Press Release - Family Fossil Fun Day 09/30/2007

TEXAS MEMORIAL MUSEUM, a part of UT’s Texas Natural Science Center
PRESS RELEASE
SUBJECT: Event on September 30 – Family Fossil Fun Day and opening of interactive learning center, Explore Evolution
FOR RELEASE: immediately through September 30, 2007
Today's Date: August 8, 2007

CONTACT: Pamela Owen
powen@mail.utexas.edu
512-232-5511
Fax: ( 512 ) 471 - 4794

The public is invited!
Family Fossil Fun Day event and the opening of the interactive learning center, Explore Evolution
Texas Memorial Museum, 2400 Trinity St. (2 blocks north of the UT stadium)
Sunday, September 30, 1 pm to 5 pm
FREE ADMISSION AND ACTIVITIES!

FREE activities for Family Fossil Fun Day:
ongoing – make crafts and see and touch real museum fossils
ongoing – dig in the mini Dino Pit, and learn what it's like to be a paleontologist searching for fossils
1:30 pm – Tales from Our Family Tree, storytelling for the whole family
2:00 pm – The Case of the Missing Clam: you follow the forensic trail and gather evidence for the case, presented by Dr. Ann Molineux, Non-vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory’s Collection Manager
3:00 pm – Ice Age Mammals of Central Texas, a hands-on introduction to the mammals of the Pleistocene in Texas including saber-toothed cats, mammoths and giant ground sloths, presented by Dr. Pamela Owen, Texas Natural Science Center’s Senior Paleontology Educator

About the new Explore Evolution exhibit:
The interactive exhibit Explore Evolution gives visitors the opportunity to experience how scientists conduct their research on evolution and shows how evolution is fundamental to advances in science and medicine. Through interactive displays, the exhibit focuses on seven research projects that have made a major contribution to our understanding of evolution, including:

• rapid evolution of the HIV virus,
• emergence of a new diatom (algae) species in the fossil record,
• fungus-growing ants and their coevolving partners,
• sexual selection among Hawaiian flies,
• Galápagos finches,
• genetic ties between humans and chimps, and
• fossil discoveries of walking whales.

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Texas Memorial Museum is part of the Texas Natural Science Center at UT Austin. The Museum's mission: to encourage awareness and appreciation of the interplay of biological, geological and environmental forces as they have shaped, are shaping and will shape our world.

Regular museum hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The Museum is located at 2400 Trinity Street (2 blocks north of the UT stadium).
ALWAYS FREE ADMISSION.
For more information about the Texas Memorial Museum, visit www.texasmemorialmuseum.org

About UTs Texas Natural Science Center:
The Center encourages awareness of biological diversity through research, exhibits, and education/outreach and is made up of the Texas Memorial Museum, the Vertebrate Paleontology Lab, the Non-vertebrate Paleontology Lab, and the Texas Natural History Collections. Our leading-edge research in the disciplines of paleontology, geology, biology, herpetology, ichthyology and entomology has amassed a $4-billion collection of 5.7 million specimens. All exhibits and education/outreach programs are based on these specimens, most of which are from Texas and many of which are unique and irreplaceable. Exhibits and educational programming spotlight evolution and biodiversity, dinosaurs and fossils, Texas wildlife, and gems and minerals. We welcome more than 75,000 visitors to our exhibit hall, the Texas Memorial Museum, annually. We are the leader in science education enrichment for Central Texas, with community outreach including teacher training workshops, school presentations reaching 700+ K-12 students each semester, public events that draw more than 8,000 visitors annually, partnerships with other science organizations, and a website featuring virtual exhibits with educational materials for teachers and leading-edge research data.