On 12 February 2005 22 members of the Humanist Families Network met at the Natural History Museum to celebrate Darwin Day.

The reception committee gathers.	Another family arrives	The Group + Dinosaur

Once everyone had arrived we decided to set off for the Darwin Centre to check out where the lectures would be held. The first lecture of the Day was an Introduction to Evolution by Sandy Knapp starting at noon.

Looks like its this way.

Think this is it.

OK - now what?

As there is over half an hour to go before the lecture we decide to gather again at noon and either have a look around the Darwin Center

What's this?

Another specimen in a glass jar.

Ah - that's better - a computer screen.

or go and take a look around nearby galleries such as the large mammals.

These are BIG.

There are lots of bones in here.

Somethings got an eye on Isobel.

We all then gathered in the "studio area" just before noon for the lecture that was broadcast over the Internet and it will eventually be viewable from the Natural History Museum web site.

Sandy came over as a real enthusist for her subject and gave us a demonstration based on the breeding habits and survival chances of black v white tiddly winks. This required many volunteers, most of whom came from the Humanist families. She successfully demonstrated how members of a population best able to avoid death and breed would move a population towards the optimum survival characteristics for the current environment.

A few minutes to go	Any time now.	Sandy calls for volunteers
	The Tiddly Winks are breeding and dying.

We then adjourned for lunch and some of the party moved on to other things as the day drew on. The cafes and restaurants in the museum were all very busy and involved lengthy queuing.

After lunch we all explored independently and those that were remaining agreed to meet up again at 3-30 for tea.

Lunch

This was a very BIG tree.

Looking down on the Life Galleries

One area of particular interest to families was down in the basement where they have a "Investigate" Room. Here exhibits are made available for children (and adults) to look at through microscopes, weigh, measure and read about. It even includes access to a pond and garden area so that live "creepy crawlies" can be examined.

Strange rocks and minerals.

Isobel Investigates

Examining a snake skin

Also down in the basement is a large picnic area with a small cafe providing drinks and sandwiches. This had large tables around which you can seat up to 10 people and where we had afternoon tea.

If we repeat this "outing" in coming years it might be sensible to use this as the meeting point in the morning, for lunch and for tea since it makes it much easier for families to mix and talk.

Finally, for those with a young mind you can try the Museum's activity Web page for children.

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