COCHECOSYSTEM

The Cochecho River flows right through the museum’s backyard, so what better place to learn about it? The multi-faceted Cochecosystem exhibit highlights the animals and industry that rely on New Hampshire’s rivers.

Become a busy beaver to construct a lodge, or an osprey to nest with your chicks high above the river. Operate the fish ladder to help alewives, trout, and salmon swim upriver to lay their eggs in the still water where they were born.

Step aboard the Piscataqua gundalow to help load and unload cargo, or raise and lower the mast to navigate down the river. Travel back in time and hop aboard a trolley like the ones that transported millworkers through Dover over 100 years ago!

Over at our River Model—an offshoot of our Cochechosystem exhibit—investigate the water cycle with an interactive demonstration. Use plastic slats to divert or dam up the river, then release balls of “water” to see how they flow through the created channels. Crank the “water” up an Archimedes screw to simulate evaporation, watch as it travels along ceiling tracks and accumulates in “clouds”, then push a button to release the “rain” back into the river, starting the cycle over again.