National Dinosaur Museum

The National Dinosaur Museum houses the southern hemisphere's largest permanent display of prehistoric items. The museum's exhibition shows the evolution of life, especially dinosaurs.

The museum is one of the most popular places to visit in the Australian Capital Territory. Each year, 100,000 people come through its doors.

The museum was established in 1993. Since then it has been steadily improved and updated. The earth science dinosaur-oriented displays are kept up to date with most recent discoveries in geology. Some of the museum's directors are local and international scientists and geologists. Major upgrades were done in 2012. Those included twelve new animatronic dinosaurs and many life size models both inside and outside the museum.

The National Dinosaur Museum is not just about Dinosaurs. The exhibition covers the history of life on this planet with fossils from 700 million-year-old marine fauna through to fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.

Exhibition Highlights

•  Easy to read, educational information panels.

•  Beautiful murals depicting reconstructions of environments from the prehistoric past to enhance understanding of extinct biodiversity.

•  Dinosaurs and other fossils not on display anywhere else in the world.

The diversity of the exhibition has never been stronger, with new murals and many new fossils for a more cohesive story of the past.  The exhibition compares the life of all plants and animals in a chronological, easy to follow manner, suitable for everyone - not just scientists.

Schools

The museum has guided tours for school groups of all ages by appointment. It hosts birthday parties, "dance with dinosaurs" events for young children, private parties, corporate functions and dinosaur sleepovers during school holiday periods.

Tours

The National Dinosaur Museum provides two different types of tours – those at night, and those during the day. Both tour types provide excellent educational information regarding dinosaurs and prehistoric animals, but do so in different settings.

Day Tours – give the opportunity to see all of the exhibits at the National Dinosaur Museum during a 60-minute tour with one of our experienced guides.  Tours are conducted in a fun but educational style with plenty of opportunities for students to interact with suggestions, theories and questions.  Worksheets have been designed to complement these tours and may be completed during the tour or at a later stage as a revision exercise (see bottom of page for worksheets in .pdf format).

Dinosaurs at Night Tours - these tours are specifically designed to increase the atmosphere and visual excitement of the visit.  The 60-minute tour is conducted through a dark museum, with exhibits highlighted through spotlights and the Guide’s torch.  Students get the opportunity to experience the same conditions as those faced by Australia’s Polar Dinosaurs; but as they are in the dark, not all exhibits can be viewed. 

Although groups have brought torches in the past these are no longer required, and actually detract from the dramatic presentation. Due to the high demand for Night Tours and their specialised nature, they are less flexible in their presentation style than tours held during the day. They offer the same information and education value, but in a different setting.