Heart of America Science Resource Center – Haviland, KS

Museum Hours: May to Labor Day Weekend
Saturdays & Sundays: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Want to visit the museum during the school year? Have a school group or want to schedule an event? Heart of America Science Resource Center welcomes people all year round! Contact Jerry or Linda Simmons at 620) 518-3167 for a personalized tour any time of year.

Leininger Multipurpose Lab:
This room is the heart of the museum’s activities. James Leininger, science professor at Barclay College for years, was an inspiration to many for his joy and knowledge of both science and the Bible. This room is designed for self-guided tours or classroom-type lab activities in which large or small groups move through 20 stations highlighting key topics in Life Science, Earth Science, and Physical Science. These displays and hands-on activities emphasize the biblical perspective of God’s creation that is very often ignored in secular museums, such as the incredible patterns and complexity found in nature, the intricate design seen in fossils, and the intriguing, unseen laws and forces that God has placed in the world around us. Favorite activities include viewing bird feathers under a microscope, digging and identifying seashells, exploring a tub of Noah’s Ark animals, completing mineral and fossil matching games, and discovering the laws of motion with a Newton’s Cradle and a bicycle wheel gyroscope. This is a busy, hands-on science activity room that can be enjoyed by everyone. Experience it as a family, a group, or a class!

Whitney Lapidary Lab:
This room houses a variety of spectacular collections, from petrified wood to jewelry to what some have called the best mineral collection in Kansas. The Duard Whitney collection, for which this room was named, consists of dozens of large, beautiful polished petrified wood slabs from all over the Western U.S, as well as a variety of hand-crafted wire-wrapped jewelry and pewter/petrified wood items. The central display and upper cabinets feature a wide array of striking rocks, minerals, mineral combinations, and crystals, some of which are football size. Visitors are then enamored by the awesome shapes and colors of the natural crystals and minerals displayed in a beautiful wood cabinet specially crafted for this collection by Steve Larsh of Haviland. Handling a falling star (a meteorite that has made it to Earth) is a popular activity in this room. And in the lapidary workshops, participants enjoy shaping and polishing a rock in less than an hour.

Mitchem Conference Room:
This room, which comfortably holds 60 people, honors Miriam and Leonard Mitchem for their faith and dedication to teaching about the Lord’s creation. Inspiring education occurs here during conferences, movie nights, day camps, and other gatherings that build the faith of the attendees and help participants to become brighter lights for the Lord. Two popular attractions in this room, “Tiffany,” a 3-foot-long Triceratops robot and “Dino,” a 7-foot-tall T-Rex sculpture crafted of polished wood, bring attention to the astounding discovery of soft tissue that has recently been found in dinosaur bones. A collection of iron pyrite (fool’s gold) crystals which are found as naturally occurring perfect cubes is displayed along one wall, while a large array of framed photos with accompanying Scripture verses highlights the attributes of God seen in “His Nature” on another. Truly, we are all without excuse if we don’t believe in God because of what He has revealed of Himself through His astounding creation!

Ice Age Room:
This room dramatically depicts a scene from the post-flood Ice Age. These people, having been dispersed from Babel, have traveled to this continent and taken refuge in a large cave. They are now encountering many of the large animals that have migrated here as well. You will be awestruck by both the ceiling and the 41-foot long floor-to-ceiling mural painted by author, artist, and paleontologist Joe Taylor of Crosbyton, Texas. A floor display along the base of the mural features stone tools and other types of artifacts that have been used for millennia.

Ice Age Discovery Room:
This room focuses on the people and animals that lived during the Ice Age. Displays feature a variety of large animal bones found in this area and the sophisticated technology used by the people who hunted them. As you might expect, you will find mammoth bones, tusks that you can touch, bison bones and horns, camel bones, and a 25 lb. mammoth tooth! Another star item in this room is a complete mammoth tibia discovered and excavated in this county in December of 2021. This bone is only partially fossilized, the spongy bone marrow structure being seen inside the bone. This discovery has been widely publicized, and the Center would love to personally share with your group or family the biblical perspective of how the Ice Age occurred.