Minerals
Mineral specimens are the primary focus of our collection. Our displays showcase a remarkable variety of compositions, crystal habits, colors, and geological origins. Themed displays highlight native copper, secondary copper minerals, metamorphic minerals, green minerals, and blue minerals. Sourced from locations all over the world, these specimens highlight the global richness and geological diversity of our planet.
Fossils
The Dice Museum’s fossil collection features extraordinary specimens from around the globe. Among its standout pieces are its extensive collection of fossil fish and a rare octopus from the world-class Cretaceous fossil beds of Lebanon and a multicolored ammolite shell from Alberta, Canada. A massive Megalodon tooth from offshore North Carolina and a eurypterid from New York represent powerful marine predators from vastly different eras. The collection also includes beautifully preserved petrified wood and many other fossils, offering visitors a vivid glimpse into the diversity of ancient life on Earth.
Meteorites
Our meteorite collection contains more than 20 specimens, each telling part of the story of how our solar system was made. Each of the three main types of meteorites--stony meteorites (including chondrites and achondrites), irons, and stony-irons (pallasites)--are included in the collection. We even have meteorites originating from the Moon and Mars! The smallest object in the museum is a micrometeorite found on the Calvin campus by a Calvin GEO major in 2024.
Fluorescent Minerals
The museum’s fluorescent mineral display reveals an astonishing spectrum of color as ordinary-looking rocks burst into vivid hues under long-wave, medium-wave, and short-wave ultraviolet light. By comparing the different UV wavelengths, visitors can see how specific minerals respond with brilliant reds, greens, blues, and oranges. The exhibit also spotlights the famed Sterling Hill Mine in New Jersey—widely known as the “fluorescent mineral capital of the world”.
Michigan
The museum’s Michigan display highlights the state’s remarkable geological diversity, featuring brilliant native copper from the Upper Peninsula that once fueled a historic mining boom. A slab of banded iron formation, also sourced from the Upper Peninsula, reveals ancient sedimentary processes that accompanied a change in the Earth's atmosphere 2.5 billion years ago. The exhibit also showcases the official fossil of Michigan: Petoskey stones made of ancient, fossilized coral from western Michigan and gypsum extracted from underground mines beneath Grand Rapids.
Gems and Jewelry
The museum’s collection of gems and jewelry collection dazzles with a vibrant array of opal, amber, ammolite, turquoise, emerald, ruby, and lapis lazuli, each prized for its unique color and character. From the irridescent flashes of ammolite to the deep celestial blue of lapis lazuli, the display highlights the natural beauty and geological origins of these treasured stones.