The ETSU Natural History Museum is holding its annual Darwin Day celebration Saturday, February 9th. General admission will be half price for adults and free for children.
Darwin Day includes several lectures as well as activities for children. Darwin Day is an international celebration of science that occurs around February 12th, which is the birthday of Charles Darwin, who was born in in 1809. The mission of Darwin Day is to celebrate the scientific accomplishment of Darwin and his description of evolution through natural selection as well as to explain the far-reaching impact of evolutionary science.
The ETSU Natural History Museum Darwin Day is dedicated to providing the public with scientific information based on empirical evidence regarding evolution and other topics in a thought-provoking and informal setting.
The schedule for Darwin Day includes:
• 10:00 "Darwin, the Bible, and Public Response to Evolution: From the Scopes Trial to the 21st Century," presented by Dr. Joseph Baker, Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, ETSU.
• 11:30 "Lunchtime Evolution Discussion," led by Drs. Blaine Schubert, Steven Wallace and Jim Mead, Dept. of Geosciences and Natural History Museum, ETSU. Topics include human evolution, transitional forms, scientific creationism, intelligent design, and more.
• 1:30 "What's in a Name? Fifty Fun Ways to Name a Fossil," presented by Dr. Mick Whitelaw, Dept. of Geosciences and Natural History Museum, ETSU.
• 3:00 "Stellar Evolution and Its Impact on the Evolution of Life," presented by Dr. Don Luttermoser, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, ETSU.
Activities for all ages will be held throughout the day, which includes lessons on the following topics, human evolution and why humans are primates, how natural selection works, and understanding geologic time and evidence from the fossil record.
For more information, call the ETSU Natural History Museum at (423) 439-3659 or email info@grayfossilsite.com.