American Museum of Natural History's Earthfest: Specimen Identification Day

Earthfest and Identification Stations

• 🌎 Earth Month is celebrated by the American Museum of Natural History with Earthfest and the return of Identification Stations.
• 🎯 This fan-favorite event, styled like 'Antiques Roadshow,' invites visitors to bring their own specimens for expert scientists to identify.
• 🗓️ The event is a full-day celebration with activities for kids, performances, and identification stations across various museum departments.

Expert Specimen Identification

• 🔬 Experts from departments like paleontology, entomology, and ornithology will be on hand to identify a wide range of natural history items.
• 💡 Visitors are encouraged to bring anything from their homes or collections, as even ordinary-seeming objects can have extraordinary stories.
• 🧠 Scientists use their extensive knowledge and tools like high-powered magnifying lenses to make immediate identifications.

A Legacy of Discovery

• ⏳ The Identification Day event has a history dating back to the 1970s, with notable discoveries over the years.
• 🌊 One significant find in 2001 was a partial walrus skull found on a Virginia beach, which indicated it was a fossil because walruses do not typically live that far south.
• 🏛️ This particular discovery was donated to the museum's collections, highlighting the value of these events for scientific contribution.
• ✅ Even if an item isn't a rare find, museum experts can still share interesting information about why it is cool and its significance.