Did you know that Manitoba’s flying squirrels glow in the dark? Learn more in this video with Curator of Zoology, Dr. Randy Mooi.
Did you know that puffballs are mushrooms that produce millions of spores?
When a puffball is ripe, the outer portion cracks open, revealing the brown, dust-like spores inside. Wind blows these spores away to new habitats where they grow into new fungi. The Museum has three specimens of Giant Puffballs (Calvatia booniana) on display in the Prairies Gallery.
Learn more about the travelling plants of the prairies in her blog Travelling Plants of the Prairies by Curator of Botany, Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson.
Western Giant Puffball (Calvatia booniana). Manitoba Museum, MY-361 © Ian McCausland
An Introduction to the Eckhardt-Gramatté Collection
Have you heard of Walter Gramatté, Sonia Eckhardt-Gramatté, and Ferdinand Eckhardt? Learn a bit about them in this intro to the Eckhardt-Gramatté Collection with Collections Technician of Human History, Cortney.
How do diapers work? At-home science experiment!
Have you ever wondered how diapers work? Walk through this science experiment with Science Communicator Adriana to find out!
Did you know that the Nonsuch has a trapdoor?
Did you know that the Nonsuch has a trapdoor? Join Learning & Engagement Producer Erin in the hold to learn more!
Fossils Found in Amber
Amber found at Cedar Lake, Manitoba, is famous as a source of fossil insects of Late Cretaceous age (about 78-79 million years old). Strangely, this amber originated far from Manitoba!
Amber, a fossil tree resin, has long been prized as a gem, and it provides immense evidence about the ancient world. Most amber comes from softwood trees, which produce abundant resin as protection from wood beetles; the sticky resin captures insects and other small creatures.
Cedar Lake amber came from trees that grew near what is now Medicine Hat, Alberta, on a warm floodplain inhabited by dinosaurs! Amber is very light and is easily transported. The amber now at Cedar Lake was eroded from sedimentary rock, and transported by the Saskatchewan River. It was deposited where the flow of the river slowed: at Cedar Lake, where it is incorporated into beaches. This material, found in Manitoba, tells us about insects that lived 1000 km away!
Learn more in the Earth History Gallery.
New exhibition, ‘If These Walls Could Talk,’ now open!
Don’t miss ‘If These Walls Could Talk: 50 Years of 2SLGBTQ+ Activism in Winnipeg’ during your next visit to the Museum!
Learn more about this important exhibition with Curator of History, Dr. Roland Sawatzky, and Rainbow Resource Centre Director of Advocacy, Ashley Smith.
Did you know why our oceans are SO important?
Did you know that the ocean covers 71% of the Earth’s surface? This Ocean Week, join Mika, our Learning & Engagement Producer of Youth Climate Action, to learn some of the reasons that it’s so important for us to take care of our oceans.
Did you know about Victorian hair wreaths?
Did you know that Victorians made mourning jewelry and wreaths from the hair of deceased loved ones? Take a close look at two of the hair wreaths in our collection with Cortney, our Collections Technician of Human History!
Did you know where Cedar Lake amber REALLY comes from?
Did you know that the beautiful amber found along the beaches of Cedar Lake isn’t actually from Manitoba? Join Dr. Graham Young in the Earth History Gallery to find out where it came from and what it can tell us about the Cretaceous period.