Science fit for the White House

It's time to throw on those party shoes, tune up the vocal chords and belt out some tunes. What song? Marilyn Monroe's "Happy birthday Mr. President," of course. Luckily, for those who can't carry a tune in a bucket, there's another way to celebrate this President's Day weekend. The Academy of Natural Sciences on 19th Street and Ben Franklin Parkway is sponsoring an exhibit designed to celebrate various U.S. Presidents' contributions to natural science. This weekend, museum visitors will have access to some of the rarely seen presidential artifacts in the Academy's world-renowned collections. These collections include Peter Arvell Browne's presidential "hair album" and some of Thomas Jefferson's fossils. The presidential "hair album" is one of 12 volumes collected and compiled by Browne, who also contributed many botanical and geological specimens to the Academy. The display will be located on the second floor of the museum, outside of the Library. The album contains locks of hair from many U.S. presidents including George Washington and John Adams. Thomas Jefferson's fossil collection includes specimens from the American Mastodon, Megalonyx, Ancient Bison, Ancient Horse, Harlan's Musk Ox, Megalodon Shark, Stag Moose and Wooly Mammoth. The collection will be on display at the Science Live Station, in front of the Auditorium. Saturday and Sunday, the presidential "hair album" and Thomas Jefferson's fossils will be on display from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Naturalist presentations will take place from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. in the Auditorium. On Saturday, this presentation will be accompanied by live penguins from the Jenkinson's Aquarium in New Jersey. Like any good party, this celebration ends with goody bags. All those who attend the exhibit will have the opportunity to make and take home a presidential craft. The First Scientist-Presidential Weekend exhibit is a Wild Weekend event at the museum that runs from tomorrow through Monday. Wild Weekend events have no charge after general admission to the museum. General admission is $10 for adults and $8 for students with identification.