North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

This is the state's oldest museum, dedicated to North Carolina's natural history. The Nature Exploration Center and the Nature Research Center are the two buildings that house the museum's exhibits, interactive learning possibilities, and educational lectures.

The Nature Exploration Center's permanent exhibits include a wide range of topics, from North Carolina's coastal regions to the state's gemstone history. There are also parts dedicated to tropics and rainforest habitats, where you can interact with the native two-toed sloth. The "Terror of the South," commonly known as Acro, is the only genuine Acrocanthosaurus skeleton on display anywhere in the world and the highlight of the Prehistoric North Carolina exhibit.

The Nature Research Center, right next door, concentrates on the science and investigation that are essential to understanding the natural world. The exhibits here range from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to deep space exploration and include everything from the study of DNA to the enormous science of weather systems.