Transcript Staff
Families looking for ways to engage their brains and learn more about all kinds of science can attend "Science in Action and Object ID Day," hosted by the Sam Noble Museum in Norman. This free family event will be 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, and features 20 science and activity stations scattered throughout the museum.
Museum curators and other natural history experts will be available to identify objects brought in by visitors.
Several museum departments and partner organizations also will offer activities, demonstrations and presentations on scientific themes.
Each of the stations set up around the museum will offer hands-on activities or demonstrations in a variety of sciences. Representatives from several museum departments and the Oklahoma Geological Survey will be on-hand to examine objects and artifacts brought in for identification. Visitors are encouraged to bring in objects such as rocks, fossils, cultural objects, bits of recorded or written languages, plants, bones and more. If the actual object cannot be brought in, photographs also are acceptable.
Museum staff also will off a variety of objects from collections for "show and tell," including fossils, fish and bird specimens, live reptiles and amphibians, gems and minerals, stone arrow points and pottery.
In addition to object identification, visitors can get a tour of the night sky via the Star Lab Dome with Norman North High School's astronomy club, and learn how the human brain works with the Oklahoma Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience.
The Junior League of Norman will offer tips for having strong healthy teeth with a "Healthy Smiles" booth, featuring games, exhibits and a chance to meet the Healthy Smiles tooth fairy.
Visitors can learn more about Oklahoma's plants and animals with the Oklahoma Audobon Society and the Oklahoma Botanical Society. The museum's education department will offer a variety of science activities, and the museum's ethnology division will demonstrate how to make coiled clay pottery.
OU Physicians, one of the event sponsors, will have representatives at Science in Action offering free blood pressure and blood sugar screenings to adults.
"Science and medicine go hand-in-hand and having the opportunity to help stimulate young scientific minds is very exciting to us. I look forward to meeting participants," said Lubna Wani, M.D., OU Physicians internal medicine specialist who sees patients in Norman.
Chesapeake Energy also is sponsoring Science in Action and will have representatives at the event.
"Science in Action and Object ID day is a great opportunity to get kids excited about scientific investigation. Our future depends on the next generation being dedicated to the ongoing quest for new and better ways to protect our environment and preserve our natural resources," said Teresa Rose, director of community relations for Chesapeake.
"Science in Action and Object ID Day" is free and open to the public. Additional information about the event is available by calling 325-4712 or visiting the museum's Web site at www.snomnh.ou.edu. The museum is located on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus at Timberdell Road and Chautauqua Avenue.
