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Cranbrook Institute of ScienceFebruary 2014
Steggy in Winter
CIS Membership
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In This Issue
Winter Break
Dino Prep Lab
SCIENCE TALKS
Native Plant Propagation Workshop
Maple Festival
Dinosaurs - The Lost World
Scouting Programs
Discovery Center Seeks Volunteers
Social Media
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Winter Break!

 

Feb. 17 - 21

 

The Institute of Science will offer planetarium programs daily during Winter Break Week on the hour from 10:30am until 3:30pm. We will be open on Monday, February 17 from 10am until 5pm. Our regular Monday closure to the public during the school year resumes on Monday, February 24.

As the bitter cold and heavy snowfall of an especially tough winter continue, we hope you will think of the Institute of Science as an indoor escape. If you can't head south this season why not stop by the Woodlands Den, the oldest exhibition extant at the Institute of Science, and meditate in front of a dune on Lake Michigan or walk through a summer forest? While you're there, dream of warmer weather and look closely at the flowers-they are made of sugar and paraffin and are more than 60 years old!

 

The upside to the cold is it is a great opportunity to be inside doing something interesting. This month, we launch a series of four Dino Prep Labs which give our fans a chance to participate in actual fossil excavation. We'll also help take your mind off the cold by looking forward to spring with a chance to plan a native plant garden. For astronomy fans, the clear cold nights we are having make for great viewing from the Observatory. Join us Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30pm to look toward the skies, or check out the telescope via a real-time webcam 

 

To our members; don't forget to register for our annual Member Only Maple Festival and Breakfast on March 2. Registration closes February 26.

 

Go Science! 

February Dino Prep Lab Event Offers Special Bonus!

 

Dino Prep Lab, the popular workshops offering visitors the chance to participate in actual fossil excavation, returns for four Saturdays starting February 15 from 1 to 4pm. Under the guidance of Cranbrook Scientists, guests will help remove and conserve 60 million year old fossils of dinosaurs and related animals from Late Cretaceous rocks of the Lance Formation in Eastern Wyoming. This is an all-ages activity. As a special bonus, in honor of Charles Darwin's 205th birthday, the Institute's First Edition On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection will be on view for a limited time in February. Both events are free with admission. Dino Prep Labs also take place March 8, April 12 and May 10. April 12 includes a bonus lecture by Cranbrook Geologist John Zawiskie who will discuss a prehistoric forest bed unearthed in Alpena.

SCIENCE TALKS Nature Conservancy Lecture Series Continues 

 

The Institute's popular lecture series in partnership with The Nature Conservancy continues when Dr. Scott Sowa presents Get With the Program-How Technology is Advancing Science on Thursday, February 20 at 6:30pm. Sowa, director of science at the Nature Conservancy, will share the latest state-of-the-art innovations in technology and computer modeling to illustrate how they are bringing efficiency and precision to conservation planning and outcomes. The lecture begins with a 6:30pm "Meet the Scientist" with cash bar, followed by a 7pm lecture and questions in the auditorium. Tickets are $10 for members for Cranbrook Institute of Science and The Nature Conservancy, and $12 for non-members.  Register online or call 248 645.3210. The next lecture, Is More Better?, looks at farming and freshwater and takes place on Thursday, March 20.

Native Plant Propagation Workshop 

 

Take your mind off winter by planning a native plant garden on Saturday, February 22 from 9 to 11:30am. Participants will learn how to collect and store seeds, and how to germinate and care for seedlings. Each participant will take home a selection of native seeds. 

 

Cost is $10 per person.

 

Register by February 20, 2014 online or call 248 645.3210.

40th Annual Members Only Maple Festival Marks Return of Spring! 

 

Member tickets are now available for one of the Institute's oldest traditions, Maple Festival. This year's event on Sunday, March 2 offers seatings at 10am, 11:30am or 1pm. Breakfast followed by indoor and outdoor activities exploring the science of Maple sugar production are all part of the agenda making this a memorable way to celebrate the return of spring. Register by February 24 by visiting here 

 

Not a Member? Join now to experience the Institute's most popular annual Members only event!

Dinosaurs-The Lost World Brings the Cretaceous to Cranbrook!

 

The Institute's much anticipated Dinosaurs - The Lost World continues to awe. Taking the visitor back to the Cretaceous Period, The Lost World reveals the incredible diversity of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and marine reptiles of western North America and includes many specimens never before exhibited in Michigan. Assembled from one of the world's most significant private fossil collections, The Hankla Collection, The Lost World features more than 60 complete skeletal mounts of research quality casts and several real skeletons, five types of fossil eggs, skin impressions, plants, and invertebrates displayed in three galleries covering over 6,000 square feet. Traveling through time guests will marvel at a 36 foot long molded track way of four dinosaurs and traces of other contemporary animals, discover a four- by eight-foot slab of sandstone loaded with real fossil bones preserved in coastal lagoon storm deposits, including numerous Edmontosaurus and T. rex bones and teeth, venture into the children's area where excavation activities focus on the work of paleontologists and geologists, and much more! 

 

The Lost World is free with admission. 

 

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Scouting Programs Available Through May 2014

 

Only at Cranbrook Institute of Science can Scouts dig for fossils, soar into outer space, or spend a night at the Museum by sleeping among the exhibits!  The Institute's Scouting Programs offer Scouts the chance to work with professional scientists who are active in their fields and the opportunity to interact with a unique, world-class collection of objects and artifacts. Our experts work with your group to teach Scouts about a variety of scientific topics through interactive workshops and hands-on activities. Workshop fees include the cost of general admission. For more information about Scouting at Cranbrook visit our website. 

The Discovery Center Seeks Volunteers

 

Cranbrook's Discovery Center offers an exciting learning experience to feed the curiosity of children ages 3-8. Open every Sunday, the Center is designed to inspire a love of science through adult/child interaction, and offers more than a dozen discovery "module" boxes each containing unique information and activities focused on a specific subject, as well as plants, taxidermy, scientific specimens, microscopes, the chance to play "dress up" using international costumes, and much more. The Discovery Center is currently looking for volunteers to help staff the Discovery Center. Volunteers help engage visitors with the vast Institute resources and ignite their passion to learn.  They create a comfortable space where children can explore real objects and scientific methods.  There are openings to encourage young learners as docents, to share knowledge through activities, and to create new content.  Volunteers should be able to dedicate 4 hours per month to the Discovery Center.  If you think you'd enjoy working as a Discovery Center Interpreter, please click here.