We are open to the public during normal CCSF operating hours. If you plan to view the exhibit with a group, please contact our Outreach Services at outreach@ccsf.edu. (Note: as the exhibit is laid out along classroom corridors, and classes are usually in session, please be as quiet as you can. One of the Fossil Gallery rooms, S45, where some of the fossils are located, is also a classroom and will not always be open. Its classroom hours are listed on the door.)

The Story of Time and Life uses a combination of fossils, rock samples, panels, posters, murals, and scaled models – some produced in house, others donated by or on indefinite loan from the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) – to tell the story of Earth's formation and evolution, supported by the evidence that has led to our current understanding. The exhibit is laid out as a continuous walk through all four floors of the Science Building and begins in our Fossil Gallery with an introduction, self-guided maps, and the presentation of seven large vertebrate fossils, including four dinosaurs. The exhibit continues, with a timeline, through the departments of Earth Sciences, Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Astronomy – actively demonstrating the importance and connection of all the sciences in our understanding of our planet.

Click on the navigation menus on the left of the page to scroll through the exhibit content in the order that it appears in the Science Hall. See Exhibit Layout for a map of the how the exhibit is laid out in the Science Building.

At the time this exhibit was installed, City College of San Francisco is currently the only location in the San Francisco Bay Area where the public can see a physical display for this story. In 2003, the California Academy of Sciences closed its doors to make way for a new museum. With their cooperation, we ransacked the remnants of their Life Through Time exhibit. We saved close to 100 panels and 3 murals. We also secured indefinite loans of some of their larger fossils: dinosaurs, ancient vertebrates, and more. It’s taken the last five years to install what we’ve received and design and build our exhibit around it – The Story of Time and Life. This exhibit exists thanks to the hard work and the cooperative efforts of everyone throughout the City College community – students, faculty, deans, and board members.

Check out ABC 7 News' Story and Video on our exhibit (aired Thursday, April 2, 2009)