About the Exhibition

Water will take you on a trip around the world to explore the ways that water—in its scarcity or abundance—has shaped different lands and cultures. Along the way, you'll be struck by the ways in which this most indispensable element has inspired creativity, spirituality, and beauty throughout the world.

Highlights of Water include:

• A 68-inch globe called Science on a Sphere, which displays maps and satellite images of Earth via a state-of-the-art projection system so that it appears to be floating in the air. It provides an unforgettable look at just how much of our planet is made up of water.
• A walk-through water-carved slot canyon—a dramatic example of the ways in which running water physically sculpts our surroundings.
• Animals and plants—both live and preserved—amazing adaptations that make them uniquely suited for their species' relationship with water. You'll see mudskippers, tetras, frogs and more.
• Interactive quizzes that will test your family's water know-how. Do you know how much water goes into making some of the items that you use or consume every day?
• Ancient artifacts and specimens—from a piece of 3.8 billion year-old Isua schist (metamorphic rock from Greenland) to a 5,000 year-old Sumerian water jug—present the story of water's origin on Earth and the ways that humans have handled it.
• A series of memorable sculptural elements—a fog wall and a lit pool at the exhibit's entrance to a display of plastic water bottles that provides a stunning demonstration of how much our dependence on bottled water is costing us.

After a visit to Water, you'll walk away with a better understanding of a resource that touches each of our lives every single day, as well as the challenges we face as its stewards. Armed with knowledge and insight into water uses around the globe, you'll leave re-energized about the ways we can conserve and protect water in our day-to-day lives.

Water is organized by the Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul and the American Museum of Natural History, New York, in collaboration with Great Lakes Science Center, Cleveland; The Field Museum, Chicago; Instituto Sangari, São Paulo, Brazil; National Museum of Australia, Canberra; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada; San Diego Natural History Museum; and Singapore Science Centre with PUB Singapore.