Discovery Zone Opens Mississippi Delta Frontier for Children

Exploring the Frontier showcasing the development of the lower Mississippi Delta region is on exhibit now through March at the University of Arkansas Discovery Zone.

The Discovery Zone is free and open to the public. It opened in August 2009 at 1564 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. as a member of the Arkansas Discovery Network, a statewide museum collaborative funded in part by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. A series of exhibits travels among the seven members, staying for about six months at each place.

The Mississippi River was very important in the development of the United States, according to exhibit materials. Visitors to the Discovery Zone can experience the Arkansas frontier during the 1540s-1840s as a crossroads of cultures searching for land, furs and fortune. Obtain provisions at the trading post, calculate what supplies will fit on a river raft and learn about explorers, settlers and fur trappers. Dress the part and have a picture taken in a log canoe on the "river." Spend some time viewing the stories of "Early Arkansas & the Louisiana Purchase," the "Forgotten Expedition," "Arkansas Natural Heritage," "The Buffalo Flows" and "Exploring the Frontier: 1540-1840," an Arkansas history art project.

The museum hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Groups of 10 or more should schedule a visit. For directions, teacher materials related to the exhibition, curriculum framework correlations, and registration forms for groups of 10 or more, visit the Discovery Zone website. An application for funds to help pay transportation costs for groups is also online.

The Discovery Zone is sponsored by the university's Center for Math and Science Education and the College of Education and Health Professions.