Earth Day, colossal dinosaurs a popular magnet for museum

A slow day, Dinosaur news wise...
Democrat Chronicle: Earth Day, colossal dinosaurs a popular magnet for museum
After discovering Easter baskets hidden in linen closets filled with chocolate bunnies and jelly beans, some families opted for a different way to work off their sugar high. At the Rochester Museum and Science Center on Sunday afternoon, children and parents alike roamed the museum's many exhibits.

One of the featured exhibitions was the museum's Earth Day Celebration: Raindrops and Runoff, which helped attract more then 3,500 visitors from Friday through Sunday, said Dan Winklebleck, public programs supervisor at the museum.

"We work with the Water Education Collaborative to conduct outreach and education activities to teach the importance of protecting our water," he said. The Water Education Collaborative (WEC) is a collection of organizations that works together to increase water quality education in Monroe County.

Visitors to the exhibit could learn just how important water is to life on Earth and how to keep it clean and healthy. Activities and exhibitions included a scavenger hunt, testing water quality, discovering macroinvertebrates creatures that share the water and traveling the water cycle from evaporation to accumulation on a playground-like climbing toy. Children could also make their own superhero capes like the H20 Hero, the mascot for the WEC's campaign.

On Saturday, the museum also had a family workshop to make rain barrels, which catch rainwater to store it for future use and can also help reduce pollutants.

While families took part in the Earth Day exhibits, others were also there to see the Colossal Dinosaur exhibit before it closes May 1. Elizabeth Lewis of Pittsford brought her 4-year-old son Tim to the museum Sunday afternoon. "(Tim) loves dinosaurs, so we just had to come see the dinosaurs," she said.