Where will your curiosity take you?
The Great Hall
+ AUGMENTED REALITY EXPERIENCE
Step into the ancient world and interact with a creature from the past in ALIVE!, a one-of-a-kind Augmented Reality experience—no tickets required. Learn myth-busting facts about T. rex, Velociraptor and even a Kansas Pteranodon.
You’ll also discover the Real Story of T. rex! See and learn about the first Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered and find out what scientists know now about this amazing creature. Meet Barnum Brown, the boy from Kansas who discovered the first Tyrannosaurus rex!
Exhibition Hall
KANSAS REVEALED | COMING 2025
Deep-dive into our state’s natural history through stories of its diverse people and cultural crossroads.
“Kansas...both the desert and the jewel of the West... born of the prairie... with the throbbing of Native American chants for a lullaby... Kansas... once the home of countless herds of buffalo… the land of dreams where once again phantom wagon trains lumber slowly over the prairies to the echo of buffalo guns... Kansas... land of sunflowers... at the crossroads of the nation...”
- W.G. Clugston, 1943
Kansas City Natural History
Kansas City Natural History invites you to go back three hundred million years ago to see the fascinating fossil remains when Kansas City’s home was on the paleoequator. This engaging exhibit brings to life the oceans, rain forests, palm trees, giant ferns, mastodons, mammoths and grizzly-sized sloths that populated the area millions of summers ago.
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Illustration courtesy of John Babcock
The Discovery Room
Here, kids get to enter a world of authentic hands-on science and interactive discovery. Explore major fields of scientific research, from anthropology to zoology. Excited and engaged, they will find an array of artifacts and specimens, live animals, puzzles, and scientific challenges to explore.
Visitor Guide
Join us on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays for our Animal Encounters
Looking Out, Looking Back
SPRINT GALLERY
Telescopes can be time machines. Looking out in space is like looking back in time. It sounds magical, but it’s actually very simple: Light needs time to travel across the vast distances of space to reach us. Photographs can capture our ancient past!
LOOKING OUT LOOKING BACK features stunning images from local Astronomical Society of Kansas City photographers. Join us on a journey through time from our own backyard.
Virtual Reality
NOW PLAYING: Ecosphere Series
Playing on weekends through the school year and every day in the summer in the Gordon Family VR Theater, Ecosphere Series. ‘Ecosphere’ sets out to redefine the limits of 3D-180 cameras, natural history storytelling and conservation filmmaking. Travel to nature’s most fragile and diverse ecosystems, where indigenous and community-led efforts are creating space for humanity and wildlife to thrive together. ‘ecosphere’ is an uplifting nature documentary series by the award winning studio PHORIA. Produced in partnership with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Silverback Films Ltd and Oculus, this groundbreaking series is narrated by Emmy Award winning actress Anna Friel.
Wetlands Preserve
FREE PUBLIC ACCESS
The Wetlands Park at Prairiefire is one of the most important features in our Prairiefire community. Wetlands are low lying areas of land that are saturated with moisture, and a natural habitat for wildlife including herons, tortoises, butterflies, birds and more. Marshes, swamps, and bogs are examples of wetlands. The Wetlands at Prairiefire is naturally there, and is a preserved park.
Programs for everyone.
Adults
Get together with the community to learn in an engaging way through Science Happy Hour or Cinema and Science.
Youth
Allow children of all ages to explore different experiments and ideas related to relevant scientific topics through Little Explorer’s Club or JAM Sessions.
Perks beyond the museum.
Contact us.
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Email
info@visitthemap.org
Phone
(913) 333-3500
Hours
10am - 5pm
We open at 12pm on Sundays.