Science Detectives: Pollinator Power

Science Detectives: Pollinator Power is coming to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences on Wednesday, October 21, from 10:30 to 11:30 AM. It's a session built for homeschool and track-out students, and the focus is on the pollination power of bees, butterflies, bats, and other animal pollinators. The kids explore it through games and crafts, so it's more about doing than just listening.

It's held in the Discovery Room, which is inside the museum's Nature Exploration Center. If you're not familiar, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is the Southeast's largest natural history museum and a Smithsonian affiliate. It's spread across four floors of exhibits, live animals, gift shops, and cafés, with a Nature Research Center on the other side. You can see the world's most complete Acrocanthosaurus, the 'Terror of the South,' and a live sloth in the Living Conservatory. The research wing houses a 10,000-gallon aquarium and the SECU Daily Planet, a 70-foot-diameter globe with a three-story theater for live programming and movies.

This particular session is a drop-off program, so you can leave your kids to it, though adults have to stay in the museum while the class is running. It's aimed at 5- to 7-year-olds. The cost is $12 per participant, or $9 for a member participant in that age range. The museum is at 11 W. Jones St., downtown Raleigh.