As a boy, Theodore Roosevelt was a great collector of natural history objects. His bird nests and eggs, seashells, insects, and minerals became exhibits in the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History" that he opened in his bedroom. (It was later moved to a bookcase in the upstairs back hall, due to complaints from other members of the household.) Today, some of the specimens gathered by our conservation-minded president are on display in the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall.

Now, you can bring your own discoveries and collections to the Museum to ask questions of the experts. Each year, people bring their shells, rocks, insects, feathers, bones, and artifacts to the Museum’s annual Identification Day. On Saturday, May 11, in the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall, scientists will attempt to identify your discoveries while showing you some specimens from their own collections. Items identified in previous years have included a whale jawbone, a green beetle bracelet from Brazil, and a 5,000-year-old stone spear point from Morocco. Watch the video below for some pointers on what to bring.