MNHM After-school Programs

Marion Natural History Museum’s after-school programs for Winter/spring 2019 will include the following:

January 30 – Winter Tree Walk Wetland scientist Sarah Porter will help us take a close up look at some twigs and buds from local trees, and then take a walk in the woods to see if we can identify trees without using their leaves. Please dress appropriately.

February 13 – Great Backyard Bird Count February 15 through the 19th is the Great Backyard Bird Count, an important citizen science effort to discover more about bird populations in our area. It’s a simple and fun to do project that can be done over the weekend and submitted online to Cornell University. Let’s learn a little about the Bird Count together and get ready to start our study!

February 27 – Popsicle Stick Catapults with Mark Whalen, Engineering Professor at Mass Maritime. Explore the relationship between Elasticity, Energy, Mass and Velocity. Build and test your own small catapult. Launch objects big and small, and try out various modifications to improve performance.

March 13 – Exploring Shells Did you know that the museum has an extensive shell collection? Some of the specimens include shells that were donated by Elizabeth Taber herself! Let’s take a look at some of the more exotic shells in our collections as well as some of our native ones, and see if we can match which animal made what shell.

March 20 – Weather with Channel 6’s Chelsea Priest Weather reporter Chelsea Priest. will be talking about weather patterns, what we might expect come spring, and what it takes to be a televised meteorologist.

April 3 – Alewives Herring Officer Dave Watling will be in to talk about the life cycle of this important fish species. Dave will explain what he does in his role and what efforts are being made to help them survive.

April 24 – Insects with Blake Dinius Blake is an entomologist with Plymouth County Extension Service. We will be using insect nets to see what bugs we can catch. Then we’ll take a close look with the use of magnifiers and microscopes, and hopefully identify a few of the species.

May 1 – Bird Island Trip with the Marion Harbormaster’s office. We will be visiting the newly restored nesting habitat of the Roseate Tern. The center of the island has been filled in and vegetation added to make the island more hospitable for these rare and endangered birds.

May 8 – Bird Island Trip 2 Our rain/overflow date for our popular Bird Island trip.

May 15 – Soil Critters with Maggie Payne, Soil Scientist with the U.S.D.A. Did you know there are more living organisms in a tablespoon of healthy soil than there are people on earth? Come explore the life beneath our feet and discover the importance of not treating our soils like dirt.

May 22 – Water Bottle Rockets with Dr. Dills of the UMass Dartmouth Chemistry Department. During construction of our rockets we will learn a little something about aerodynamics, altitude and how our design impacts the duration of the flight. Please save up your 2 liter bottles now for this explosive program!

June 5 – This is Rocket Science! Join us while learning about propulsion and lift with Mike Cronin. Each child will have his/her own rocket with motor to assemble and set off. The cost for this program is $20 per participant. Submit payment to Marion Natural History Museum. Space is limited to 12 children ages 6 and older, on a first-come, first-served basis. Parent volunteers are encouraged to help with rocket assembly. This program tends to run long, so please plan accordingly. Rain date June 6.

All programs are held at the Museum from 3:30 – 4:30pm unless otherwise noted. To register please go to the museum’s website: www.marionmuseum.org.

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