Recent news and announcements from the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History http://www.snomnh.ou.edu/rss/news.xml Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:14:04 -0600 Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:04:10 -0600 FeedForAll Mac v2.1 (2.1.0.1); http://www.FeedForAll.com/ During the cold winter months, our feathered friends could use a little extra help finding food. During Family Night Out, a program offered by the Sam Noble Museum in Norman, participants will learn more about Oklahoma’s winter birds and build a birdfeeder to take home. Family Night Out will take place from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday Nov. 20 at the museum. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/FamilyNightBirdfeeders.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/FamilyNightBirdfeeders.htm Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:06:12 -0500 Oklahoma Science Adventure is a one-week residential program that will give students hands-on experience working with museum scientists and in real field settings. Fourteen students statewide will be accepted. The program, scheduled for July 10 through 17, 2010, is based at sites in northeastern and north central Oklahoma. The program is fully funded by the Whitten-Newman Foundation and there are no costs to participants. Students will be chosen through a competitive application and interview process. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/OSA2010CallforAps.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/OSA2010CallforAps.htm Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:50:50 -0500 A giant in the field of evolutionary theory will be giving a free public lecture at the Sam Noble Museum in Norman at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12. Robert Trivers, professor of anthropology at Rutgers University, is perhaps the most significant evolutionary theorist in the world alive today. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/RobertTrivers.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/RobertTrivers.htm Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:47:10 -0500 In a free public lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5 at the Sam Noble Museum in Norman, John Cowan, professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Oklahoma, will explain how astronomers have been using this information to help them determine the age of the Milky Way Galaxy. The lecture will be followed by a stargazing session with telescopes provided on the museum grounds, weather permitting. A door prize of a pair of 20 x 80 Konus binoculars, donated by Astronomics, also will be given away prior to the lecture. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/AstronomyLectureNov.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/AstronomyLectureNov.htm Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:46:50 -0500 Movie Night at the Museum will feature “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the movie that started it all, on Friday, Nov. 20. The doors will open at 7 p.m. and visitors will have access to museum galleries from 7 to 8:30. Galleries will close at 8:30 when the film begins in the museum’s Great Hall. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/MovieNightNov.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/MovieNightNov.htm Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:45:10 -0500 At 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, the Sam Noble Museum and the History of Science department in the OU College of Arts and Sciences will present a public lecture by Harvard University professor Janet Browne that will look at the importance of that 200th anniversary from a historical perspective. "Two hundred years of Darwin: The role of anniversaries in the history of biology" will take place in the museum’s Great Hall. Admission is free. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/JanetBrowne.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/JanetBrowne.htm Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:43:10 -0500 Girl scouts can learn more about all kinds of rocks, and complete requirements to earn a badge at special “Rocks Rock!” workshops to be offered Saturday, Nov. 7 at the Sam Noble Museum in Norman. Each workshop will allow Scouts to complete the requirements for completion of a badge. Two sessions are offered for both Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts. These Scouts may choose either Session 1, from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., which includes a lunch break; or Session II, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with no lunch break. Brownies will complete all requirements to earn an "Earth and Sky" badge. Juniors will complete all requirements for a "Rocks Rock" badge. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/Girlscoutsfall09.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/Girlscoutsfall09.htm Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:33:10 -0500 Registration begins now for a family program at the Sam Noble Museum that will show participants how to use those fall hues to make some natural art work. Family Night Out: Falling for Leaves will take place from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30 at the museum. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/FamilyNightOctober.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/FamilyNightOctober.htm Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:31:10 -0500 Visiting authors Carolyn Meyer and Anne Weaver will lead a workshop on writing for children and young adults from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23 at the Norman Public Library, 225 North Webster. The workshop is sponsored by the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and is free and open to adults and teens. No pre-registration is required. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/WritingWorkskhop.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/WritingWorkskhop.htm Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:32:40 -0500 The story of Charles Darwin’s five-year voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle is one not only of science, but of adventure and discovery – perfect material to capture the imaginations of children and young adults. Two authors visiting the Sam Noble Museum in Norman on Saturday, Oct. 24 have written books that do just that. Carolyn Meyer, author of the young adult novel The True Adventures of Charley Darwin; and Anne Weaver, author of The Voyage of the Beetle, a book for younger readers; will be at the museum from 1 to 4 p.m. to give readings, meet museum visitors, and sign books for “Explore With Darwin Family Day.” http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/ExploreWithDarwinDay.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/ExploreWithDarwinDay.htm Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:12:22 -0500 Teacher Appreciation Day will include free access to museum galleries for teachers and their families, tours of museum classrooms and demonstrations of object-based learning activities such as those used in museum educational programs. Museum educators will be on hand to talk with teachers about museum programs, answer questions and provide information about resources available to teachers, including classroom loan kits, pre-visit materials and professional development workshop opportunities for educators. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/TeacherAppreciationDay09.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/TeacherAppreciationDay09.htm Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:42:40 -0500 Have you ever wondered what bizarre and beautiful objects and specimens are hidden away in the collections of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History? A once-a-year open house, scheduled from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, will give visitors an opportunity to prowl the museum’s behind-the-scenes areas to see for themselves. All you have to do to participate is become a member of the museum, and the event is free. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/MembersNight09.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/MembersNight09.htm Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:25:30 -0500 Our solar system is sometimes like a favorite old book – we think we know it by heart. And yet as our technological expertise increases, the chapters on the planets are being continually revised. A free public lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8 at the Sam Noble Museum in Norman will showcase some of the latest discoveries scientists are making about our own astronomical back yard. The lecture will be followed by a stargazing session with telescopes provided on the museum grounds, weather permitting. A door prize of a pair of 20 x 80 Konus binoculars, donated by Astronomics, also will be given away prior to the lecture. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/Astronomylectureoct.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/Astronomylectureoct.htm Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:47:10 -0500 Leanne Hinton, professor emerita of linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley, will give a free public lecture on the topic titled “Why ‘Dead Languages’ are Only Sleeping: Language Revitalization for Endangered Languages Around the World” at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5 at the Sam Noble Museum in Norman. The presentation is one in a series of public lectures associated with “Language Change, Loss and Revitalization,” a University of Oklahoma Presidential Dream Course. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/LanguageDreamCourseOct.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/LanguageDreamCourseOct.htm Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:46:30 -0500 As part of a University of Oklahoma campus-wide celebration of the 150th anniversary of the publishing of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," the Sam Noble Museum in Norman will be offering an evening of free museum admission from 6 to 11 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29. The museum also will feature a free public lecture beginning at 5 p.m. by the museum’s curator of invertebrate paleontology, Stephen Westrop, titled "The Cambrian Explosion and the Burgess Shale: No Dilemma for Darwin." http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/DarwinNight.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/DarwinNight.htm Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:13:10 -0500 The Galapagos Islands, famously explored by Charles Darwin in 1835, are known as the “Islas Encantadas” or Enchanted Islands. Their unique flora and fauna are unlike anything that exists anywhere else in the world, and continue to draw attention from tourists and scientists alike. A free public lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15 by Galapagos naturalist Lynn Fowler will focus on Darwin’s visit to the Galapagos and the islands’ ecological future. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/LynnFowler.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/LynnFowler.htm Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:46:10 -0500 As a show of appreciation for our state’s first responders and military personnel, the Sam Noble Museum in Norman has named the week of Sept. 20 through 26 as “First Responders and Military Week,” and is providing complimentary museum admission to all military personnel, police, 911 operators, firefighters, emergency room personnel and EMTs, along with their immediate families, all week. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/FirstRespondersandMilitary.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/FirstRespondersandMilitary.htm Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:43:10 -0500 Sooner fans visiting Norman for a football game will have an opportunity to grab some Sooner culture and history during their visit … at a discount. Throughout the football season, the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, both on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus, offer a $1 discount on admission to anyone showing an OU football ticket on the day of the game. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/GameDayDiscounts.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/GameDayDiscounts.htm Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:40:10 -0500 In spite of media reports of gloomy economic times, family fun is still well within the budget on Saturday, June 13 at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the museum will offer free admission to the public, thanks to a corporate sponsorship from Chesapeake Energy. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/ChesapeakeFreeDay.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/ChesapeakeFreeDay.htm Wed, 20 May 2009 16:40:10 -0500 Though most people have heard of Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity, what that theory really means and how it has impacted modern physics can be difficult for the non-physicist to grasp. A free public lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 4 at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History will provide some insights into this important scientific concept. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/AstroLectureJune09.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/AstroLectureJune09.htm Wed, 20 May 2009 16:38:10 -0500 Eager egg hunters can get a jump on spring at the eleventh annual “Eggstravaganza” presented by the University of Oklahoma J.C. Penney Leadership Program and the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8. This free public event features a giant egg hunt, plus a host of activities, games and fun for kids in pre-k through fourth grade. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/Eggstravaganza09.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/Eggstravaganza09.htm Mon, 06 Mar 2009 13:04:10 -0500 Laurie Vitt, curator of reptiles at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, has been studying reptiles in the Amazon for more than 30 years. Nearly every year, Vitt and his colleagues travel into the Brazilian rainforest to collect and study the vast numbers of snakes, turtles and especially lizards native to this richly diverse ecosystem. This spring, Vitt’s research, along with that of others in his field, has revealed some alarming statistics about how well lizards in tropical climates will likely be able to adapt to a global rise in temperature. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/Vittlizardstudy.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/Vittlizardstudy.htm Thurs, 26 Mar 2009 14:18:00 -0500 Oklahoma’s prairies have sheltered and sustained many different types of animals and people over the past 100 years. A new children’s workshop at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman will give kids in grades 1 and 2 a chance to travel back in time to investigate and learn about life on the prairie. “Prairie Time Traveler” is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 21. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/PrairieTimeTraveler.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/PrairieTimeTraveler.htm Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:40:10 -0500 Native peoples of the Great Plains have used plants for medicinal and ceremonial purposes for many generations. An adult workshop at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman will give participants some insights into the many ways in which the Plains Apache have traditionally used native plants for food, medicine and ritual. The workshop, titled “Plant Lore of the Plains Apache,” is scheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 24. Registration is now underway. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/ApachePlantLore.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/ApachePlantLore.htm Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:30:00 -0500 Visitors to the exhibits at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History have no doubt heard of the more-than-7-million objects and specimens held in museum collections behind the scenes. Many questions may come to mind about these collections: Why do scientists collect these objects? How are they used and how are they stored and protected? Construction has now begun on a new orientation gallery that will answer these and many other questions about what the museum does, how they do it and why. The Noble Corporation and Noble Energy Orientation Gallery, now under construction on the museum’s ground floor, is scheduled to open to the public on March 29. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/OrientationGallery.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/OrientationGallery.htm Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:04:10 -0600 There is more to rocks than meets the eye. The story of the earth can be found underground in the rocks and fossils beneath our feet. Cub Scouts and Webelos on a quest for a Geology belt loop or badge can get the dirt on rocks at a pair of special Scout workshops offered Saturday, March 28 at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman. Each workshop will allow Scouts to complete all or nearly all the requirements for completion of their loop or badge. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/ScoutWorkshops.htm http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/ScoutWorkshops.htm Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:42:57 -0600 The Cleveland Area Rapid Transit (CART) and the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History are teaming up to give metro area residents a way to say YES to fossils, and NO to fossil fuel costs at the same time. Beginning Aug. 25, CART’s blue line will now include a stop at Chautauqua Avenue and J. Willis Stovall Drive, the entrance to the museum. CART will stop at the museum at approximately :08 and :38 after every hour Monday through Friday and :08 after the hour on Saturday. The additional stop was included at the request of museum visitors who are trying to cut gas costs. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/CARTstop.htm Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:13:44 -0500 The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman has received a gift in the amount of $950,000 from the Whitten-Newman Foundation of Edmond. The gift will fund ExplorOlogy, a new education project designed to engage children and teachers in doing science by immersing them in the world of field exploration. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/ExplorOlogy.htm Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:13:15 -0500 New podcasts will now allow Spanish-speaking visitors to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman to enjoy a Spanish-language audio tour through the dinosaur exhibits. The 25-minute tour is available in both English and Spanish. Museum visitors have the option of downloading the tour from the Web onto their personal iPod or other mp3 player, or renting an iPod at the museum information desk for use during their visit. The audio tours were made possible by the AT&T Foundation. http://news.snomnh.ou.edu/current/AudioTours.htm Wed, 02 May 2007 11:12:48 -0500