Review: The Power of Poison at Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Colombia’s Chocó forest model.

I recommend to come in the early hours of the exhibit so you can have it mostly to yourself. There are many smaller artifacts that require attention to read the place cards. I also would suggest this only for older children. It is quite dark, and some areas a bit sinister. I heard from one friend that their child had bad dreams due to some of the information in the exhibit.

It was quite peaceful here with so few people around in the morning!

You start your journey walking through a re-creation of Colombia’s remote Chocó forest. Here you will see magnified models of various poisonous plants, bugs, and animals. There also is a area where you can see real golden poison dart frogs! Fun fact: Frogs in captivity aren’t poisonous. This is because they get their food by ingesting poisonous insects who have in turned eaten poisonous plants. Because the frogs aren’t fed poisoned insects then they cannot be poisonous!

Golden Poison Dart Frog

You’ll learn about how natives used the poison for hunting as well as some plants that are poisonous until you prepare them properly and then can be eaten. I enjoyed how the information was presented in easy to follow placards and “magnified” models.

Magnified Snake

After traversing the wild forest you come to a new area about Poisons of Myths and Legends. On one side of the wall, you will read some stories from other cultures on where or why poison was introduced to the earth, and what possible fact these Myths have. I particularly loved the part about how it *might* be possible that ancients used clay jars full of vicious scorpions thrown over the siege walls to overwhelm the inhabitants.

Poison Myths & Legends section

On the other side is a masterful piece of technology where a story is projected onto three real pots. The design of the projection makes it look like the greek pottery has come to life and the characters move in and out of the various pots to tell two stores. One is of hercules and the hydra’s poison, the other of Jason & Medea. I enjoyed this from the technical standpoint of how well it was pulled off, while I watched children focus and pay attention to the stories due to their compelling movement.

The magical storytelling pots.

This next area is pretty dark, and is of Poison in Literature. This highlights some recent or famous series that include poisoning & potions from Sherlock Homes to Harry Potter. But beware of spoilers! Some plot points of these books are given away in the discussions. I was sadly mesmerized on the Agatha Christy section…before I realized I was reading what poisons were used in which books! Probably the only true negative of this exhibit.

Poison in Literature

You’ll also have a chance to see an old book of herb knowledge. I found the design elements of this exhibit spot on with huge blown up drawings of plants and animals.

And then you’ll see a huge book that you can handle. This was the most impressive piece of technology I’ve seen, and I wish I could get something like that setup for my next halloween party! Essentially this massive “Magical Book” follows your hand movements, and you can press on designated parts of the book to cause animations to occur (like the poisonous plant flowering) or learn more about the history & use of that poison via an animated storytelling. I sat here for half an hour, pressing the page, watching the animation, and marveling on how it worked. I then noticed that there were other pages. I wondered what would happen if I flipped the page…and it truly was magic. The projector knew you were on a different page and it started magically writing in the next page’s information and drawings. It felt right out of Harry Potter, and I didn’t care that I was a full grown adult monopolizing the “Magic Book”. There are about 3-4 sets of pages, make sure to play with them all!

A page of the magical book as it tells a story.

After the magic book you move into the area of famous stories involving poison. In one area you’ll see the Witches from Macbeth stirring their cauldron and can learn some of the myths about witches. What also is interesting is what types of poisons (or drugs) that people might have taken to think they were “flying” on a broom!

Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Next you will see the topsy turvy world of Alice’s Mad Hatter, and learn of the real “Mat Hatter” disease due to mercury poisoning.

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

And then you will see Snow White, sleeping after the effects of the poison apple. Here you will learn that a combination of poison can create this effect, but it is a gentle balance least you kill your target with incorrect doses.

Sleeping Beauty…wait no…thats Snow White.

After that you may be lucky to catch a live “Who Dun it?” show and learn about how the age to detect poisons started out. This was a great short show, with audience (aka children) participation. I must say kids act right on queue with the “Ewe…this really isn’t vomit is it?” comments as they performed a “real” experiment to see what poisoned the unfortunate soul.

Out detective!

After that you will come across two sets of 4-5 ipad stations to learn about accidental poisoning and how the environment around us can contribute. Using the ipads you’ll play a mini-game to explore and guess what poisoned the sea captain, and in the other game the family dog.

Afterwards you’ll learn how some poisons have actually been put to good use for medications, and where those medications come from!

A massive Yew tree, who’s poison can be used for medical purposes as a cancer treatment.

The exhibit runs from July 10th, 2015 to January 10th, 2016 at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd, Denver 80205. The exhibit is included in the museum ticket price or member admission.

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