Everything Dinosaur Starts Preparations for the Daresbury Open Day

What do laser beams, a supercomputer, Tyrannosaurus rex, the Large Hadron Collider and fossil shark teeth have in common?  Answer – these items and so much more are going to part of the fabulous Daresbury Open Day taking place on Saturday, July 9th, at the prestigious, world-renowned science park.

This year, a fantastic Dino-Zone has been added to the mix of family themed science attractions at the Sci-Tech Daresbury and Everything Dinosaur team members have been asked to take part.

The Daresbury Open Day

Daresbury in Cheshire, is home to one of the UK’s world leading science campuses and some of our planet’s best engineers and scientists.  As a working science facility it is not usually open to the public, however, on the 9th July the campus will be throwing its doors open and providing visitors with an opportunity to explore, learn and take part in some fun science activities.

Everything Dinosaur Team Members Will Be Presenting at the Daresbury Open Day

Everything Dinosaur presents “Dinosaurs from top to bottom” one the exciting events scheduled for the Daresbury Open Day.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

A “Jurassic Beach”

Amongst the attractions,  Everything Dinosaur team members will be inviting members of the public to dig for fossils amongst the gravels of our “Jurassic beach”, what you find, if you like, you can keep.  Our fossil experts will be on hand to identify fossil finds and to explain about life in the past.  Over the last few days, we have been sorting through our vast treasure trove of specimens, all collected from various dig sites around the world.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“We will be on hand to help identify the fossils found in our own exhibit and no doubt, we will be able to help identify the specimens dug out from the large sandpit in the Dino-Zone as well, although we suspect the range of fossils that we will be offering will be a little more diverse.  For example, we have thousands of fossil shark teeth that we have excavated as part of our fossil sieving work at various locations, these too will be given away”.

For dinosaur themed gifts and toys: Dinosaur Gifts and Toys.

Hands on Science Hands on some Prehistoric Shark Teeth!

A successful fossil hunt.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

An Interactive Dino-Zone

Come and meet REX, a walking, running, blinking animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex and if you are a fan of “Jurassic World” have a go at controlling a life-size digital dinosaur or learning how amazing synchrotron technology and the energy emitted from electrons is shedding new light on dinosaur research.  For dino-bird enthusiasts, Samantha Sportun, (Collections Care Manager and Senior Conservator, Manchester Museum), will be showing off a wonderful stone replica of one of the best examples of Archaeopteryx yet found.

Examine the Archaeopteryx Specimen

Archaeopteryx fossil cast. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Studying Archaeopteryx

Samantha will be explaining about Archaeopteryx research using one of the best preserved of all the Archaeopteryx fossils found to date, the Thermopolis Archaeopteryx!

To contact team members at Everything Dinosaur: Email Everything Dinosaur.

There are bound to be lots of fossils on display including a few dinosaur bones for visitors to explore.  There might even be a few pieces of dinosaur bone to be discovered in our fossil gravel beds, one thing for sure, team members at Everything Dinosaur have already begun sorting through the various fossil collections in the company’s warehouse in preparation for this big event.

Sorting Through Hundreds of Different Fossils

Some of the fossils being sorted by Everything Dinosaur as they prepare for the Daresbury Laboratory public outreach science event.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Spectacular Science at the Daresbury Open Day

As well as the Dino-Zone, members of the public will be able to explore virtual worlds or star in their own mini feature film using Matrix-style, bullet time special effects or test their nerve and accuracy aiming to shoot balloons with laser beams.  Visitors on the day will be able to explore one of the most advanced particle accelerators dedicated to cancer therapy research, or the world’s most powerful supercomputing facilities dedicated to industry, where new car models are designed.  They will also be able to visit one of the most powerful microscopes in the world that formed part of the Nobel Prize winning graphene research and walk through a life-sized, section of the Large Hadron Collider tunnel.

In total, there will be something like seventy different exhibits and activities on offer for children and grown-ups during the open day.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: Everything Dinosaur.