A Guide to Our Dynamic Earth
Book Our Dynamic Earth & Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe
Earthscape Scotland
Opened in March 2006, the exterior of Our Dynamic Earth hosts a free exhibit entitled Earthscape Scotland. This compliments the local landscape allowing you to discover Scotland's own geological heritage. The centre piece exhibit will take you on a journey of discovery where no man has gone before; on a journey to the centre of the Earth.
State of The Earth
Discover our dynamic planet as we know it. You can monitor population growth, discover how the Atlantic Ocean widens daily, and explore the concepts of time. Interactives encourage further investigation and offer you the chance to create your very own earthquake and check the weather around the world. Video screens display dramatic footage of natural phenomena; erupting volcanoes and wild weather systems.#
Time Machine
Board the time machine to begin your journey back 15,000 million years. Historical events pass before your very eyes, back 50 years, a thousand years, millions of years, before the life of the dinosaurs and even the formation of the universe, back to the time of the Big Bang.
How It All Started
Once you exit the time machine, you will board the bridge of a spaceship. Through large viewing screens you can look out into space and witness the Big Bang through the eyes of the Hubble Telescope. Galaxies form and give birth to millions of stars and the formation of our solar system. The final image is of our planet Earth, but with the continents and oceans jumbled and not as we know them today.
Restless Earth
Enter a barren volcanic landscape on the newly formed planet Earth. After billions of years the Atlantic slowly widens creating the now familiar outlines of our own continents and coastlines. Watch and listen as the floor begins to shake, the smell of sulphur and smoke fills the room and the air heats up... Discover you are standing on an active volcano on the brink of eruption!
Shaping the Surface
Leaving the heat and violence of the Restless Earth, move through into the cool blue light of a craggy ice cave. Take a flight over glaciers in and around the icy and dramatic landscapes of Norway and Scotland. The power of natural forces are revealed as you discover how our landscape has been shaped and erodes by the power of ice.
Casualties and Survivors
Begin their exploration of the planet and the creatures within it. In Casualties and Survivors you will follow the precarious path of evolution and come face to face with some of the winners and losers in life’s struggle for survival. Interactives invite you to explore how evolution has changed animal and plant life as we know it. Discover how mass extinctions occurred and what the dinosaurs might have looked like if the meteorite had not struck.
Oceans
Following on your exploration you will encounter the extremes of planet earth, firstly our big blue continent; the oceans. Diving beneath the waves you will be captivated by striking images as you peer out through the portholes to discover different marine environments; from the warm coral reefs to the tropical open seas, into the dark of the deep ocean, to our own coastal kelp forests and into the cold of the polar seas.
Polar Extremes
Deep within the core of Our Dynamic Earth lies a polar adventure. You’ll have to scrape back the ice, face howling winds and prepare for freezing temperatures to reach the world’s most remote environments. Discover the Arctic and Antarctic in all their magnificence with ice bergs, polar bears, penguins, ice cores and the Aurora Borealis! Visit Mercedes the Polar Bear at Edinburgh Zoo.
Journeys of Contrasts
The journey leads south through the Tundra, Temperate Forest, Urban, Desert and Grasslands regions. Each area is depicted on video screens showing stunning footage of the flora and fauna. You can see and hear the dramatic changes as day turns to night and summer to winter, and they can investigate the delicate balance that sustains life – food, water, shelter and energy.
The Tropical Rainforest
Continuing on your exploration of the planet, arrive at the edge of the rainforest, dense with buttress trees, undergrowth, ferns and creepers. The steamy air is full of sounds of the rainforest; tropical birds squawking, monkeys chattering and the rustling of the trees. Come face to face with rainforest wildlife, a fierce clouded leopard hides amongst the trees, a komodo dragon drinks by the stream, and an orang-utan swings in the trees. The tranquil atmosphere does not last however as the animals raise their voices, the skies turn black, thunder rolls and a torrential rainstorm ensues.
The FutureDome
Met by time traveller Vasco, you are led into the FutureDome to take your crew seat for your journey of a lifetime. First taken back in time to witness uncontrollable natural disasters, either a Super Volcano or a Meteorite Strike, you are reminded that there are some events that happen on the planet which we have no control over.
A world first, bringing to moving projection on a 360 degree dome, rotating platforms and genuine visitor interaction, the FutureDome offers 96 possible different outcomes, so every visit presents a new possible future!
Book Our Dynamic Earth & Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe