To register for programs, please print and return our Summer 2009 Registration Form. If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive a printed copy of our program, please contact us here or call 860-486-4460.
May
Family Activity: Archaeology at the Henry Whitfield State Museum, Saturday, May 16
Field Learning: A Visit to the UConn EcoGarden, Saturday, May 23
June
Field Learning: Farming the Sound, Saturday, June 6
Field Learning: A Visit to Cato Corner Farm, Sunday, June 7
Special Event: Tenth Annual Connecticut State BioBlitz, Saturday, June 13
Friday Afternoon at the Museum: Meet your Breakfast, Friday, June 26
Field Learning: Beekeeping -- A Sweet Idea, Saturday, June 27
Field Learning: Foods from the Landscape,Sunday, June 28
July
KAST Module: Botany from Basic to Bizarre! Monday, July 6 - Friday, July 10
Family Activity: Tavern Night at Noah Webster House, Saturday, July 11
KAST Module: Archaeology Field School for Kids, Monday, July 13 - Friday, July 17
Friday Afternoon at the Museum: Meet Your Lunch, Friday, July 17
Family Activity: Project O: In the Lab and Out To Sea, Saturday, July 18
KAST Module: Archaeology Field School for Kids, Monday, July 20 - Friday, July 24
KAST Module: Amazing Biodiversity, Monday, July 27 - Friday, July 31
August
Field Learning: Bats Alive! Saturday, August 1
Archaeology Field School for Adults, Monday, August 10 - Friday, August 14
Day Trip: Whale Watch, Saturday, August 15
Family Activity: Dinner in Jerusha’s Kitchen, Sunday, August 16
Friday Afternoon at the Museum: Meet your Dinner, Friday, August 21
Archaeology at the Henry Whitfield State Museum
National Historic Landmark & State Archaeological Preserve
Michael McBride, Archaeologist and Curator,
Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism
Saturday, May 16, 10 am to 12 noon
Guilford location; map will be sent to participants.
Advance registration required: $15, $10 per Museum member.
All ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Thirty-two years after the founding of Jamestown and nineteen years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, a group of English Puritans led by their minister, Reverend Henry Whitfield, journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean. Their goal was to establish a community in the New World free from religious persecution. They established their community in what is now the town of Guilford. The heart of the settlement was the Whitfield family home. Its massive stone walls and chimneys, steeply-pitched roof, and casement windows reflect the style of post-medieval domestic architecture found in England—rare in 17th century America, and unique today. Through the years, the “Old Stone House” has undergone many changes and many families have called it home. Today, it is Connecticut’s oldest house and New England’s oldest stone house.
The site was named a State Archaeological Preserve in 2006. Michael McBride, now curator at the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism’s Henry Whitfield State Museum, led the archaeological team that investigated the property. He will give participants in this program an in-depth look at the archaeological work that was done here, including a tour of the dig sites and a look at the artifacts uncovered. We will learn how the archaeological findings were used to support historical documentation about the house and enrich our understanding of these settlers and their times. After Mr. McBride’s presentation, the group can take self-guided tours of the house and barn, with exhibits and displays, and visit the restored 1930’s outhouse!
A Visit to the UConn EcoGarden
Zbigniew Grabowski, UConn EcoGarden Club and EEB, UConn
Saturday, May 23, 10 am to 12 noon
UConn Storrs location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $15, $10 per Museum member.
All ages welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
If you have been wondering what sustainable agriculture is and what it means for you and your family, this visit with the UConn EcoGarden Club will answer your questions. The UConn EcoGarden Club is part of the UConn EcoHusky student organization, which is the largest environmental activism group on campus. The EcoGardeners sow the seeds of conservation ethics as well as vegetables and fruits, exploring the functional and aesthetic connections between plants and people. For several years, club members have planted and tended a large organic garden adjacent to campus. Produce from this garden has been sold at the local Storrs Farmer’s Market, and has helped to feed students through the Local Routes program at Whitney Hall. This year, they are introducing a new Community Supported Agriculture program. Learn how the way food is grown can have a direct effect on your health and the health of your community. Come and pull some weeds, eat a lettuce leaf straight from the plant, get some ideas for your own garden, and have an informative morning in the garden!
Farming the Sound
Jim Markow, Director, Noank Aquaculture Cooperative
Tessa Getchis, Extension Educator, Connecticut Sea Grant
Saturday, June 6, 10 am to 12 noon
Groton (Noank) location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $20, $15 per Museum member.
Adults and children ages 6 and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Yes, people farm the Long Island Sound! In this case the “livestock” are shellfish, and the shellfish growing technique is called aquaculture. The Noank Aquaculture Cooperative (NAC), located in one of Connecticut’s picturesque coastal villages, is the site of a promising new aquaculture operation. Maritime research has been conducted at this facility, once part of the University of Connecticut, for over a century. Connecticut Sea Grant Extension Educator Tessa Getchis, a specialist in shellfisheries, will provide a historical account of Connecticut’s shell fishing roots and overview of today’s aquaculture industry. The visit includes a tour of the shellfish hatchery and processing facilities, provided by shellfish grower and manager of the Noank Aquaculture Cooperative, Jim Markow. Join us for the opportunity to learn how tasty local oysters, clams, and scallops are grown--from the Long Island Sound to your table!
A Visit to Cato Corner Farm
Elizabeth MacAlister and Mark Gillman, Farmers and Artisanal Cheese Makers
Sunday, June 7, 1 pm to 3 pm
Colchester location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $15, $10 per Museum member.
Adults and children ages 8 and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Cato Corner Farm is a small family dairy farm in Colchester, Connecticut, and has been a working farm since the mid-eighteenth century. Elizabeth and Mark, mother and son, maintain their herd of 40 free-range Jersey cows that have a rich diet of fresh pasture grasses without hormones, animal based feeds, or subtherapeutic antibiotics. Elizabeth MacAlister has owned the farm for more than 25 years. She began milking cows and making cheese in 1997 as a way to keep her farm sustainable. Today, they hand make a dozen styles of aged farmhouse cheese that are sold in many Farmer’s Markets and retail stores in New York City and throughout Connecticut. Cato Corner Farm was selected as the winner of the Gallo Family Vineyards “Never Stop Growing Award” for Outstanding Family-Owned Artisanal Food Production in 2006; their “Hooligan” cheese was selected as one of America’s Top Cheeses by Saveur Magazine in 2005, and was the winner of the Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Awards, Outstanding Dairy Product in 2006.
Join us for a visit to Cato Corner Farm and experience a wonderful example of successful sustainable agriculture right here in Connecticut. Tour the farm, learn the ways this farm differs from most commercial dairy operations, and see how Elizabeth and Mark make their award-winning cheeses.
Connecticut State BioBlitz –10 Year Anniversary
Saturday, June 13, 10 am to 3 pm
Keney Park and Goodwin College, Hartford, CT
No registration required – FREE
All ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
In June of 1999, scientists from the University of Connecticut and across the state converged on Hartford’s Keney Park for the first Connecticut State BioBlitz. This year the scientists will return to Keney Park for the Connecticut State BioBlitz, and expand the scope to include Goodwin College on the Connecticut River. Join us to see what changes they discover in the area’s biodiversity over the past decade.
BioBlitz is a distinctive scientific endeavor--part contest, part festival, and part educational event. It brings together scientists from numerous universities and scientific institutions in a race against time to see how many species they can count in a 24-hour biological survey. The driving force behind BioBlitz is its scientific mission to survey the diversity of animal and plant life in an urban area.
This year the EEB Center for Conservation and Biodiversity and the Museum are very pleased to have the BioBlitz sponsored in part by the Dorr Foundation. We are excited to partner with Goodwin College, Keney Park, and the Connecticut Science Center to present an array of nature-oriented programs for the community.
For more information visit the BioBlitz website or call (860) 486-4460.
Friday Afternoons at the Museum– Free!
Friday, June 26, 1 pm to 3 pm: Meet Your Breakfast!
What do you eat for breakfast? Do you know what its ingredients are? Do you know where it comes from? Let’s look at the surprising biodiversity and origins of some of your favorite breakfast foods, and snack a little too!
Friday, July 17, 1 pm to 3 pm: Meet Your Lunch!
What do you eat for lunch? In this session, we will delve into our favorite lunch foods to discover what they are made from, and where those ingredients came from. As you munch on a lunch-based snack, you will learn how it arrived in your mouth!
Friday, August 21, 1 pm to 3 pm: Meet your Dinner!
What do you like to eat for dinner? Let’s look at our typical dinner foods and see what they are made from and where these foods came from. You can munch on some dinner food biodiversity at the same time!
Explore science and nature by playing with your food! Drop in any time between 1 pm and 3 pm on these Friday afternoons to join in a fun hands-on activity and explore your world through experimentation and observation. Recommended for students entering grades 1 through 5, accompanied by an adult.
Beekeeping – A Sweet Idea
Amy Gronus, Production Chef, UConn Dining Services
Saturday, June 27, 10 am to 12 noon
UConn Storrs location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $15, $10 per Museum member.
Adults and children ages 6 and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
UConn is abuzz with interest in the latest species of livestock on campus--Apis mellifera, the honeybee! The ten brightly painted hives house over 100,000 bees that produce honey for UConn’s dining halls. This program was started by Amy Gronus, production chef at Northwest Dining Hall and Stephen Anthony, area assistant manager of Dining Services. UConn students and dining services use about 3,800 pounds of honey each year. Gronus and Anthony expect their tiny livestock to produce about 2,000 pounds of honey this year, with plans for more hives and increased production in the future. This operation will save the University money and provide healthful, locally-sourced honey for the students on campus.
Amy Gronus will give a presentation about apiculture, as beekeeping is formally termed, and talk about UConn’s honey production program. You will learn the many benefits of beekeeping and consuming local honey, and be treated to a taste of UConn honey. After the presentation, there will be a visit to the hives!
Foods from the Landscape
Peter Picone, Wildlife Biologist, DEP
Sunday, June 28, 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Burlington location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $15, $10 per Museum member.
All ages welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
You can manage your property to be both aesthetically pleasing and a source of food for you and your wildlife neighbors! Peter Picone spearheaded the Backyard Habitat program in Connecticut, and he and other DEP wildlife managers have created experimental habitat plots managing for a variety of land uses, including native food-producing plants at DEP’s Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area. On this walk, you will learn the techniques for managing your own property to produce natural renewable food sources, such as how to encourage the growth of native berries like highbush blueberry, black raspberry, and black huckleberry. You can enjoy pies and jam from your own berry patches for years to come! This will be an easy walk on moderate terrain.
Botany from Basic to Bizarre!
KAST (Kids Are Scientists Too)
Monday, July 6 through Friday, July 10, 9 am to 12 noon
For students entering grades 5 through 10
Advance registration required: $180 per student, $200 after June 2
Explore the science and mystery of plants in this brand new KAST module from UConn’s EEB Greenhouses, part of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology’s Biodiversity Collections, and the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History. This week of botanical adventure will begin by learning firsthand the secrets of how plant scientists identify different plants. You will experience tropical forests to deserts right here at UConn, make a terrarium with flesh-eating carnivorous plants and one with a desert dweller to take home, taste some really bizarre fruits, go on a wild botanical treasure hunt, and learn the special tools botanists use to solve the mysteries of plant life. This adventure is offered through UConn’s Kids Are Scientists Too program. Call KAST at (860)486-9219 or visit www.kast.uconn.edu for registration information.
Tavern Night at Noah Webster House
Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society Staff
Saturday, July 11, 5 pm to 8 pm
West Hartford location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $50, $40 per Museum member.
Price includes dinner, two complimentary drinks, live music, tavern games,
and historic house tour.
Enjoy the raucous atmosphere of an 18th century tavern in this exclusive night out at the Noah Webster House! You will be served a three-course hearty tavern-style meal and delicious beverages by candlelight, followed by rollicking tunes from renowned musician Don Sinetti performing sea chanteys in the Yankee whaling tradition. 18th century tavern games such as Skittles, Captain’s Mistress, Shove Ha’penny, and several others, as well as a special house tour will make this a memorable occasion!
The Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society are located in the restored birthplace and childhood home of Noah Webster. Webster was a national figure known not only for compiling the first American dictionary and the Blue-Backed Speller, but also for being a federalist, an abolitionist, and a cofounder of Amherst College.
The proposed seasonal menu will include: bread and cheese, pickled beets, baked ham, green beans, roasted potatoes and fresh gingerbread. A vegetarian option of a hearty vegetable stew is available if requested at the time reservations are made. Valid ID is required for alcoholic drinks.
Archaeology Field School for Kids
KAST (Kids Are Scientists Too)
Session 1: Monday, July 13 through Friday, July 17, 9 am to 12 noon
Session 2: Monday, July 20 through Friday, July 24, 9 am to 12 noon
For students entering grades 5 through 10
Advance registration required: $180 per student, $200 after June 2
Do you like to solve mysteries by uncovering evidence? Do you like getting your hands dirty? Then spend this week with UConn archaeologists exploring the world of field archaeology. You will learn about the science of archaeology and how to use the tools and methods of genuine archaeologists. You will be part of a real archaeological field crew, doing hands-on fieldwork and laboratory research at a real, ongoing archaeological dig. We have been opening new areas of our on campus dig site each year, and every session we uncover something new! This adventure is offered through UConn’s Kids Are Scientists Too program. Call KAST at (860)486-9219 or visit www.kast.uconn.edu for registration information.
Project O: In the Lab & Out To Sea
Saturday, July 18, 10 am to 4 pm
Avery Point location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $40, $30 per Museum member.
Fee includes both morning laboratory workshop and afternoon cruise.
Adults and children 6 and up. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Spend the day experiencing marine science, both onshore and at sea, in this beautiful setting on the Connecticut shoreline. In the morning you will be in the Project Oceanology laboratory exploring the natural history of Long Island Sound, learning to identify its animal and plant life, and learning about its abundant fisheries. In the afternoon, you will take a voyage out to sea on the Envirolab II research vessel.
During the 2 1/2 hour cruise on Long Island Sound, you will experience hands-on marine biology at the stern of the boat by using trawl and plankton nets and examining the contents under the guidance of professional marine scientists. At the bow, learn marine science as you operate the instruments and equipment used to study the physical and geological aspects of oceanography and the basic chemistry of seawater. Bring a picnic lunch to eat at the harbor’s edge!
Amazing Biodiversity
KAST (Kids Are Scientists Too)
Monday, July 27 through Friday, July 31, 9 am to 12 noon
For students entering grades 5 through 10
Advance registration required: $180 per student, $200 after June 2
Everyone knows there is great biodiversity in the rain forest, but have you ever considered the biodiversity of a managed wildlife preserve, an athletic field, a farm field and barns, greenhouses, or a research facility? In this module, you will explore the biodiversity found right here on UConn’s campus by visiting and examining several of its different indoor and outdoor habitats. Using lab and field techniques and tools, you will examine and compare the species richness around the University of Connecticut campus and find out how our activities affect the biodiversity of our local surroundings. This adventure is offered through UConn’s Kids Are Scientists Too program. Call KAST at (860)486-9219 or visit www.kast.uconn.edu for registration information.
Bats Alive!
Cheri Collins, Mammalogist, MNH Staff
Saturday, August 1, 7 pm to 9 pm
Ashford location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $15, $10 per Museum member.
Adults and children ages 6 and up. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Bats in your belfry? Bats in your barn? What are they doing when you see them fluttering about at night? Learn about bats’ unique biology and behavior from Cheri Collins, and meet your local bat species. Find out where they live and what role they play in our natural environment, and examine mounted museum specimens of our native species. Listen in on bats in the wild with a “bat detector” to hear them use echolocation to sense their surroundings and locate insect prey. Then, watch living bats as they emerge for the evening from the colony roosts and catch insects on the fly.
Archaeology Field School for Adults
Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni, State Archaeologist, MNH/CAC
Monday, August 10 through Friday, August 14, 9 am to 3 pm
Central Connecticut location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $400, $300 per Museum member.
Adults and older teens ages 16 and up.
Back by popular demand! Spend an entire week with State Archaeologist Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni at the Museum of Natural History and Connecticut Archaeology Center’s Field School. This intensive field school will introduce you to the governmental, legal, and cultural aspects of archaeology, as well as proper archaeological field techniques and data management. You will participate in a “dig” at an historic property as one of the official team of investigators under the Office of State Archaeology. Your findings will add important information to our understanding of Connecticut’s rich historic past.
Whale Watch
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Saturday, August 15
Bus departs Storrs at 8 am. Map will be mailed to participants.
Departure from Plymouth at 7 pm. Departure time is approximate,
and varies according to the length of the cruise.
All ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Advance registration required: $75 per adult, $65 per child; $60 per adult
Museum member, $50 per child Museum member.
Registration includes bus transportation to Plymouth and whale watch ticket.
Please register early as seats are limited. Registration closes on August 7.
Join us as we visit the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts for the Museum’s annual whale watch trip! We will arrive in Plymouth at approximately 10:30 am so you will have some time to explore the town, visit Plymouth Rock, The Mayflower II, the Statue of Massasoit, and the Pilgrim Hall Museum--all within easy walking distance! There are many great restaurants in town and on the dock for an enjoyable lunch before the cruise.
The Captain John Boats cruise will depart at 2 pm. We will head out from the center of the Stellwagen Bank, accompanied by a professional marine biologist who will explain ecology of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay, and the biology of the whale species we are likely to encounter. The biologist will even tell us about the life histories of the individual whales we will meet along the way. After our cruise returns to the dock, you can enjoy dinner at one of the dockside restaurants before we depart at approximately 7 pm for our bus ride home.
Dinner in Jerusha’s Kitchen
Lin Scarduzio, Historical Society of Glastonbury
Sunday, August 16, 11 am to 5 pm
Glastonbury location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $50, $40 per Museum member.
Registration includes materials fee.
Adults and children ages 12 and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
The Historical Society of Glastonbury and the Museum of Natural History invite you to step back into the 1750s, light the cooking fire, and help prepare and eat an authentic eighteenth century meal in Jerusha Welles’ farmhouse kitchen. Using authentic and reproduction cooking implements, you will learn through hands-on participation how to prepare the seasonal foods colonial New Englanders would have had available, and produce a dinner under the guidance of “Jerusha Welles” (Lin Scarduzio). The ‘receipts’ (as recipes were termed in the 18th century) will be based on those of Hannah Glasse, who wrote a cookbook popular in 1776. While we wait for the fire to make hot coals, we will have an appetizer from that cookbook, learn more about the life of the real Jerusha Welles and her family, and tour the house and grounds. Once the coals are ready, participants will be able to use cooking vessels such as the bake kettle and the gridiron, and bake a pie using the beehive oven. When everything is done to perfection, you will sit down to enjoy the meal with a mug of “Glassenbury cyder” and new friends!
May
Family Activity: Archaeology at the Henry Whitfield State Museum, Saturday, May 16
Field Learning: A Visit to the UConn EcoGarden, Saturday, May 23
June
Field Learning: Farming the Sound, Saturday, June 6
Field Learning: A Visit to Cato Corner Farm, Sunday, June 7
Special Event: Tenth Annual Connecticut State BioBlitz, Saturday, June 13
Friday Afternoon at the Museum: Meet your Breakfast, Friday, June 26
Field Learning: Beekeeping -- A Sweet Idea, Saturday, June 27
Field Learning: Foods from the Landscape,Sunday, June 28
July
KAST Module: Botany from Basic to Bizarre! Monday, July 6 - Friday, July 10
Family Activity: Tavern Night at Noah Webster House, Saturday, July 11
KAST Module: Archaeology Field School for Kids, Monday, July 13 - Friday, July 17
Friday Afternoon at the Museum: Meet Your Lunch, Friday, July 17
Family Activity: Project O: In the Lab and Out To Sea, Saturday, July 18
KAST Module: Archaeology Field School for Kids, Monday, July 20 - Friday, July 24
KAST Module: Amazing Biodiversity, Monday, July 27 - Friday, July 31
August
Field Learning: Bats Alive! Saturday, August 1
Archaeology Field School for Adults, Monday, August 10 - Friday, August 14
Day Trip: Whale Watch, Saturday, August 15
Family Activity: Dinner in Jerusha’s Kitchen, Sunday, August 16
Friday Afternoon at the Museum: Meet your Dinner, Friday, August 21
Archaeology at the Henry Whitfield State Museum
National Historic Landmark & State Archaeological Preserve
Michael McBride, Archaeologist and Curator,
Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism
Saturday, May 16, 10 am to 12 noon
Guilford location; map will be sent to participants.
Advance registration required: $15, $10 per Museum member.
All ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Thirty-two years after the founding of Jamestown and nineteen years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, a group of English Puritans led by their minister, Reverend Henry Whitfield, journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean. Their goal was to establish a community in the New World free from religious persecution. They established their community in what is now the town of Guilford. The heart of the settlement was the Whitfield family home. Its massive stone walls and chimneys, steeply-pitched roof, and casement windows reflect the style of post-medieval domestic architecture found in England—rare in 17th century America, and unique today. Through the years, the “Old Stone House” has undergone many changes and many families have called it home. Today, it is Connecticut’s oldest house and New England’s oldest stone house.
The site was named a State Archaeological Preserve in 2006. Michael McBride, now curator at the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism’s Henry Whitfield State Museum, led the archaeological team that investigated the property. He will give participants in this program an in-depth look at the archaeological work that was done here, including a tour of the dig sites and a look at the artifacts uncovered. We will learn how the archaeological findings were used to support historical documentation about the house and enrich our understanding of these settlers and their times. After Mr. McBride’s presentation, the group can take self-guided tours of the house and barn, with exhibits and displays, and visit the restored 1930’s outhouse!
A Visit to the UConn EcoGarden
Zbigniew Grabowski, UConn EcoGarden Club and EEB, UConn
Saturday, May 23, 10 am to 12 noon
UConn Storrs location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $15, $10 per Museum member.
All ages welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
If you have been wondering what sustainable agriculture is and what it means for you and your family, this visit with the UConn EcoGarden Club will answer your questions. The UConn EcoGarden Club is part of the UConn EcoHusky student organization, which is the largest environmental activism group on campus. The EcoGardeners sow the seeds of conservation ethics as well as vegetables and fruits, exploring the functional and aesthetic connections between plants and people. For several years, club members have planted and tended a large organic garden adjacent to campus. Produce from this garden has been sold at the local Storrs Farmer’s Market, and has helped to feed students through the Local Routes program at Whitney Hall. This year, they are introducing a new Community Supported Agriculture program. Learn how the way food is grown can have a direct effect on your health and the health of your community. Come and pull some weeds, eat a lettuce leaf straight from the plant, get some ideas for your own garden, and have an informative morning in the garden!
Farming the Sound
Jim Markow, Director, Noank Aquaculture Cooperative
Tessa Getchis, Extension Educator, Connecticut Sea Grant
Saturday, June 6, 10 am to 12 noon
Groton (Noank) location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $20, $15 per Museum member.
Adults and children ages 6 and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Yes, people farm the Long Island Sound! In this case the “livestock” are shellfish, and the shellfish growing technique is called aquaculture. The Noank Aquaculture Cooperative (NAC), located in one of Connecticut’s picturesque coastal villages, is the site of a promising new aquaculture operation. Maritime research has been conducted at this facility, once part of the University of Connecticut, for over a century. Connecticut Sea Grant Extension Educator Tessa Getchis, a specialist in shellfisheries, will provide a historical account of Connecticut’s shell fishing roots and overview of today’s aquaculture industry. The visit includes a tour of the shellfish hatchery and processing facilities, provided by shellfish grower and manager of the Noank Aquaculture Cooperative, Jim Markow. Join us for the opportunity to learn how tasty local oysters, clams, and scallops are grown--from the Long Island Sound to your table!
A Visit to Cato Corner Farm
Elizabeth MacAlister and Mark Gillman, Farmers and Artisanal Cheese Makers
Sunday, June 7, 1 pm to 3 pm
Colchester location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $15, $10 per Museum member.
Adults and children ages 8 and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Cato Corner Farm is a small family dairy farm in Colchester, Connecticut, and has been a working farm since the mid-eighteenth century. Elizabeth and Mark, mother and son, maintain their herd of 40 free-range Jersey cows that have a rich diet of fresh pasture grasses without hormones, animal based feeds, or subtherapeutic antibiotics. Elizabeth MacAlister has owned the farm for more than 25 years. She began milking cows and making cheese in 1997 as a way to keep her farm sustainable. Today, they hand make a dozen styles of aged farmhouse cheese that are sold in many Farmer’s Markets and retail stores in New York City and throughout Connecticut. Cato Corner Farm was selected as the winner of the Gallo Family Vineyards “Never Stop Growing Award” for Outstanding Family-Owned Artisanal Food Production in 2006; their “Hooligan” cheese was selected as one of America’s Top Cheeses by Saveur Magazine in 2005, and was the winner of the Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Awards, Outstanding Dairy Product in 2006.
Join us for a visit to Cato Corner Farm and experience a wonderful example of successful sustainable agriculture right here in Connecticut. Tour the farm, learn the ways this farm differs from most commercial dairy operations, and see how Elizabeth and Mark make their award-winning cheeses.
Connecticut State BioBlitz –10 Year Anniversary
Saturday, June 13, 10 am to 3 pm
Keney Park and Goodwin College, Hartford, CT
No registration required – FREE
All ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
In June of 1999, scientists from the University of Connecticut and across the state converged on Hartford’s Keney Park for the first Connecticut State BioBlitz. This year the scientists will return to Keney Park for the Connecticut State BioBlitz, and expand the scope to include Goodwin College on the Connecticut River. Join us to see what changes they discover in the area’s biodiversity over the past decade.
BioBlitz is a distinctive scientific endeavor--part contest, part festival, and part educational event. It brings together scientists from numerous universities and scientific institutions in a race against time to see how many species they can count in a 24-hour biological survey. The driving force behind BioBlitz is its scientific mission to survey the diversity of animal and plant life in an urban area.
This year the EEB Center for Conservation and Biodiversity and the Museum are very pleased to have the BioBlitz sponsored in part by the Dorr Foundation. We are excited to partner with Goodwin College, Keney Park, and the Connecticut Science Center to present an array of nature-oriented programs for the community.
For more information visit the BioBlitz website or call (860) 486-4460.
Friday Afternoons at the Museum– Free!
Friday, June 26, 1 pm to 3 pm: Meet Your Breakfast!
What do you eat for breakfast? Do you know what its ingredients are? Do you know where it comes from? Let’s look at the surprising biodiversity and origins of some of your favorite breakfast foods, and snack a little too!
Friday, July 17, 1 pm to 3 pm: Meet Your Lunch!
What do you eat for lunch? In this session, we will delve into our favorite lunch foods to discover what they are made from, and where those ingredients came from. As you munch on a lunch-based snack, you will learn how it arrived in your mouth!
Friday, August 21, 1 pm to 3 pm: Meet your Dinner!
What do you like to eat for dinner? Let’s look at our typical dinner foods and see what they are made from and where these foods came from. You can munch on some dinner food biodiversity at the same time!
Explore science and nature by playing with your food! Drop in any time between 1 pm and 3 pm on these Friday afternoons to join in a fun hands-on activity and explore your world through experimentation and observation. Recommended for students entering grades 1 through 5, accompanied by an adult.
Beekeeping – A Sweet Idea
Amy Gronus, Production Chef, UConn Dining Services
Saturday, June 27, 10 am to 12 noon
UConn Storrs location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $15, $10 per Museum member.
Adults and children ages 6 and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
UConn is abuzz with interest in the latest species of livestock on campus--Apis mellifera, the honeybee! The ten brightly painted hives house over 100,000 bees that produce honey for UConn’s dining halls. This program was started by Amy Gronus, production chef at Northwest Dining Hall and Stephen Anthony, area assistant manager of Dining Services. UConn students and dining services use about 3,800 pounds of honey each year. Gronus and Anthony expect their tiny livestock to produce about 2,000 pounds of honey this year, with plans for more hives and increased production in the future. This operation will save the University money and provide healthful, locally-sourced honey for the students on campus.
Amy Gronus will give a presentation about apiculture, as beekeeping is formally termed, and talk about UConn’s honey production program. You will learn the many benefits of beekeeping and consuming local honey, and be treated to a taste of UConn honey. After the presentation, there will be a visit to the hives!
Foods from the Landscape
Peter Picone, Wildlife Biologist, DEP
Sunday, June 28, 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Burlington location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $15, $10 per Museum member.
All ages welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
You can manage your property to be both aesthetically pleasing and a source of food for you and your wildlife neighbors! Peter Picone spearheaded the Backyard Habitat program in Connecticut, and he and other DEP wildlife managers have created experimental habitat plots managing for a variety of land uses, including native food-producing plants at DEP’s Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area. On this walk, you will learn the techniques for managing your own property to produce natural renewable food sources, such as how to encourage the growth of native berries like highbush blueberry, black raspberry, and black huckleberry. You can enjoy pies and jam from your own berry patches for years to come! This will be an easy walk on moderate terrain.
Botany from Basic to Bizarre!
KAST (Kids Are Scientists Too)
Monday, July 6 through Friday, July 10, 9 am to 12 noon
For students entering grades 5 through 10
Advance registration required: $180 per student, $200 after June 2
Explore the science and mystery of plants in this brand new KAST module from UConn’s EEB Greenhouses, part of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology’s Biodiversity Collections, and the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History. This week of botanical adventure will begin by learning firsthand the secrets of how plant scientists identify different plants. You will experience tropical forests to deserts right here at UConn, make a terrarium with flesh-eating carnivorous plants and one with a desert dweller to take home, taste some really bizarre fruits, go on a wild botanical treasure hunt, and learn the special tools botanists use to solve the mysteries of plant life. This adventure is offered through UConn’s Kids Are Scientists Too program. Call KAST at (860)486-9219 or visit www.kast.uconn.edu for registration information.
Tavern Night at Noah Webster House
Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society Staff
Saturday, July 11, 5 pm to 8 pm
West Hartford location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $50, $40 per Museum member.
Price includes dinner, two complimentary drinks, live music, tavern games,
and historic house tour.
Enjoy the raucous atmosphere of an 18th century tavern in this exclusive night out at the Noah Webster House! You will be served a three-course hearty tavern-style meal and delicious beverages by candlelight, followed by rollicking tunes from renowned musician Don Sinetti performing sea chanteys in the Yankee whaling tradition. 18th century tavern games such as Skittles, Captain’s Mistress, Shove Ha’penny, and several others, as well as a special house tour will make this a memorable occasion!
The Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society are located in the restored birthplace and childhood home of Noah Webster. Webster was a national figure known not only for compiling the first American dictionary and the Blue-Backed Speller, but also for being a federalist, an abolitionist, and a cofounder of Amherst College.
The proposed seasonal menu will include: bread and cheese, pickled beets, baked ham, green beans, roasted potatoes and fresh gingerbread. A vegetarian option of a hearty vegetable stew is available if requested at the time reservations are made. Valid ID is required for alcoholic drinks.
Archaeology Field School for Kids
KAST (Kids Are Scientists Too)
Session 1: Monday, July 13 through Friday, July 17, 9 am to 12 noon
Session 2: Monday, July 20 through Friday, July 24, 9 am to 12 noon
For students entering grades 5 through 10
Advance registration required: $180 per student, $200 after June 2
Do you like to solve mysteries by uncovering evidence? Do you like getting your hands dirty? Then spend this week with UConn archaeologists exploring the world of field archaeology. You will learn about the science of archaeology and how to use the tools and methods of genuine archaeologists. You will be part of a real archaeological field crew, doing hands-on fieldwork and laboratory research at a real, ongoing archaeological dig. We have been opening new areas of our on campus dig site each year, and every session we uncover something new! This adventure is offered through UConn’s Kids Are Scientists Too program. Call KAST at (860)486-9219 or visit www.kast.uconn.edu for registration information.
Project O: In the Lab & Out To Sea
Saturday, July 18, 10 am to 4 pm
Avery Point location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $40, $30 per Museum member.
Fee includes both morning laboratory workshop and afternoon cruise.
Adults and children 6 and up. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Spend the day experiencing marine science, both onshore and at sea, in this beautiful setting on the Connecticut shoreline. In the morning you will be in the Project Oceanology laboratory exploring the natural history of Long Island Sound, learning to identify its animal and plant life, and learning about its abundant fisheries. In the afternoon, you will take a voyage out to sea on the Envirolab II research vessel.
During the 2 1/2 hour cruise on Long Island Sound, you will experience hands-on marine biology at the stern of the boat by using trawl and plankton nets and examining the contents under the guidance of professional marine scientists. At the bow, learn marine science as you operate the instruments and equipment used to study the physical and geological aspects of oceanography and the basic chemistry of seawater. Bring a picnic lunch to eat at the harbor’s edge!
Amazing Biodiversity
KAST (Kids Are Scientists Too)
Monday, July 27 through Friday, July 31, 9 am to 12 noon
For students entering grades 5 through 10
Advance registration required: $180 per student, $200 after June 2
Everyone knows there is great biodiversity in the rain forest, but have you ever considered the biodiversity of a managed wildlife preserve, an athletic field, a farm field and barns, greenhouses, or a research facility? In this module, you will explore the biodiversity found right here on UConn’s campus by visiting and examining several of its different indoor and outdoor habitats. Using lab and field techniques and tools, you will examine and compare the species richness around the University of Connecticut campus and find out how our activities affect the biodiversity of our local surroundings. This adventure is offered through UConn’s Kids Are Scientists Too program. Call KAST at (860)486-9219 or visit www.kast.uconn.edu for registration information.
Bats Alive!
Cheri Collins, Mammalogist, MNH Staff
Saturday, August 1, 7 pm to 9 pm
Ashford location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $15, $10 per Museum member.
Adults and children ages 6 and up. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Bats in your belfry? Bats in your barn? What are they doing when you see them fluttering about at night? Learn about bats’ unique biology and behavior from Cheri Collins, and meet your local bat species. Find out where they live and what role they play in our natural environment, and examine mounted museum specimens of our native species. Listen in on bats in the wild with a “bat detector” to hear them use echolocation to sense their surroundings and locate insect prey. Then, watch living bats as they emerge for the evening from the colony roosts and catch insects on the fly.
Archaeology Field School for Adults
Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni, State Archaeologist, MNH/CAC
Monday, August 10 through Friday, August 14, 9 am to 3 pm
Central Connecticut location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $400, $300 per Museum member.
Adults and older teens ages 16 and up.
Back by popular demand! Spend an entire week with State Archaeologist Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni at the Museum of Natural History and Connecticut Archaeology Center’s Field School. This intensive field school will introduce you to the governmental, legal, and cultural aspects of archaeology, as well as proper archaeological field techniques and data management. You will participate in a “dig” at an historic property as one of the official team of investigators under the Office of State Archaeology. Your findings will add important information to our understanding of Connecticut’s rich historic past.
Whale Watch
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Saturday, August 15
Bus departs Storrs at 8 am. Map will be mailed to participants.
Departure from Plymouth at 7 pm. Departure time is approximate,
and varies according to the length of the cruise.
All ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Advance registration required: $75 per adult, $65 per child; $60 per adult
Museum member, $50 per child Museum member.
Registration includes bus transportation to Plymouth and whale watch ticket.
Please register early as seats are limited. Registration closes on August 7.
Join us as we visit the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts for the Museum’s annual whale watch trip! We will arrive in Plymouth at approximately 10:30 am so you will have some time to explore the town, visit Plymouth Rock, The Mayflower II, the Statue of Massasoit, and the Pilgrim Hall Museum--all within easy walking distance! There are many great restaurants in town and on the dock for an enjoyable lunch before the cruise.
The Captain John Boats cruise will depart at 2 pm. We will head out from the center of the Stellwagen Bank, accompanied by a professional marine biologist who will explain ecology of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay, and the biology of the whale species we are likely to encounter. The biologist will even tell us about the life histories of the individual whales we will meet along the way. After our cruise returns to the dock, you can enjoy dinner at one of the dockside restaurants before we depart at approximately 7 pm for our bus ride home.
Dinner in Jerusha’s Kitchen
Lin Scarduzio, Historical Society of Glastonbury
Sunday, August 16, 11 am to 5 pm
Glastonbury location; map will be mailed to participants.
Advance registration required: $50, $40 per Museum member.
Registration includes materials fee.
Adults and children ages 12 and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
The Historical Society of Glastonbury and the Museum of Natural History invite you to step back into the 1750s, light the cooking fire, and help prepare and eat an authentic eighteenth century meal in Jerusha Welles’ farmhouse kitchen. Using authentic and reproduction cooking implements, you will learn through hands-on participation how to prepare the seasonal foods colonial New Englanders would have had available, and produce a dinner under the guidance of “Jerusha Welles” (Lin Scarduzio). The ‘receipts’ (as recipes were termed in the 18th century) will be based on those of Hannah Glasse, who wrote a cookbook popular in 1776. While we wait for the fire to make hot coals, we will have an appetizer from that cookbook, learn more about the life of the real Jerusha Welles and her family, and tour the house and grounds. Once the coals are ready, participants will be able to use cooking vessels such as the bake kettle and the gridiron, and bake a pie using the beehive oven. When everything is done to perfection, you will sit down to enjoy the meal with a mug of “Glassenbury cyder” and new friends!
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