CIS logo black 200px
Cranbrook Institute of ScienceApril 2014
CIS Membership
Become a Member

In This Issue
Earth Week at Cranbrook
Rock of Ages: The Sanilac Petroglyphs
Extreme Makeover: Nature Edition!
Register Now for Summer Camp
Scouting Programs Available Through May
Dinosaurs - The Lost World
Social Media
Find us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterYoutube Logoflickr
Daily Planetarium and Bat Programs April 7-11
The planetarium will offer special weekday programming on the hour from 10:30am until 3:30pm each day during Spring Break. Preview trailers and schedules online. Bat Zone tours will be available at 12:30 and 2:30pm each day. Pricing information can be found online.
Banner Image is 

� 2013 Colton Graub

At long last, spring! We'll celebrate spring--and Spring Break--with a wide range of special Earth-friendly activities and events the week of April 7-12. A folk singer, guest author, and one of the Institute's popular Dino Prep Labs will also be offered, making for a memorable Spring Break experience.
 
As we approach the end of the school year, now is a good time to start exploring camp options for the summer. After this past winter we know your kids will want to be outdoors and there is no better place for that than Cranbrook. Both indoor and outdoor camp options will inspire your curious child no matter what their interest.
 
We hope to see you soon.
 
Go Science!
Celebrate Earth Week at Cranbrook!
 
The Institute of Science celebrates Earth Week during Spring Break, Monday, April 7 through Saturday, April 12. Activity stations set-up throughout the museum will touch upon various aspects of sustainable living, including: Guess that Phantom Load (Energy Efficiency), 4R's Recycle Relay (Waste Reduction), Great Lakes Geography Challenge (Water Stewardship), Solar Car (Renewable Energy), and Recycled Paper Press (Re-use). We'll offer specially prepared swamp milkweed seeds for visitors to plant in their gardens to help sustain declining Monarch butterfly populations. On Thursday, April 10, singer-songwriter Joe Reilly will share his infectious songs that teach about nature, wildlife and stewardship. Bridget McGovern Llewellyn, author of One Child, One Planet: Inspiration for the Young Conservationist joins us Friday, April 11 to present a slideshow about her book. The week closes with a Dino Prep Laboratory on Saturday, April 12 when visitors will help remove and conserve 70 million-year-old fossils of dinosaurs. At 2pm the same day, Geologist John Zawiskie will discuss research related to a 6000-year-old forest bed recently discovered near Alpena, and offer a glimpse of one of the actual stumps excavated from the site. All Earth Week events are free with admission. A complete Earth Day activities schedule is available here.
 
The Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research and Cranbrook Institute of Science present Rock of Ages: The Sanilac Petroglyphs
 
Cranbrook goes prehistoric on Thursday, April 10 at 7pm, when Institute of Science Anthropology Coordinator Cameron Wood, along with Stacy Tchorzynski and Dean Anderson, archeologists from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office and the Department of Natural Resources, examine Michigan's only known prehistoric rock carvings--the Sanilac Petroglyphs. The carvings, located in the Thumb region, were discovered after a fire swept through the area in 1881 revealing the designs which were made about 300 to 1,000 years ago. Following the free lecture, 30 paid attendees are invited to continue the conversation in the Institute's collection vault with an examination of the original Sanilac Petroglyphs drawings and plaster casts made by Institute scientists in the 1940s. Tickets are $30 per person for Cranbrook Members and $35 for the General Public. For reservations please contact Kim Larsen at 248 645.3319, or by email at [email protected].
 
Nature Conservancy Lecture Series Concludes
 
SCIENCE TALKS, the Institute's popular lecture series in partnership with The Nature Conservancy concludes for the season on Thursday, April 24 when Restoration Director Chris May presents Extreme Makeover: Nature Edition! May's discussion reveals how the Nature Conservancy is implementing the latest ecological techniques to restore, protect and preserve rare species and habitats in the Great Lakes Region. The event starts with a meet and greet at 6:30pm, followed by the lecture at 7pm. Tickets are $10 per person. Register online or by calling 248 645.3210.
 
Register Now for Summer Camp
 
Summer Camp at the Institute of Science offers Campers ages 5-14 the chance to utilize Cranbrook's 319-acre "outdoor laboratory" and the resources of a museum to explore science and create a lifetime of memories and learning experiences. New this year for the adventurous Camper, Cranem Survival camp develops the skills necessary to stay alive in the wilderness. Unmasking Superheroes gives Campers the chance to examine their favorite heroes through the lens of science and become their own heroes. We will explore technology, astronomy, biology, and the laws of physics to better understand how our heroes do or do not function. Returning and restyled for this summer, Nature and Methodology is an exciting week exploring the science behind witches and wizards. Popular summer camp classics such as the Explore Science! series return. Week-long camps begin June 23 and run through August 4. Registration has begun! To review camp selections visit our website or call 248 645.3210 for a 2014 Summer Explorer Camp Guide.
 
Scouting Programs Available Through May
 
Only at Cranbrook Institute of Science can Scouts dig for fossils, soar into outer space, or spend a night in 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 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.
 
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. 

 

Presented by: 

Supported by: