The Museum Complex of Natural

Sciences Galati

By Pacenschi Marian Vali and Ioana Crețeanu

High School Emil Racoviță, Galați
Romania
Coordinating teachers: Ghețeu Mariela and Tătaru Lăcrămioara
• The Museum was founded in 1956, in a
building located in the central zone of
the city, based on a collection of
geology - mineralogy suite (collection
Pasa), to which was added a fauna
exhibition presenting dioramas and an
aquarium with exotic fish. In 1978, at the
headquarters of 91 Domnească Street,
the basic exhibition was opened,
dealing with bird ecology problems in
the southeastern part of
Romania. Since 1990, the museum has
turned into a complex institution with
the following structure: museum,
aquarium, planetarium, botanical
garden, zoo.
Since 1992 the construction of the
current museum complex, along the
Danube bank, has begun. The complex
was given in public circuit in 2003 and
includes: aquarium, museum
with temporary exhibition halls
and scientific warehouses, a spacious
conference room, as well as a
planetarium and an
observatory. The scientific heritage of
the museum exceeds 60,000 scientific
pieces, ordered by collections.
• The Aquarium which is in
at the basement of the
building includes an
impressive collection of fish
species from the lower
Danube river basin, the
Mediterranean Sea, and
tropical freshwater fish
fauna.
• The Planetarium and The
Observatory are located on the
second floor of the building,
where two permanent
exhibitions dedicated to the
Solar System and the Universe
can also be visited. The
projection system used is a
digital, state-of-the-art one.
• The Astronomical Observatory is
the largest and most modern
public observer in the country,
with a tractable roof and a
state-of-the-art optical system,
the only one of its kind in
Romania.
• The Botanical Garden was established in 1992 as
part of the Museum of Natural Sciences
Complex. The first planting took place in 1994. In
1996, the specialists of this institution contributed
to the first seed catalogue. Today, the Garden
has over 3,000 taxons and occupies an area
of ​18 hectares, on the left bank of the
Danube. It has been conceived from several
sectors (Flora and Vegetation of Romania, Flora
of the World, Japanese Garden, Rosarium,
Ornamental Flora, Useful Flora and the
Greenhouses), offering visitors unique relaxation
moments in an oasis of greenery.
• The Zoo, organized on an
area of ​about 7
hectares, is located in the
Gârboavele Forest, near
the city of Galați, and
has a diverse collection of
animal species from a
multitude of geographic
regions of the world.
 Biodiversity - the result of adaptation to the environment
• To prepare the visit to the museum, the teacher presented the notion of biodiversity:
Biodiversity is the variability of organisms within terrestrial, marine, aquatic,
continental ecosystems and ecological complexes; this includes intraspecific,
interspecific diversity and diversity of ecosystems. Today's biodiversity is the result of
billions of years of evolution, adaptation to the environment, modeled by natural
processes and, increasingly, by people's influence.
• The teacher presented us the purpose of the visit:
 discovering biodiversity of the Carpathian Mountains, the freshwater and marine
aquatic ecosystems found in the museum
 observing adaptation of organisms to the environment in which they live, and solving
the tasks of a ”treasure hunt”.
• The first floor of the museum building is designed for
temporary exhibition spaces. On its lobby there is an
itinerary exhibition from the National Museum of Natural
History Grigore Antipa, entitled ”Grigore Antipa 150”,
dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of
the greatest Romanian scientists, who founded the
museum of natural sciences in Romania but also played
an important role in the sustainable conservation of fish
resources in our country.
 Temporary
exhibition ”On
the peaks of
the
Carpathians”,
present aspect
related to the
biodiversity of
the Carpathian
Mountains.
 At the semi-basement of the
building there is an aquarium divided
into a recirculating system structured
with freshwater fish species (domestic
and foreign) and species of sea
water (foreign).
 Other two micro exhibitions:
• ”Tentacles and tentacles” - adaptations of aquatic
animals”
• ”Living Fossils” - horseshoe crabs (Limulus
polyphemus), crustaceans archaic species spread
coast of North America. They are the descendants of
the trilobites.

At the end the evaluation

of the answers was done -
90% of the answers were
correct
After this museum visit, we
organized an exhibition of
animals made of recyclable
materials.