NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.- The grand opening weekend of Dynamic Earth: Revealing Nature’s Secrets, the highly-anticipated permanent natural science exhibit at The Newark Museum, is scheduled to begin on Friday, November 29. The seven-gallery exhibit, located in the new Victoria Hall of Science in the Museum’s main building, is open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5pm. After the inaugural weekend, the exhibit will be open Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5pm.

In a single encounter, visitors to the new exhibit travel from the beginning of time to the present exploring how oceans, continents, mountains and geological wonders were created. A Dynamic Earth adventure will transport visitors from Africa’s Savanna to the Arctic Tundra and from a tropical rain forest to New Jersey’s Highlands to explore how animals and plants have adapted to their environments over the millennia -- and to examine what remains of those that didn’t.

Designed for an audience of children, K-8, and their families, the exhibit’s multi-media interactive experiences are engaging and entertaining for all ages. Dynamic Earth offers, among scores of other experiences, 13 exciting media presentations; several mind-testing interactive games; dozens of natural science demonstrations; a unique opportunity to take rubbings of million-year-old fossil replicas in a recreated New Jersey Highlands cave, and an "up-close" encounter with a prehistoric mastodon fossil skeleton.

The Victoria Hall of Science tells the story of the earth’s development through a progression of galleries designed with ample space to allow families and class groups to linger and discuss the wonders they have just experienced. Galleries of the new exhibit include: Dynamic Earth Introduction Theater - A multi-media extravaganza, narrated by James Earl Jones, and a specimen showcase that awakens curiosity and sets the stage for the visit. Forces of Change - An exciting array of media experiences that allows visitors to "look inside" the earth’s mantle and to view such natural phenomena as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, mountains rising from oceans and formation of continents. Visitors will also gain new understanding of the effects of geological forces on natural environments. Life Adapts to Change - Survival is more than a television show in this gallery. Panoramic views of predator-prey relationships and how each has evolved to fit their environment excite the imagination. Interactive games test the player’s knowledge and teach the concept of survival of the fittest species as visitors travel from the African savanna, to the Arctic tundra and a tropical rain forest.

New Jersey Highlands: Diversity in Your Backyard - Visitors explore New Jersey as a scientist would. A beautiful panorama of the Highlands in the fall, complete with a replicated forest and lake, sets the stage for an encounter with a mastodon skeleton (and an opportunity to actually touch a 12,000-year-old mastodon molar). A colony of live bees and a recreated termite-infested rotting log communicate important scientific concepts. Visitors use their newfound knowledge to discover things about New Jersey they didn’t know - while having fun participating in the learning process.

Highlands Cave - A remarkable true-to-life re-creation of a deep, dark cave complete with bats, fossils, rock formations and an exhibit of fluorescent minerals, unique to New Jersey, from New Jersey’s Sterling-Franklin Mines.

Discovery Field Station - A tented field station establishes an atmosphere in which creative visitors of every age may make their own scientific discoveries by participating in hands-on activities packaged in discovery boxes designed by the Museum’s science educators.

Amber: Worlds Caught in Time - This unusual and highly imaginative exhibit is the inaugural offering of The Prudential Foundation Gallery, Dynamic Earth’s changing gallery. A beautiful mural depicting Sayreville, New Jersey, 90 million years ago, serves as the backdrop for a remarkable collection of rare New Jersey amber, much of it containing insect and flora fossils of that period. A video presentation introduces visitors to Dr. David Grimaldi, the scientist who discovered most of the exhibit’s amber - including many specimens containing insects that are 90 million years old. Also on display, are beautiful specimens of Baltic amber.

"While many institutions attempt to make learning fun," said Director Mary Sue Sweeney Price, "The Newark Museum chose to create an entertaining environment that results in a learning experience. Our rich history of providing natural science education to millions of children taught us that the difference is not a matter of semantics. Children learn best when they are participating and enjoying themselves. Our science team has successfully met the challenge to make fun a learning experience."