Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History

The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History has been bringing the wonders of the natural world to Santa Cruz residents and visitors for 100 years. Visitors can experience the geology of the region through exhibits describing the various rock formations that define the geology of Santa Cruz, digging in a fossil bed for 10 million year old sand dollars in the Museum's fossil dig, or viewing fossilized bones of whales, dolphins, or an entire sea cow skeleton. There is a Secrets of Nature lecture series, interpretive walks/talks, and an annual trip to the Galapagos Islands, with tour guides and lectures. The collections include fossils, shells, minerals, animals and insects, as well as biological, ethnographic and historic artifacts. Parts of the collection can be accessed for scholarly study. Resource kits for teachers include topics in Earth science, invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants, and include slide shows, posters, books, charts, and pages for copying