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Irvine Nature Center’s Exhibit Gallery highlights uniquely Piedmont habitats: woodlands, wetlands, and meadows. Interactive exhibits provide hands-on learning and tools to better explore nature in the Piedmont region.
Sounds of nature fill the Exhibit Hall. Bird calls, insect sounds, and frog croaks enhance the experience of each of the habitat areas. The Gallery has a lofty ceiling with ample daylight streaming in from clerestory windows. A wall of glass at the end of the Gallery provides a stunning view of the forest beyond, inviting visitors to go out and explore. A stained concrete floor, complete with leaf impressions and animal tracks, keeps visitors looking for more. State of the art, live animal exhibits provide life-like habitats for Irvine’s animals and are beautiful renditions of nature.
COLLECTIONS WALL
This extensive display features vitrines filled with eggs, feathers, skeletons, turtle shells, seeds, insect mounts and more. Visitors may examine and identify these rare and special artifacts housed for educational purposes.
WOODLAND EXHIBITS
Woods at Night – A narration with nighttime sounds encourages visitors to discover nocturnal animals in a darkened room. Lights synchronized to the soundtrack shine on taxidermy animal specimens.
Leaf Matching – Visitors look closely at leaf edges to find matching leaves, which drop through cut-outs on the kiosk.
Bird Calls and Songs – Listen to bird sounds and then try to guess which bird makes the ‘mystery’ bird call. Taxidermy bird mounts and actual nests add interest.
Dichotomous Tree ID – A series of questions on this interactive computer program helps visitors identify trees by their leaves and branching patterns.
Box Turtle Habitat – This large free-standing enclosure features naturalistic rockwork, a water feature, and live native plantings for live box turtles. Children can pretend to be box turtles as they crawl through a tunnel under the enclosure and stand up inside of a tube within the exhibit to get a different perspective of the box turtle habitat.
Animal Tracks – Feel each track impression, then lift a panel to see which animal made each track.
WETLAND EXHIBITS
Filtering Wetlands – Visitors can move a lever to gently shift water back and forth, carrying little spheres of ‘pollution’ towards wetland grasses. Watch how the grasses filter pollution from entering waterways.
Plants in the Wetlands – By pushing buttons to match which roots, stems, and seeds are adapted to wet or dry growing conditions, plant types are contrasted.
Scope on a Rope – Closely examine natural artifacts (or your own fingers) using this hand-held mini microscope. The magnified view is displayed above on a large flat screen monitor.
Chesapeake Bay Map – A wall-size map of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed allows visitors to examine the tributaries and land use within the watershed. Plus, an enlargement of the local area is displayed. Using special glasses, viewers can see the topography in 3-D.
Animal Tracks – Follow the track impressions on the floor from this kiosk leading to the mystery creature that left them behind (a raccoon is perched atop the terrapin enclosure).
Diamond Back Terrapin Habitat – Watch baby terrapins swim in a large, naturalistic aquarium. Irvine is participating in a head start program with rescued baby terrapins. Each year the Nature Center will raise some terrapins, which will then be released into the Chesapeake Bay in the spring. The headwater stream on Irvine’s property links us directly to the Chesapeake Bay.
MEADOWS
Bluebirds – Visitors learn about bluebird nesting by peering into a bluebird box. A video loop (filmed on the property) shows a bluebird feeding her young.
Honey Bee Hive – In this live demonstration bee hive, visitors can take a peek into the complex society of a honeybee colony. Search for the queen. Watch workers come and go through a tube to the outside.
Bee Dance and See like a Bee – Watch how real honeybees do their “waggle dance” on video, and do the dance yourself by following dance steps on the floor. Look through the bee goggles to see like a bee with compound eyes.
Sun Cycle – By cranking a handle, visitors can turn colorful gears which graphically display the link between the sun, plant ‘producers’, and animal ‘consumers’.
Insect Mimicry – Insect specimens can be examined with a moveable magnifier to see each insect’s unique adaptations using mimicry or camouflage for survival.
Plant Scents and Bee Guides – Sniff each scent to determine if it will attract or repel animals. Visitors press a button to shine ultraviolet light on flowers, revealing the otherwise unseen bee guides to human eyes.
Green Features – Learn about what makes Irvine green and discover what people can do to conserve, restore and protect natural resources. Turn the big wheels and try to match the picture of the action with the positive result it will have on the environment. This kiosk also introduces the visitor to a green feature logo that will be used on interpretive signs highlighting many eco-friendly components of the building and site.
KIDS CORNER
Modeled after a child’s backyard playhouse, the kid-friendly space features natural objects such as feathers, snake skin, bones, bark, fur, and seeds for children to handle and explore. The cozy space features eco-friendly carpeting and pillows, along with a crawl-through for kids to hide and play. Animal costumes, nature books and puzzles add to fun and learning for our youngest visitors.
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