Summer Outreach Fun
Egg carton of rocks and minerals from our outdoor ore hunt at the AZ Heritage Center.
This summer we participated in educational outreach events with two of our partner organizations, the Arizona Historical Society and the South Mountain Environmental Education Center (SMEEC). On June 20th and July 11th, we co-hosted 'Arizona Fossils' and 'Arizona Rocks' at AHS's AZ Heritage Center in Tempe, and on July 13th we joined our friends at SMEEC for their evening event, 'Summer Nights at South Mountain.' Enjoy photos of our outreach events below.
At the AZ Fossils event, visitors gathered in the AZ Heritage Center's Brown Theater for a presentation about the fossil record.
Birds-eye view of the action at AZ Fossil Day. Photo Courtesy of the AZ Heritage Center.
AZ Heritage Center
Kids digging for real AZ fossils at AZ Fossil Day at the AZ Heritage Center. Specimens included horn coral, hexagonaria coral, crinoid stems, gastropods and brachiopods.
We had a fantastic turnout for AZ Rocks! The event included an outdoor ore hunt (pictured) where kids searched for and retrieved twelve rocks and minerals, followed by specimen identification and a chocolate chip cookie mining activity.
Hunting for ore!
Part of our AZ Rocks event included exploring the Natural History Gallery, where several AMMNRE specimens are on display, including this Canyon Diablo meteorite.
We brought our fossil dig to SMEEC for their Summer Nights program. It was a big hit!
While most outreach events are aimed at school-aged children, adults are welcome too! Here's our friend from Audubon Arizona trying her luck at the fossil dig.