Immersive exhibits and innovative experiences

We often think of nature as a place untouched by humans – high on a rugged mountain top or deep in a remote canyon. But nature is thriving in cities and towns all around us. Filled with immersive environments and hands-on exhibits, Nature All Around Us challenges the notion that urban and natural environments are at odds by showing the many ways they are linked. Exploring such themes as yards & gardens, rivers & streams and urban forests, Nature All Around Us seeks to create awareness and understanding of the many plant and animal species we see every day. From raccoons to pollinators, you don’t need to leave home to find nature!

May 24th - August 31st, 2025.
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People called this area home long before the first European settlers arrived. At least 13,000 years ago these people lived along the rivers and hunted the plains and mountains we see today, leaving traces of their complex cultures for us to marvel at. Learn about the Lindenmeier archaeological site and our original inhabitants in the First Peoples exhibit.

Whether your taste in music is rock ‘n roll or Rachmaninoff, you’ll find something to inspire you in the Music & Sound Lab, supported through the generosity of the Bohemian Foundation. You’ll learn about the physics of sound (and why your parents were right about not listening to your music too loud), the technology behind everything from Edison wax cylinders to iPods, the history of the Fort Collins music scene, and have the opportunity to play instruments including guitars, drums, marimbas, keyboards, and even a theremin!

Roll up your sleeves and get in touch with your inner scientist! The Schatz Family Exploration Zone is full of intriguing hands-on ways to turn scientific concepts into action. Encounter light, color, air, and motion in a whole new way!

Designed for our littlest visitors, The Tot Spot reflects the larger museum in toddler-friendly ways! Check out the train table, water zone, art center, and the centerpiece – a giant crawl-through tree!

Begin your natural history adventure at the fossil wall, where you’ll see the plants and animals that called Fort Collins home – millions of years before there was a Fort Collins! Opposite of the fossil wall is the regional biodiversity wall, home to the flora and fauna of our four ecozones of today. In between you’ll find two creatures that connect past and present with their special stories.

FCMoD's live animals exhibit gives visitors an up close and personal experience with animals they can find in their backyard and beyond.

From ancient times to today people have found ways to survive and thrive in this challenging landscape and to make it home. Discover the rich story of how the land has shaped us and how we have shaped the land in the Food, Forage, and Farm exhibit.

From its founding as a military camp in 1864 to today, the story of Fort Collins has moved! Why did people come to this town, how did they get here, what did they do to shape it into the prosperous and vibrant city we know today? Explore this story in the People on the Move exhibit.

Fort Collins is home to many wonderful natural areas, from the sweeping expanse of Soapstone Prairie Natural Area to the intimate river walk of the Gustav Swanson Natural Area. Get to know all the great recreational opportunities that our natural areas offer, and come face-to-face with two live black-footed ferrets – their incredible story of recovery from the brink of extinction will amaze you.

Ferret Cam

Take the Healthy Steps during your next visit! Healthy Steps is a new exhibit at Fort Collins Museum of Discovery made possible by the McKee Wellness Foundation. Together, we encourage you to climb to new, healthy heights and learn about Fort Collins on your way! Experience this interactive exhibit today - after all, good things happen one step at a time.

Although the artists, Óscar and Rubén, have returned to Mexico City, their magnificent Alebrije is on display above our Museum Store

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Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity aims to inspire wonder and curiosity about this uniquely complex organ. The exhibit features dozens of scientific specimens that showcase the incredibly adaptive properties of skin in animals. It will also touch on the topics of racism, prejudice, and discrimination through the lenses of history and science.

October 12, 2024 - April 27, 2025.

The Bias Inside Us is a community engagement project featuring a Smithsonian traveling exhibition. It serves as a centerpiece for local programs and activities that raise awareness about the science and history of bias. The goal is to help people understand implicit bias and create deeper empathy for one another. We’re excited to bring this thought-provoking exhibit to you.

November 27 - December 31, 2024

Earth Matters: Rethink the Future is a 5000 square foot highly interactive exhibit that takes people of all ages on an inspirational journey to understand the changes occurring in our natural world and discover how we can rethink the future.

Visitors will experience how the smallest of actions, like building an insect hotel, can have a big impact on the world around them. And they will be inspired by new ideas and learn the skills to bring their own ideas to life.

Earth Matters features thought-provoking and fully interactive exhibits, covering topical themes such as biodiversity, rising global temperatures, and carbon emissions across an informative journey that will inspire visitors to find new answers to big questions.

Created by Scitech in Perth, Australia and Produced by Imagine Exhibitions

The photography exhibition FOOD FOR THOUGHT Micro Views of Sustenance: Threats and Prospects offers a perspective on the ways in which food is connected to climate change and other ecological issues of our times. Using elaborate imaging techniques, such as high-resolution close-ups, Dash’s photomontages create a stunning visual conversation focusing on everyday foods, their sources, and the investigation of their microscopic elements. Focusing on local subjects, Dash was granted permission to use the University of Washington, Friday Harbor Lab’s electron microscope for this ongoing project – allowing him to center on the microscopic in stunning detail.

In doing so, Dash invites viewers to ponder critical issues such as crop loss, deforestation, drought, the collapse of insect and bee populations, and more.

Dash is an educator and photographer whose work has been published by National Geographic, TIME, Buzzfeed, and LENSWORK, all while appearing in galleries worldwide. His 2016 TEDx Lecture, The Intercourse of Nature: It’s What We Are, reflects his skills as an artist, ecologist, educator, and orator on important ecological developments.

Photo courtesy: Robert Dash