The University of Nevada, Reno invites visitors to Day at the Museum, an interactive walking tour of nine museums on and around campus. The event is open to the public and will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, May 5. Museums will feature different hands-on activities and giveaways. This event is ideal for families and anyone interested in learning about the arts, history, and earth, life and astronomical sciences that campus has to offer.

The museums throughout the University's Historic District help promote the cultural education of northern Nevada through engaging exhibitions and galleries. Visitors will learn about minerals and meteorites, outer space, native animal and plant species, extensive art exhibitions and much more. There is something for everyone at Day at the Museum, and discounts are provided to Washoe County School District staff and students, as well as all Nevada System of Higher Education students and staff.

Participating museums include:

Fleischmann Planetarium: Featuring free hands-on activities along with the regular public show schedule. Show tickets are $8 for adults, and $6 for children, seniors, University/NSHE students/staff, and WCSD students/staff.

The University Arboretum will help visitors identify campus trees and will be selling copies of the newly published Visitor's Guide to the University of Nevada, Reno Arboretum.

Special Collections in the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center is celebrating Reno's 150th anniversary with Reno at the Crossroads: A Sesquicentennial Exhibit, throughout the building, with related activities for kids.

The Wilbur D. May Museum offers a scavenger hunt in the museum. Visitors can search a rare collection of artifacts and animals from around the world. Those who complete the hunt will win a prize. (Located inside Rancho San Rafael Regional Park.)

Sheppard Contemporary in Church Fine Arts is showing three exhibitions of contemporary art including prints and paintings, extra-large colorful contemporary rugs from Faig Ahmed, and video work by collaborative artist Mwangi Hutter.

See what all the buzz is about at the Biggest Little Pollinator Garden. There will be garden tours, native bee and butterfly specimens, a bug petting zoo, poster and plant giveaways and more.

In the Museum of Natural History, visitors can see animals and plants of the Great Basin, including live reptiles and insects, go home with native plants for the garden, and get a behind-the-scenes tour of the historic museum collections.

The W. M. Keck Museum will have hands-on activities with 250 million-year-old Ichthyosaur fossils and minerals in the campus' 107-year-old space.

Visitors and attendees of Day at the Museum will learn about the Silver State's history from the earliest times to the present at Nevada's oldest cultural institution. There will be lectures, museum tours, short talks and scavenger hunts throughout the day.

For more information, call Garrett Barmore, museum curator at the W.M. Keck Museum, 775-784-4528.