The Science Centre - only for adults! Explore advanced programming and our exhibit floor with your adult friends and access to a cash bar! All attendees must bring photo ID and be 19 years old or older.
Theme: Batty About Bats!
Did you know there are eight species of bats in Saskatchewan? These smart little critters are the only mammal that can fly! At this Adult Science Night, you can find out what makes bats so fascinating. Hear about local species from a bat expert from the University of Regina, sign up for our workshop and build a bat box to help keep them safe, try hanging upside down like a bat, and finally, meet a real bat that has been hanging out at the Science Centre over the winter!
Confirmed Guests:
Dana Green and Eric Green: University of Regina Biology postgrads.
Dana Green is studying the migratory behavior of the silver-haired bat, reassessing their status as a long-distance migrant while also exploring the breeding and colony dynamics of the species.
Eric Green uses a variety of techniques to study Hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus) migration patterns, social interactions, and their perception of structures in their environment, focusing on threats to the species from wind turbines.
Dallas from Sperling Silver will be here as well, with some sample products from their distillery.
Tequila Specials! – Bats give us tequila! Indirectly of course. Bats are the prime pollinators of the agave plant, without which, there would be no tequila. Toast the bat’s pollinating prowess with your favourite tequila cocktail at the bar, courtesy of Sperling Silver Distillery.
Activities:
• Build a Bat Box - 7.30pm and 9pm
A sign-up workshop for groups of 10. They will make a small wooden bat box from a pre-designed kit built in-house (assemble it, fix the pre-cut parts together and seal it). We will run two sessions of an hour in length, in the Maker space: 7.30 and 9pm. Cost = $15 per kit. Due to the space restrictions, this should be considered as an add-on to the ASN, with other activities available for anyone not in this workshop.
• Bat Science and Conservation presentation – 8pm
Eric and Dana Green are a duo, both working on their PhDs in biology at the University of Regina studying bat ecology and behaviour. They are presenting some of the amazing characteristics of bats, from ecology to conservation. They will discuss some of the pressing issues surrounding bat conservation in North America and also describe the work they are actively doing here in Saskatchewan.
• Meet a Bat! – 8.45pm
Jacklyn from the Science Centre will bring out one of the bats that has spent the winter at the Science Centre, and will do a feeding demonstration.
• Hang like a Bat
Try the Velcro wall from Dinobouncers! Set up on the third floor, this inflatable allows guests to hang upside down while sticking to a soft Velcro wall. Guests wear a Velcro suit (several supplied with the rental) and can jump, bounce and stick to the wall, like a bat hanging upside down.
• Bat Colony VR:
Experience what it’s like to have 15 million bats fly past you with our VR video. The Braken Cave colony in Texas is the largest bat colony, and this amazing VR film lets you see them all in 360 degrees. Track down our roving Science Explorers with the VR headsets for your chance to see the bats emerging from the cave.