'Dinosaurs and Disasters' Feb. 2 at NU State Museum

The University of Nebraska State Museum and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Geosciences will host their annual family fun day, "Dinosaurs & Disasters," from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 2.

The event at Morrill Hall, 14th and U streets, will provide a day of discovery and hands-on activities with UNL scientists under the theme, "Global Climate Change: Polar Regions." The focus of the event will be on the ANDRILL program, a multinational collaboration to recover sedimentary rock records from the Antarctic to understand what climate has been like in the past. ANDRILL scientists will display their cold-weather gear, digital images of the drilled cores, explaining how they melt through the ice shelf or sea ice and then drill below the sea floor to recover the sediments, and much more. There will be videos developed by the ANDRILL team, educational banners, activities, and even a 'blubber glove' that kids can try on to understand how Antarctic animals stay warm. Participants will learn about Antarctica's ice on the move, and investigate what would happen if the ice shelves melted.

There will be games, activities and demonstrations on earth disasters such as volcanoes, tornadoes, avalanches and tsunamis. Demonstrations will include a 6-foot tornado, a cloud in a bottle, and meteorologists interpreting current weather data. Speakers trained by the Climate Project will periodically present slide shows of "An Inconvenient Truth" followed by a question-and-answer period in the afternoon. Paleontologists will work on fossils, and visitors are encouraged to bring fossils and rocks for identification. UNL scientists, graduate and undergraduate students will staff the stations.

Mueller Planetarium shows featuring "Origins of Life," a full-dome show projected in 360-degree format, will be presented at 11 a.m., noon, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. "Origins of Life" is an inspirational journey through time and a celebration of life on Earth. It features many recent discoveries related to life science.

Admission to the museum is $5 for adults (19 and older), $3 for children (5-18 years, 4 and younger are free), and $10 for families (up to two adults and their children). There is an additional charge for planetarium shows. Parking is free. For more information, call (402) 472-2642 or visit www.museum.unl.edu.

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