The Sherbrooke Nature and Science Museum (french: Musée de la nature et des sciences de Sherbrooke) is a natural history and

science museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. It is located at 225 Frontenac Street in downtown Sherbrooke. The museum receives funding from the City of Sherbrooke, the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications, the

Department of Canadian Heritage The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage (french: Patrimoine canadien), is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity ...

as well as sponsorships, special grants and private funding.

History

In 1879, the ''Musée du Séminaire de Sherbrooke'' opened within the

Séminaire de Sherbrooke The Séminaire de Sherbrooke, also known as Séminaire Saint-Charles-Borromée, is a private educational institution located in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Today, the Séminaire offers five years of secondary school and several college programs an ...

on Marquette Street. The museum housed a collection of objects and specimens in the natural sciences. In the autumn of 2002 the museum began a major transformation, including its move to the Julius-Kayser Building, a former

lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fash ...

factory.

Collection and exhibits

The museum's collection of over 65,000 objects and specimens represents the diversity of the

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

and

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

as well as elsewhere in North America and around the world. These items include, specimens of amphibians, reptiles and

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

, archaeological items, 4,000 specimens of birds, 1,000 plant and animal

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s, 30,000 specimens of

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s, 500 specimens of mammals, 2,000

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

s, 250

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

, 4,000

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

s and

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

s, as well as

scientific instrument A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research. History Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, an ...

s and other objects. There is a permanent exhibition hall with an exhibit on the four seasons, as well as temporary exhibition halls, an interactive science theatre, a multi-functional hall, a relaxation area and a boutique.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Museums in Estrie Culture of Sherbrooke Museums established in 2002 2002 establishments in Quebec Natural history museums in Canada Buildings and structures in Sherbrooke