Autumn holidays at Aarhus University

[Translate to English:] Løven er et af de dyr, der kommer under kniven, når Naturhistorisk Museum dissekerer dyr i efterårsferien. Foto: Jesper Rais/AU Kommunikation

[Translate to English:] Steno Museet sætter spot på regnbuen og disker op med fysikshow i efterårsferien. Foto: Jesper Rais/AU Kommunikation

[Translate to English:] På Moesgård Museum arbejder den gamle skovmølle hele efterårsferien, og udenfor er der tændt op i bålet, så man kan bage fladbrød og snobrød af det friskmalede mel. Foto: Jesper Rais/AU Kommunikation

[Translate to English:] Foto: Jesper Rais/AU Kommunikation

10 October 2012 by Marie Groth Andersen

The museums at Aarhus University offer a number of interesting activities for children and adults who are fortunate enough to have autumn holidays.

Animals under their skin

The Natural History Museum Aarhus is bursting with activities. Every day at 12.30, you can observe the work of the conservators and see what nine different animals look like without their fur or feathers. This includes a badger, a swan and a tiger python. The highlight of the week takes place on Wednesday, when the king of the savannah – a genuine dead lion – will be skinned.

However, the programme also includes live animals. You can take a closer look at microscopic life, snakes and spiders – or you can even pat a fish.

Freshly ground flour from the old forest mill

The old forest mill at Moesgård Museum will be operating every day from 12.00 to 17.00 during the autumn holidays. Here you can try grinding flour on different old millstones, and then go outside to the bonfire, where you can bake twistbread and flat bread out of the freshly ground flour.

Autumn holidays in all the colours of the rainbow

Can you really find treasure at the end of the rainbow? You can learn more about this when the Steno Museum opens during the autumn holidays. You can become a member of the rainbow patrol and make your own rainbows using glass and prisms. The Physics Show is providing entertainment every day at 12.00 and 14.00, and there are different shows about the swarms of stars above us in the planetarium at 11.00, 13.00 and 15.00.

Look at the stars

There are generally good opportunities to see the stars during the autumn holidays. There will be presentations every day at 18.00 and 20.00 at the Ole Rømer Observatory. The Orion Planetarium in Jels will also be open every day from 11.00 to 16.30, and you can experience the starry sky here. On Monday and Tuesday, there will also be a physics workshop with luminescent cucumbers and floating magnets. On Wednesday and Thursday, you can explore the world of chemistry at the Chemistry Show.

Meet the human animal homo sapiens

Aarhus University is holding public science lectures for inquisitive adults. On Tuesday 16 and Thursday 18 October, you can learn much more about the human animal homo sapiens, when Professor of Zoophysiology Peter Teglberg Madsen, Aarhus University, reveals the history and biological background of our development. He will also provide examples of how the biology and past history of the human animal control our behaviour to a great extent – and therefore not our own free will, which we normally prefer to believe.

Best wishes for the autumn holidays!