Event Name: NEW Gallery! Ranger Rick®’s Backyard Safari opens at the Tennessee Aquarium
Date: May 12, 2011
Time: 10:30 am
Venue name and street address:
Tennessee Aquarium
One Broad Street
Chattanooga, TN 37402
Age-appropriateness: All
Admission fee: $24.95 adults; $14.95 children 3 to 12
Is advance registration required? no
The Aquarium is bringing together kids, nature and fun in a whole new way this summer with the opening of Ranger Rick®’s Backyard Safari. This unique experience, located in River Journey, will lead guests to tune into, and appreciate, nature from their backyard to the backyards of creatures from around the world.
Experts from the Aquarium’s husbandry and education departments have been creating a whole new menu of programs for this safari. After marveling over amazing aquatic creatures in the Seahorse Gallery, visitors will traverse three zones of up-close animal encounters. Guests will be thrilled to meet fascinating creatures such as a Eurasian eagle owl or Happy Jack, the talking Amazon parrot. Both the young and young at heart will smile as they’re introduced to additional birds, furry creatures and other animals with scales and shells.
The Aquarium has enlisted the service of Natural Encounters Incorporated (NEI), a premiere animal training and presentation company, to make Ranger Rick’s Backyard Safari a dazzling experience. NEI has produced animal programs and consulted at more than 80 zoos worldwide.
The animals will be the safari’s stars, both the Aquarium’s dynamic collection and new birds coming in with NEI’s staff. “There are a lot of really nice, charismatic animals at the Tennessee Aquarium that I’m really excited about working with,” said Steve Martin, NEI’s founder and president. “We’re going to knock the socks off guests with energetic programs that have an underlying conservation message.”
Ranger Rick’s Backyard Safari will officially open to the public on Thursday, May 12th. Guests will meet animals in this new gallery daily from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm.
Ranger Rick’s Backyard Safari is free with Aquarium admission.
Phone and Web site:
1-800-262-0695 www.TennesseeAquarium.org
Event Name: Kids Fish ‘n’ Fun Derby
Date: Saturday, May 14, 2011
Time: 8:30 am to Noon
Venue name and street address: Camp Jordan Park & Pond
323 Camp Jordan Parkway
East Ridge, TN 37412
Age-appropriateness: Ages 6 to 14 (Accompanied by an adult)
Admission fee: FREE
Is advance registration required? Yes
Get hooked on family fishing! Pros with the Outdoor Adventures Network
(www.MyOAN.net.) will help children learn about fish habitat, behavior and equipment. Then, fish with volunteers from the Chattanooga BASS Club who will teach kids to cast, tie knots, bait hooks and reel them in using catch and release techniques. During a Casting Kids event, young anglers may compete and advance to regional competition. Youngsters can win great prizes and will earn a certificate of accomplishment. NOTE: Anyone over age 12 must have a fishing license. Presented by Bass Pro Shops.
Phone and Web site:
423-267-3474 http://www.tnaqua.org/Events/Events.aspx
Event Name: BioBlitz
Date: This is a 24 hour event beginning at 3:00 pm on May 20th, 2011 and concluding at 3:00 pm on May 21st, 2011.
Venue name and street address:
Chattanooga Nature Center
399 Garden Road
Chattanooga, TN
37419
Age-appropriateness: All
Admission fee: FREE
Is advance registration required? No
The Chattanooga Nature Center, Reflection Riding Arboretum & Botanical Garden, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the Tennessee Aquarium are joining forces to host the fourth annual BioBlitz in Chattanooga. This event is held in many cities across the nation. Chattanooga is one of the first cities in Tennessee to participate. A BioBlitz is part contest, part festival, part educational event, and part scientific endeavor. The Chattanooga BioBlitz brings together scientists and other nature-oriented organizations from across the region in a race against time to see how many species can be counted in a 24-hour biological survey of CNC and Reflection Riding. The public also participates by observing the scientists at work, interacting with them, and participating in educational activities provided by local nature-oriented organizations. The children and adults of our community gain many benefits from this event:
• Greater understanding of scientists’ work in the field
• Appreciation for the rich biodiversity of our region
• Greater knowledge of the interdependence of flora and fauna in our local ecosystem
• Awareness of human impact on the land and how we can lessen its negative effects
Phone and/or Web site:
423-821-1160 http://www.chattanooganaturecenter.org/www/docs/141.310
