You are invited to join in celebration of the 5th Annual National Fossil Day on Wednesday, October 15, 2014. National Fossil Day is organized by the National Park Service as part of the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) Earth Science Week (http://www.earthsciweek.org) to promote public awareness and stewardship of fossils, with the goal of inspiring the next generation of paleontologists and fossil enthusiasts. On National Fossil Day, scientists and park rangers will share fossil discoveries at special events nationwide and explain the importance of preserving fossils for future generations.

AGI will participate in events to be held at The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The program, free and open to the public, will begin with opening remarks from museum and National Park Service officials followed by a gathering of grade-school children who will recite the “Junior Paleontologist Pledge? on the mall steps of the museum. Events at the museum will include a “Wheel of Fossilization” game hosted by AGI — find your favorite organism’s fossilization fate!

In addition to the Smithsonian Institution and AGI, partners supporting this National Fossil Day event include the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey, National Science Foundation, National Geographic, Maryland Dinosaur Park, U.S. Forest Service, Calvert Marine Museum, Dinosaur Valley State Park, Chesapeake Children’s Museum, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Several of these partners will have additional fossil-related activities on-site at the museum. To learn more about National Fossil Day, please see http://nature.nps.gov/geology/nationalfossilday/.