NU State Museum to present fossil days, disaster events

The University of Nebraska State Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will present a day-long family event, "Dinosaurs and Disasters," Feb. 18, and Saturday afternoon fossil events Jan. 21-Feb. 11, all at Morrill Hall, 14th and U streets.

"Dinosaurs and Disasters" is 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and presented in cooperation with the UNL Department of Geosciences. It will feature 20 stations for hands-on activities and demonstrations, plus shows in Mueller Planetarium on extreme weather.

Station interactive demonstrations and activities include ash samples from Ashfall Fossil Beds; identification of rocks and fossils (bring your own if you have one); giant camels stuck in the mud; "Pin the Dino on the Timeline" game; disaster game with Cenozoic fossils; a real fossil dig; K-T Disaster game; "Guess what's a meteor?" game; ANDRILL Antarctic research project; volcanoes and volcanic ash; tsunami and earthquake demonstrations; and meteorology and extreme weather phenomena.

Also on Feb. 18, Mueller Planetarium will offer "Extreme Weather on the Plains," fantastic images of tornados, storms and the Northern Lights from storm chaser Mike Hollingshead. There is an additional charge for the planetarium show.

The museum will also have three-hour Fossil Discovery Days on Saturdays beginning Jan. 21, featuring science demonstrations in paleontology and fossil preparations. The Saturday programs are 1-4 p.m. A schedule of specific events follows.

* Jan. 21, and Feb. 4: Preparators Rob Skolnick and Ellen Stepleton from the museum's vertebrate paleontology division will be preparing an 18 million-year-old camel skull fossil and a Pleistocene horse fossil.

* Jan. 28: Highway salvage paleontologists Bruce Bailey and Shane Tucker will be preparing specimens collected in the Wildcat Hills south of Gering, including a 28 million-year-old beardog, a 20 million-year-old camel and an extremely rare deer skull.

* Feb. 11: Mike Voorhies, curator for vertebrate paleontology, will conduct hands-on activities.

Individual admission to the museum is $4 for adults, $2 for children (5-18 years old); children under 4 are free. Family admission (up to two adults with children) is $8. Parking is available next to the museum. The museum is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1:30-4:30 Sundays and holidays (except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, when it is closed). More information is available online at www.museum.unl.edu.

CONTACT: Kathy French, Education Coordinator, NU State Museum, (402) 472-6647