Birthday cake and hominoid fossils meant one thing to the MSU Museum: It was time to celebrate Charles Darwin's birthday.
Darwin Discovery Day, hosted by the MSU Museum for the second time ever on Sunday, was part of an international celebration of the impact Darwin's theory of evolution has had on science.
The annual event is held around the world on or near Darwin's birthday, Feb. 12. This year is the 198th anniversairy of his birth.
Danita Brandt, an adjunct curator and specialist in the MSU Department of Geological Sciences, was inspired to host the event when she found the Web site www.darwinday.org, where organizations register their Darwin- related celebrations.
The museum already hosts a fossil camp during the summer, but she wanted to do something to involve the community, she said.
"There are events for sports and arts, but nothing for science," Brandt said. "It's a fun way the university and community can come together."
Activities at the event included "Ask a Curator," during which the public was able to bring in rocks, minerals or fossils for MSU specialists to identify. Another activity was "Beetlemania," in which kids identified and classified beetles like Darwin was said to have done early in his scientific career.
Animals from Potter Park Zoo was on hand, including a ferret, and the 4-H Children's Garden gave children the opportunity to plant seeds.
Leslie resident Josh Stellanger returned to Darwin Discovery Day with his wife and children after they attended last year.
"Our daughter really likes the taxonomy and the dinosaurs," Stellanger said. "Plus, my wife and I are strong supporters of Darwin."
Attendees had the opportunity to handle and identify fossils commonly used as teaching devices.
"A lot of people find science boring, so you get out the (Tyrannosaurus Rex) tooth and show it off," said Megan Seitz, an event volunteer and geological sciences graduate student.
Children also were able to hold millipedes as part of an insect exhibit.
"I like to say that everyone is born a scientist, but we lose it somewhere along the way," Brandt said. "We want a magnifying glass in the hands of every future scientist."
The year 2009 marks Darwin's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his famous book, "On the Origin of Species." The museum is trying out different ideas to commemorate the event so that when 2009 comes, it will be one big party, Brandt said.
Another goal of the event was for those unfamiliar with Darwin to learn more about his ideas.
"You find that people don't understand the debate between evolution and religion," Seitz said. "This will help educate them."
The day ended with a lecture designed to inform people on who Darwin was and what he did. Many of the things Darwin became famous for already had been studied by others, but he became a visible figurehead for the emerging ideas and an easy target for those opposed to him, Brandt said.
"He was misunderstood and maligned for his ideas," Brandt said. "We want to tell people who he was."
