The Slater Museum of Natural History is a

natural history museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

. The museum is located on the campus of

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

at 1500 N. Warner St. Tacoma, WA 98416. The museum's collection has 29,987 mammals, 26,340 birds, 8,237 amphibians and reptiles, 12,500 insects and 13,000 plants. The collection grows at a rate of one to two percent every year. It was founded by James R. Slater. The museum is host to the world’s second largest bird wing collection. The images are available to the public through the University of Puget Sound’s Wing & Tail Image Collection.

Educational programs

Nights at the Museum is a series of educational events for University of Puget Sound students and residents of the Tacoma area. In addition to specimens from the museum’s collection, live animals are often featured in partnership with

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (PDZA) is the only combined zoo and aquarium in the Pacific Northwest, located in Tacoma, Washington, US, owned by Metro Parks Tacoma. Situated on in Tacoma's Point Defiance Park, the zoo and aquarium are home to ov ...

. Nature in the Classroom is the Slater Museum of Natural History’s science-based curriculum for 4th and 5th grade students that was made in collaboration with the

Tacoma School District Tacoma School District No. 10, commonly called Tacoma Public Schools, is a school district headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, United States. Composed of 35 elementary schools, 11 middle schools, 10 high schools, and 4 early learning centers. It ...

. The curriculum incorporates specimens from the museum’s collection with the goal of educating students about the natural world. Slater Museum Education and Outreach staff are available to conduct the curriculum over three 1.5-hour sessions. Alternatively, Classroom kits are available for teachers to check out if they are trained to lead the lessons.

References

University of Puget Sound Museums in Tacoma, Washington Natural history museums in Washington (state) University museums in Washington (state) {{washington-museum-stub