The Museum of Jurassic technology is unlike any other museum. For one thing, it resides behind a small shop front on a busy street in downtown Los Angeles. On entering, you walk through a catacomb of dark rooms, each highlighting an exhibit stranger than the last.
The collection has exhibits on topics including: the ability of bats to fly through concrete walls, a theory of memory inspired by an amnesiac opera singer, a fruit pit carved with an elaborate scene, a stink ant from Cameroon, and the dogs of the Soviet Space Program. Every exhibit has a different approach for viewing. There are microminiature sculptures the size of a hair that you can only see with a magnifying glass. There is a hall of “Floral Stereoradiographs” which you view with 3D glasses so they seem to hover, filling the hallway.
As you walk through the halls, you think, this has to be fake, some kind of a joke. But curator David Wilson is absolutely serious in his mission—making us wonder at the world around us.
Where it is: The MJT is located in Culver City, California. You can also find it online at http://www.mjt.org.
Bring it to the classroom: Even if you’re across the country, you can bring the magic of the Museum of Jurassic Technology to your class. Share images from some of the exhibits, and begin a discussion about how what we think of as “real” has changed over the years. Older students might enjoy a documentary about the MJT, available from its website. Also, check out Pulitzer Prize finalist Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonders by Lawrence Weschler, about the MJT and its mysterious history.