MUSEUM
Raven Hill Discovery Center is a regional science
and technology center. It is located on 157 acres, four miles
southeast of East Jordan, which is in a rural area of northwestern
Lower Michigan. The Center is adjacent to Little Traverse Conservancy’s
Raven Ridge Nature Preserve. Raven Hill is also a cultural,
historical and art center. The overall goal of the Center is
to foster an interest in and to convey information in science
and technology, history and the arts by inviting visitors to
have quality hands-on experiences. The Center is open year-round
to the public, individuals, groups and organizations. Raven
Hill is a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt corporation.
To visit Raven Hill is to immerse oneself in a
world of discovery by trying and touching. Visitors may manipulate
prisms in a laser beam, climb inside a kaleidoscope, weave on
a loom, ride a generator bike to turn on lights, play traditional
games like Caroms and Skittles, build sculptures, arches, and
towers on a huge magnet table, or play a variety of musical
instruments including drums and a marimba. Collections of old-fashioned
tools, shells, furs, skulls, and rocks round out the exhibits
at Raven Hill and make it interesting for the young and the
young at heart..
At Raven Hill Discovery Center, there is something
for all ages. Little ones are fascinated by marble rolls, vortexes
and old telephones. Older children and adults like the games,
most especially the Rollway where the challenge is to create
a ramp to slow the ball down without stopping it. A slow run
can get the builder/s a small prize or even a T-shirt if the
run is longer than 30 seconds. There’s also a gyrocycle
to experience gyroscopic presession, if you can understand and
follow some simple instructions.
ANIMALS
Raven Hill is home to a number of exotic animals
used to teach children of all ages, not to fear, but to respect
snakes, lizards, turtles, and spiders. All animals are orphans,
donated to Raven Hill because people can’t take care of
them or don’t want them anymore. Children and adults alike
can look, pet or hold to fit individual comfort levels. Raven
Hill is a place where knowledge of all aspects of science and
its integral place in history and art is shared with anyone
who is willing to listen and ask questions.
Visitors are able to observe and compare primitive
and modern snakes, land and water turtles, vertebrates and invertebrates.
They learn about the natural habits and habitats of the exotic
animals common to the pet trade industry. No Michigan animals
are found in Raven Hill’s Animal Room. Native Michigan
animals are protected by Michigan laws and at Raven Hill Discovery
Center, they are found only outside in their natural habitats.
Raven Hill Discovery Center’s Animal Room
also contains a variety of preserved animals and animal parts,
including dried sponges, corals, mollusks, crabs and porcupine
fish; python skins; horse, deer and peccary skulls; dog skeletons;
and taxidermied marlins, sharks, hawks, owls, beavers and squirrels.
The Periodic Room houses a twenty-foot Periodic
Table of the Elements with the ores as they come from the earth
and products containing specific elements. The noble gases are
electrified and light up in their characteristic colors. Artistic
interpretations of the Earth's geologic history is the other
major exhibit in the Periodic Room. Local artists used their
myriad talents to show how the Earth might have looked at various
periods in prehistory. Various media are represented, including
ceramics, metal, glass, felting, acrylic, watercolor and pencil.
The exhibit also includes prehistoric puppets and a puppet theater
for the younger set..
