- This event has passed.
Dig into geology and discover the Earth at your feet! Enjoy hands-on activities, both inside and outside the Museum, and watch demonstrations of volcanic eruptions. Explore the Museum and check out displays and activities on geology, fossils, gems, minerals and much more from Florida and around the world!
A family-friendly, fun event for all ages! Please note that while the Can You Dig It? event activities are FREE, there is an admission charge for the Butterfly Rainforest and Antarctic Dinosaurs exhibits.
Food Trucks: B’z Gelati, 1-3 p.m., Fat G’s BBQ and Catering, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Most demonstrations and activities will be between 10 a.m.-3 p.m. unless noted as scheduled.
Arctic/Antarctic Adventures – Discover the relationship between sea levels and melting ice sheets with an interactive activity! See a real ice core from Antarctica and the unique algae that live under the ice.- Association for Women Geoscientists: The Scientist in You! – Test your building skills in our earthquake challenge, and visit our future scientist photo booth!
- Augmented Reality Sandbox: Understanding topographic maps – This sandbox combines real sand with virtual reality to show how 2-D topographic maps show the 3-D shape of the land. Make your own surface in the sandbox and watch as the virtual reality projection mirrors your model. Then, make it rain in the sandbox and see how virtual water flows in your model.
- Deep-sea Drilling – Discover how scientists study the bottom of the ocean and sample your own “drill core” from our tasty ocean floor model.
- Event Information Station and Passport Prizes – Grab a passport and collect stamps as you explore– then receive a prize for your completed passport!
- Fossil Dig – Pick out a fossil or bring your own and have Florida Museum paleontologists identify them.
- Groundwater on a Table – Check out demonstrations of groundwater flow through gravel, sand, and clay in interaction with rivers and lakes. Each demonstration will last about 30 minutes, but you are welcome to join in the midst of the demo.
- Mineral Sands of Florida and Water Flume – Explore how important resources are mined and recovered from ancient sands right here in North Central Florida.
- Museum of Earth Sciences at Santa Fe College – Learn about the rock cycle with a board game and check out fluorescent minerals.
- Paleomagnetism – Rocks contain their own compasses, and they don’t always point north. See how scientists use Earth’s magnetism to reconstruct how the continents have moved through time.
- Sea-level Changes: What Can Rocks Tell Us About It? -We can learn lessons about sea level from fossil corals, ancient shorelines, tidal notches, marine terraces. Learn how researchers use this information to better predict how much and how quickly sea level will rise in the future
- Secrets of Sand – Take an up-close look under a microscope to see the secrets of sand revealed.
- The Power of Rivers: How the Land Gets its Shape – Use wave tanks and other interactive models to explore water’s power in shaping our ever-changing environment.
- The Rock Cycle – Discover how rocks are continuously recycled on Earth into new rocks and learn about the different environments in which they form.
- Tools of a Geologist – Learn why geologists are the real “Inspector Gadgets” and bring your minerals and rocks to be identified.
- Using Ships to Study Ice Sheets (Screenings scheduled every hour and half-hour starting at 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.) – View a short documentary about ongoing research at UF that is using marine sediment cores to better what causes ice sheets to collapse. Talk to scientists who were on the ship at the 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. showings!
- Volcanoes (periodic eruptions scheduled at 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.) – Participate in ongoing interactive demonstrations and investigate why some volcanoes erupt explosively while others often do not, but watch out – ours is ready to blow.
Photos from previous years
Presented By
Can You Dig It? is presented by the University of Florida Department of Geological Sciences and the Florida Museum. In addition, a special thanks goes to The Chemours Company and Marvin and Cynthia Ivey for their financial support.
Organizer
Venue
3215 Hull RoadGainesville, FL 32611
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