What's Happening in Catonsville, MD…

Kids will love an upcoming event in Catonsville.

The Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum, one of Catonsville’s most intriguing attractions, is hosting an upcoming “Cricket Crawl.” Banneker was fascinated by crickets and cicadas, which he referred to as “locusts,” and recorded his observations about the insects in his nature journal.

In the upcoming Citizen Science program, attendees will learn to distinguish the calls of six different insects, and then go into the ground of the museum to listen for the various calls. The event in Catonsville is part of a larger program being conducted in many places around the nation. In the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. area, participants in the pilot program of a citizen science project are asked to listen for the insects and document what they hear. People are requested to go out between dusk and midnight to observe the insects. The data collected is then aggregated to be included in an annual report. Organizers of events like this can use flyer printing to create instruction sheets for attendees.

Benjamin Banneker, who was African American, was born free in 1731. Thirsty for knowledge, he became an astronomer mathematician, abolitionist, and surveyor. He was also the author of six almanacs and the museum is on the land he once owned.

The event is free to adults and children aged eight and above. However, the museum requests that people register in advance.