The Museum of the Earth, located eight minutes north of downtown Ithaca, focuses on life beginning in the Cambrian Period, but it covers a wide range of Earth’s history spanning 4.5 billion years.
The museum explores the entire Phanerozoic Eon, including the Paleozoic era (known for plants), the Mesozoic era (known for dinosaurs, birds, and the breakup of Pangaea), the Cenozoic era (known for mammals), and our current Quaternary period (known for the Ice Age and humans).
You enter the building in a glass-enclosed atrium. There is an admission desk, gift shop, introduction video, and a ramp leading down to the main exhibits. Along the ramp is a stunning timeline of Earth’s history.
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Spend a few minutes examining the Rock of Ages, Sands of Time tiles along the lower-level ramp. These tiles depict one million years of fossils displayed at their point of existence along the timeline.
At the bottom of the ramp, you’ll encounter the museum’s current exhibit. During our visit, the exhibit featured the 290 million-year-old Helicoprion Buzzsaw Shark.
The Journey Through Time exhibit focuses on significant events in Earth’s history and particularly emphasizes New York State’s geologic history. Interactive displays help visitors understand and relate to the information presented.
A section is focused primarily on New York’s geology when we were located closer to the Equator, slowly becoming part of the Pangean continent (335-175 Mya). As evidenced by the fossils we find today, New York was covered in a tropical sea during the Devonian period (420-358 Mya).
When you visit the Penn Dixie Paleontological Education Center south of Buffalo, you can dig for fossils of sea lilies and trilobites and keep what you find.
As you proceed through sections dedicated to specific historical periods, you’ll find videos, hands-on activities, and colorful information boards about each era or mass extinction event to help you understand the time and place.
Information about the Museum of the Earth
Cost: There is an admission fee
Located north of the City of Ithaca, 95 minutes / 85 miles from Rochester (get directions)
More information: priweb.org
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