The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is transporting visitors to the tropical forest of Gombe National Park in its temporary exhibit, Discovering Chimpanzees: The Remarkable World of Jane Goodall. The exhibit opens Sept. 19 and runs through Jan. 4.
This interactive exhibit gives visitors the opportunity to step into the African jungle and explore the world of chimpanzees through the eyes of the world renowned chimpanzee researcher, Dr. Jane Goodall. Dynamic interactives make visitors feel part of the jungle story with opportunities to climb and explore a treetop nest and imitate chimp calls and behaviors.
Discovering Chimpanzees demonstrates Dr. Goodall's remarkable story and her global influence. The exhibit is comprised of four distinct themes:
—The Chimp Forest takes visitors into the African jungle home of chimpanzees to learn to walk, talk and climb like a chimp. Visitors can act like a chimp with arm extensions to imitate the proper posture of chimpanzees and by drumming on tree roots to display dominance.
—Primates is an exploration of the Order of Primates. Visitors will learn about each of the 12 families of primates by comparing their similarities to the primates and joining the Primate Reunion for a "family photo."
—The Work of Jane Goodall showcases 40 years of Dr. Goodall's research with field notes, photographs, video clips and other artifacts documenting her research achievements from the past four decades. Visitors will be able to sit in a recreation of her field research tent and watch moving video accounts of some of Dr. Goodall's most memorable achievements and milestones.
—The Reason for Hope displays the successful initiatives of individuals who have taken action to deal with environmental and societal issues. Visitors will be inspired by Jane's life-size message of hope and learn about Dr. Goodall's recent work that is focused on the future.
The study of the chimpanzee community in Gombe National Park is one of the longest ongoing field studies in history. Dr. Goodall has spent more than 40 years in the African tropical forest, studying the lives of chimpanzees in the wild. Her earliest discovery, that chimpanzees create and use tools, something that was originally thought to be a uniquely human ability, forced the science community to rethink its distinction between humans and animals. Over the years, Dr. Goodall discovered several startling similarities between humans and chimps and recent testing has confirmed that chimpanzees share 98.6 percent of the same DNA.
Admission to Discovering Chimpanzees is $4 for non-member adults, $2 for non-member children, $2 for member adults and $1 for member children. Admission to the Nature Museum is $7 for adults, $4 for children ages 3 to 12, $5 for seniors age 60+ and college students. Chicago residents receive a $1 discount off the price of general admission. Museum admission is free on Thursdays.
The Museum is open every day except New Year's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Nature Museum is located at 2430 N. Cannon Dr. (at Fullerton) in Lincoln Park. For more information, call (773) 755-5100 or visit the Museum's Web site at www.naturemuseum.org.
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