'Fire and Ice' theme of Morrill Hall's Dinosaurs & Disasters Feb. 7

            The University of Nebraska State Museum and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will host the 11th annual "Dinosaurs and Disasters" family fun day from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 7 at Morrill Hall, south of 14th and Vine streets on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus.

            Visitors will discover how fire and ice shaped our planet. UNL scientists, graduate and undergraduate students will provide activities and demonstrations to help museum visitors better understand planet Earth by exploring how natural disasters and extreme weather events occur. Visitors will learn about animals and their environments past and present, test their knowledge of the Earth's history, go back in time in this year's new time machine, give the forecast just like a TV meteorologist and more. Attendees are encouraged to bring a rock or fossil for scientists to identify.

            Mueller Planetarium will present the fulldome show "Supervolcanoes," in which audiences experience vivid recreations of past gigantic volcanic eruptions, and explore the supervolcano that lies below Yellowstone National Park (24-minute running time). Show times are 10 and 11 a.m., noon, and 1, 2 and 3 p.m.

            Regular museum admission charged. Parking is free in front of the museum. For more information go to http://www.museum.unl.edu.

Writer: Mandy Haase-Thomas, University of Nebraska State Museum