If you have ever wanted to look at a wide variety of animatronic dinosaurs, now is your chance! After several months of closure, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) has reopened with the new featured exhibit, Dinosaurs Revealed. 

As an OMSI enthusiast, I have anticipated this reopening, especially with interactive learning experiences being extremely limited already with distance learning. I looked forward to once again being able to learn about science in a unique setting with friends and family. After being pleasantly greeted with a life-size T-rex outside the building, I would say the outing was already off to an excellent start.

The exhibit began with a short video explaining the different time periods during the Age of the Dinosaurs, and went on to explain how dinosaurs are considered the most successful animals to ever roam planet Earth and that most of their fossils have been found in North America. I then walked through a stunning array of moving, roaring dinos while reading explanations of their names, behaviors and native climates.  

While the dinosaurs were very exciting to look at and read about, the exhibit did not offer its usual activities, such as interaction with electronic devices to help explain concepts or being able to touch anything and do some hands-on learning. Giving OMSI the benefit of the doubt, I figured this was likely due to helping protect visitors from transmitting COVID-19 by limiting potential touch points. 

Regardless, I would still highly recommend the exhibit to anyone, especially those who appreciate gigantic animatronic dinosaurs and have a desire to learn something new. After seeing Dinosaurs Revealed, it’s no wonder there’s an entire field of science dedicated to studying such awesome creatures.