Out of the Deep

Out of the Deep is coming to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History on Saturday 24 October, from 11.00am to 1.00pm. It's a hands-on session for families to handle real specimens and explore the world of marine reptiles, and it's part of the museum's Science Saturdays, which bring in scientists and open up the collection for people to get stuck into.

The session takes its name from Out of the Deep, a museum display where portholes let you peer into scale models and fossil skeletons. The Science Saturdays themselves are built around meeting scientists and investigating real natural history specimens from the collection through hands-on, science-based activities. They cover insects, fossils, skeletons and microscopes, so there's plenty to look at beyond just the reptiles.

The museum shares its building on Parks Road in the centre of Oxford with the Pitt Rivers Museum, and it offers an audioguide in nine languages. One of the quirks of the galleries is that you're encouraged to draw in them, but only with graphite pencils. The session is designed for all ages and is wheelchair accessible.

It's a free event and you don't need to book, so you can just turn up. It runs from 11.00am to 1.00pm on Saturday 24 October at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PW.