Lichen - Nature Experienceship

We had a great time with Dr. St. Clair on Saturday, March 21, 2009 learning all about lichens. We spent a few minutes in the lichen lab learning about how they are curated and kept in the collection. Everyone in attendance got a hand lens and a copy of Dr. St. Clair's "A Color Guidebook to Common Rocky Mountain Lichens." We then went up to Rock Canyon Park and collected some lichens on bark. We used our new guidebooks to identify the 7-9 species found in one grove of trees. Next we took a short hike up to the mouth of Rock Canyon and looked at some species on rock. It was a lot of fun and very educational.

Katy Knight, Museum Education

February Date Night

This Saturday the Bean Life Science Museum was host to its monthly Date Night. For those not familiar with the program, the museum hosts this monthly event on the last Saturday of each month. This month the event theme was an African “Photo Safari.”

Guests took a tour of featured African animals, with the museum dark, traveling in a “jeep”, made out of a box, using their flashlight headlights as their only source of light. As they traveled around the museum, the guests took pictures with the animals, interacting with them.

For example the picture with Shasta, the liger, told the guests that Shasta’s father was a lion, making her half African, and that the guests should take a picture showing half of their bodies, as well as half of Shasta. These humorous photos were then compiled and viewed as the guests shared refreshments.

March’s Date Night theme is a “Dinner and a Movie.” Guests will enjoy a movie in the museum’s auditorium, and share a pizza dinner. This event will take place on Saturday the 28th, and will begin at 7:30 and costs $15 for each couple.

Kolby Reddish, Museum Educator