North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences always offers free admission, but you might not be aware of the free and inexpensive events, beyond the exhibits, that it offers. You can view all their events here. Some are free and some have fees associated with them. Here are a few upcoming free and cheap events.
Make sure to check the location.
- Prairie Ridge Ecostation, 1671 Gold Star Drive, Raleigh
- Downtown Raleigh, 11 W. Jones Street, Raleigh
- Nature Research Center, 121 W. Jones Street, Raleigh
Right now, of course, the museum is closed, and no in-person events are taking place.
They do have virtual events though.
Virtual Trivia Tuesdays
Every Tuesday through June 30th, 2020
6 p.m.
Free
Join North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences online for Virtual Trivia Tuesdays! Follow the above link to the Facebook event. This will contain links to play.
This is a great opportunity to virtually mingle with friends, compete for bragging rights and perhaps even learn something cool.
Questions feature a mix of science facts, current news, pop culture and scientific discoveries.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PARTICIPATION:
After you register, you will need 2 browser windows or 2 devices to play. One for the livestream where you will receive the questions and one to select your answers within the Kahoot Quiz platform.
- To watch the live stream and follow the questions, go to the YouTube link we will email you when you register.
- To answer the questions and receive a score at the end, go to http://kahoot.it.
ON KAHOOT:
- Enter the game PIN, which we will give you on the YouTube screen once we go live.
- Click “Spin” to receive a username.
- Spin again for a different username or click to join the game.
- Select the correct answers or type in your answer as the question requires.
Storytime Online
Every Wednesday through June 17th, 2020
10 a.m.
Free
Are you looking for fun, educational activities to do with your family from home while the Museum is closed? On Wednesdays at 10 am, an exciting story and hands-on exploratory activity led by a museum education specialist will on the Museum Facebook page.
Each week a new story will go live at 10 am and museum staff will be online to answer your questions in the comments until 11 am. All Storytime Online videos can be accessed easily by viewing the Storytime Online Playlist. https://bit.ly/2L4AU16
To extend the learning for your whole family, check out the week’s Citizen Science Adventure on the Museum’s Facebook Timeline. Citizen science adventures are great ways for your older learners to get in on the fun! Each video will give you all the information you need to participate in the citizen science project.
Storytime is designed especially for children pre-school to kindergarten age, but all ages are welcome to participate and the activities can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Virtual Science Cafe – What It’s Like to Be a Bird with David Allen Sibley
Thursday, May 21st, 2020
7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Free
Join the Museum for a virtual Science Cafe with special guest, David Allen Sibley, at this link on Thursday, May 21!
https://youtu.be/h0jHp4vv7rw
‘What It’s Like to Be a Bird: From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing’
Birders and non-birders alike! Join us to gain a new and deeper understanding of what the wide variety of common backyard birds are doing–and why. David Allen Sibley will describe his observations of our familiar backyard birds that are highlighted in his new book “What it’s like to Be a Bird: From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing” (#1 New release in bird field guides). Your backyard will never seem the same again.
Signed copies of David’s book, “What It’s Like to Be a Bird: From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing–What Birds Are Doing, and Why,” are available from Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh at https://www.quailridgebooks.com/book/9780307957894.
About Our Speaker: David Allen Sibley is the author and illustrator of the series of successful guides to nature that bear his name, including The Sibley Guide to Birds. He has contributed to Smithsonian, Science, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, Birding, BirdWatching, North American Birds, and The New York Times. He is a recipient of the Roger Tory Peterson Award for Promoting the Cause of Birding from the American Birding Association and the Linnaean Society of New York’s Eisenmann Medal. He lives and birds in Massachusetts.
Adult Nights: Game Night
Friday, May 22nd, 2020
7 pm. to 8:30 p.m.
Free
Calling all cocktail chemists, social scientists and late-night naturalists! Adult Nights are going virtual! Register to join: https://bit.ly/2xYsTro
Come play along as we explore the uncensored science of GAMES! Engage with local experts, play interactive games and more, including:
“Design Epic Games” with Josh Markiewisz, Lead Programmer at Epic Online Services SDK. Josh has been with Epic for almost 13 years and has more than 19 years’ experience in game development, during which time he has worked on Unreal Tournament, Gears of War, Paragon, Fortnite, and Battle Breakers.
“Getting Board in Nature” with Elizabeth Hargrave, board game designer. Elizabeth is the designer behind the award-winning games Wingspan and Tussie-Mussie. She’s inspired by a love of nature and a desire to play games that break away from tried-and-true themes. Her first game, Wingspan, won the 2019 Kennerspiel des Jahres. Her forthcoming game about monarch butterfly migration will be released in August.
“Synth Your Own Game Sounds” with Senator Jaiz. Using a free-to-download app called Audiokit Synth One, you can learn to program your own video game music! Learn how synthesizers work, how to program a Chiptune patch and learn how to play the opening of the Imperial March from “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” using your new synth tones.
Play along with Game Trivia! How well do you know your games? Are you a Mario fanatic? A Scrabble master? Join us for a round of trivia and test your gaming knowledge on everything from Parcheesi to PlayStation®.
You must be at least 21 years old to attend. Admission is free, preregistration is required. Register now!
Virtual Science Cafe — The End of Night with author Paul Bogard
Thursday, May 28th, 2020
7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Free
A starry night is one of nature’s most magical wonders. Yet in our artificially lit world, most of us no longer experience true darkness. In this talk based on his critically acclaimed book THE END OF NIGHT, Paul Bogard seeks to restore our awareness of the spectacularly primal, wildly dark night sky and how it has influenced the human experience across everything from science to art. Using a blend of personal narrative, natural history, science, and astronomy, Bogard shares the importance of darkness—what we’ve lost, what we still have, and what we might regain—and the simple ways we can reduce the brightness of our nights tonight.
Paul Bogard is author of The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light and The Ground Beneath Us: From the Oldest Cities to the Last Wilderness, What Dirt Tells Us About Who We Are. He is also editor of Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark. A native Minnesotan, Paul is now an associate professor of English at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA, where he teaches creative writing and environmental literature. Find him at paul-bogard.com.
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