Utah's Prehistory and Heritage Week (May 4-11) will provide the young and young at heart with exciting activities surrounding Utah's ancient past.

The Utah Geological Survey Core Research Center will host over 800 school-age children who will learn about rocks, minerals, and dinosaurs, by investigating mineral properties of fluorescence, hardness, streak color, and calcium carbonate content; looking at the unusually round grains of oolitic sand through a microscope; seeing fossils and how they are extracted, and panning for gold.

The young visitors will take with them a fossil cast and several rock and mineral samples, along with an enhanced understanding of the past.

The week's activities will include a free public lecture presented by Dr. A. A. Ekdale from the University of Utah's Department of Geology and Geophysics. Fossil Record of Stupid Pet Tricks: Trace Fossil Evidence of Smart Behavior by Dumb Animals will entertain all in attendance at the Department of Natural Resources, 1594 West North Temple, Salt Lake City on May 9 at 7:00 p.m.