treated to a very lively and animated explanation of the characteristics of beetles, butterflies and moths. Beetles are by and large harmless, we are told, so there's no need to panic when you see one. Just chuck it out of the house and they'll sort themselves out. 

 Compactors filled with specimens.

Shells collected from Palau Semakau. There's still some amazing biodiversity present despite the area being Singapore's landfill. 

We were also treated to a preview of sorts of the dinosaurs that would be housed in the new Lee Kong Chian Museum of Natural History. I'm not the dino freak of this household, but it was still really exciting to see real-life dinosaur fossil bones!

 A leg bone of a Triceratops.

 One of the Triceratops' feet, if I'm not mistaken. (I forgot to note it down.) They are huge!

 Up in the public gallery, they have the leg of a Diplodocus up for viewing. Check it out - it's already reached the ceiling! The full skeleton will be very impressive.

Fossil imprints. I found these particularly fascinating, especially the one of Archeopteryx on the right, which shows wings, like that of a bird, but also teeth, which birds don't have. These are on loan and I hope they'll have something similar on display in the new museum.

All in all, it was a very interesting afternoon for the 3 of us. Naomi didn't get to come along as she was running a fever. I felt sorry for leaving her behind but it definitely worked bettered without her - I think she might have been too restless to listen.

We couldn't leave without buying something, and that's how we ended up coming home with out very own fossil kit for Noey to make a mess with.

 Working away at the big block of plaster.

Stegosaurus revealed!

Both father and son learnt that they probably didn't have the patience to be paleontologists. Chipping away the plaster was hard work! And in their haste to get it all done, they weren't too careful so the Stegosaurus and it's baby emerged with missing plates on their back and missing limbs too. Haha. I don't think DD will be doing another of these for a long time!

The RMBR will remain open to the public till around September 2012. Thereafter it would be closed as they prepare to move to their new home. I'm looking forward to that.