A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village

New Exhibits

Village Vet Clinic

Village Vet Clinic
Opened August 2011

Put on a vet’s coat and help animals be healthy, happy pets in the Village Vet Clinic, the museum’s newest exhibit. From screening animal X-rays to weighing a puppy on the scale, children can participate in real-life vet clinic situations as they learn about proper pet care. Located on the second floor of the Gilbert House, the Village Vet Clinic will spur your child’s imagination with an exam table, a colorful kennel, a washing station and an array of stuffed animals needing TLC.

The Oregon Room
Opened January 2011

Venture behind a glittering waterfall, through a volcanic mountain and explore a miniature Willamette Valley. Pick apples in our orchard and tend vegetables in the fields. Climb the Coast Range then build sandcastles at the coast or put on a play with our marine-themed puppets. Our Eastern Oregon Annex includes a fossil dig and petroglyph wall. Children can make their own petroglyph with a heat-sensitive imprint on the wall. Throughout both spaces, murals by local artist Abram Heard depict the state's lush ecological diversity.

	A Walk Through Time Opened February 2010 Throughout the ages, different cultures have tracked time in various ways. Explore with us how these methods are connected and also unique. This interactive exhibit teaches the distinction between analogue and digital clocks, modern calendars versus those of the ancient world, and how days and weeks are tracked. Try this: have a seat in the time machine and pretend to travel to any date in the past or future. What was the world like a thousand years ago? What will it be like thousands of years from now?
	Brazilian Rainforest Theater Opened October 2008 Beware the giant anthill has you duck beneath lush foliage and enter the heart of a Brazilian Rainforest, our newest exhibit on the second floor of the Gilbert House. Gorgeous murals frame the stage and a brilliant waterfall creates the perfect backdrop for performers. A camera and TV screen allow actors to watch their performances as they happen. Costumes include animal-print capes, safari hats, and more to help visitors create open-ended adventures.
	Recollections Opened June 2008 Recollections is a colorful, dazzling projection that allows visitors to create vivid, full-size, time-delayed images of themselves. Combining computer technology, a color camera, a large screen projector, and a special retro-reflective screen, artist/software designer Ed Tannenbaum has created an environment that allows the user to explore time and motion in beautiful colors. Over 256 colors can be displayed on the screen at one time as visitors move and become part of a work of art. Photo by Ron Cooper.
	Undersea Cave of Frozen Shadows Opened June 2008 This is the new and improved Shadow Room! Relocated to the Gilbert House and redesigned with marine murals and glowing jellyfish suspended from the ceiling, the Shadow Room remains a favorite exhibit. Press the button, walk over to the wall, pose, and, flash! your shadow remains on the wall. The material on the wall of our Shadow Room absorbs light energy and re-emits it for several seconds. Where you made a shadow, less light hits the wall and less light is re-emitted. Your shadow remains after you move away. Also, take a dive in the USS Gilbert Submarine Station with a peak-a-boo view into the Shadow Room.
	Go Figure! Opened September 2007 Go Figure! features six gigantic storybooks that start at the top of the front stairs in the Gilbert House with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. As you walk in the bright, colorful room you are greeted by four large books: Frog and Toad Are Friends, The Quilt, Arthur's Pet Shop, and The Doorbell Rang. Each book component offers a fun, hands-on activity for children and information on the math connections for the adults.
	A Child's Trip to China Opened May 2007 Immerse yourself in the culture of today's Chinese children with this exhibit that features a photojournal wall of two Chinese girls, who were adopted into families from the United States from an orphanage in Beijing. With a pavilion, a character writing station, traditional costumes for dress-up, a popular Chinese game, and artifacts and music of the region, the exhibit provides many opportunities for exploration. A photomural depicting the Great Wall of China, a whimsical painted mural of pandas in a bamboo forest, and a mural of the countryside in China adorn the room's walls.
	Exhibits for Sale Click the links below for more information about: Body Basics LaBallotory