PEORIA—The Peoria County Board is hosting a “Science Rocks! Celebrating Peoria as a Place of Invention” event on Saturday, August 3, 2013 at Peoria Riverfront Museum. With free admission to all museum galleries and planetarium, this community day event from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. will give museum visitors a chance to learn more about Peoria’s USDA National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR). This collaboration between NCAUR and Peoria Riverfront Museum is part of the “Places of Invention” grant from the Smithsonian Institution Lemelson Center.

Science Rocks! will give participants an extensive view of what goes on inside “The Ag Lab” in Peoria with different activity tables and exhibits. Visitors of all ages can talk to local scientific professionals and learn about the history of innovation in the Peoria community through hands-on activities in the museum lobby from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Event participants will also be able to record a story in the Oral History Center located in The Street exhibition. At 4:00 p.m., Dr. Stephen W. Peterson will give a free presentation about Peoria’s role in the development of penicillin.

NCAUR is the largest regional research center operated by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture.