A Century of Science Education

A lot can happen in 100 years, and throughout our first century, the Museum has always been growing—first from modest displays downtown to more spacious accommodations in the Houston Zoo, and then, with the opening of the Burke Baker Planetarium in 1964, to the Museum’s current location in Hermann Park.

Over the years, HMNS has continued to acquire major collections, expand its permanent exhibitions, and add new venues: the Challenger Learning Center in 1988, the George Observatory and the Wortham GIANT Screen Theatre in 1989, and the Cockrell Butterfly Center in 1994.

Today, the Houston Museum of Natural Science is an expansive, multi-story science center where millions of families, students and visitors from around the globe gather to experience the natural world through exceptional permanent galleries as well as unparalleled world premiere exhibitions that bring the earth’s wonders to Houston, many of which are organized by HMNS.

Now, the Museum embarks on an ambitious expansion plan designed to build the world's finest paleontology hall - in addition to increasing classroom and exhibition space - right here in Houston.

The expansion plan will add a direly needed 115,000 square feet in combined exhibition, education and classroom space - effectively doubling the number of classrooms available for educational programs; doubling the amount of public exhibition space that will be available for temporary and permanent installations; and tripling the amount of available collections storage space, to ensure the conservation and care of our collections for decades to come.