We’ve got a lot of great programs this summer including a weekly geology program and a dinosaur week, but we’ve also got cool geology and paleontology exhibits on display outside the Strassweg Auditorium. Our geology exhibit was created by Hawk Hart of Marengo Caves. This exhibit features a variety of artwork shaped from precious stones, such as a chessboard, a septarian dragon’s egg, and amethyst trees. You’ll also see a large amethyst cathedral and cubic pyrite – “Fool’s Gold” that, given the right conditions, naturally forms into perfect cubic shapes.
You’ll also learn about cave life with a display of bats of the eastern United States, as well as life from long ago with a variety of fossils showcasing prehistoric aquatic life –trilobites, crinoids, sea urchins, turitellas and more.
If you haven’t got your fossil fix check out the dinosaur exhibit. The pieces in this exhibit come from the collection of David West Reynolds, a local archaeologist who took part in a paleontological dig in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada. You’ll see real bones of the duck-billed hadrosaur as well as reconstructions of other North American dinosaur fossils such as a mosasaur skull, an allosaurus skull and hand, the claw of tyrannosaurs rex and a full-sized skeleton of the velociraptor-like dromaeosaurus as well as a real paleontologist’s tool kit.
Join us for these geology/paleontology programs:
- Dinosaur Scavenger Hunt (June 18-30) ~ Drop by the children’s department for a dinosaur scavenger hunt!
- Preschool Explorers (Monday, June 18 @ 6:30 PM & Thursday, June 21 @ 11 AM) ~ A dinosaur storytime for preschoolers!
- Toddler Time (Tuesday, June 19 & Wednesday, June 20 @ 11 AM) ~ A dinosaur storytime for toddlers!
- Fossils of Southern Indiana (Tuesday, June 19 @ 1 PM) ~ Learn about local fossils with a state park naturalist!
- Library Rockhounds: Fossils of Indiana (Wednesday, June 20 @ 3 PM) ~ Learn about fossils!
- Dinosaur Moviemaking (Thursday, June 21 @ 3 PM) ~ Learn about dinosaur movies and make your own!
- Escape from Dinosaur Island! (Friday, June 22 & Monday, June 24 2-4:30 PM) ~ Register for one of ten half-hour sessions in this thrilling escape room for teens and tweens!
- Library Rockhounds: Exploring Karst (Wednesday, June 27 @ 3 PM) ~ Learn about exploring caves!
- Midday Meet & Mingle: Fossils Rock! (Monday, July 9 @ 11:30 AM) ~ Learn about fossils with naturalist from Falls of the Ohio State Park!
- Library Rockhounds: Our Own Cave (Wednesday, July 11 @ 3 PM) ~ Make your own cave!
- Library Rockhounds: Rock Somebody’s Day (Wednesday, July 18 @ 3 PM) ~ Rock painting!
