Montréal Space for Life celebrates the arrival of spring with activities to awaken your senses

MONTRÉAL, April 1, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - As springtime emerges all around us, Montréal Space for Life is switching to "warm and sunny" mode to offer all kinds of activities designed to delight you and awaken your senses. The Biodôme is bursting with life, so keep your eyes peeled for birds as you listen to them welcoming spring with a chorus of chirping and warbling. At the Botanical Garden, immerse yourself in a ballet of resplendent colours at Butterflies Go Free and let the Insectarium's nature interpreters explain the science behind shimmering butterfly wings. At the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, spring means that the DAWN probe is now in orbit around the protoplanet Ceres. What will it tell us about how planets form?

BIODÔME – Nature awakens and birds in the spotlight
Spring has arrived in the past few weeks, gradually transforming the Laurentian Maple Forest ecosystem as the leaves start to appear and the animals become more lively. Starting on April 25, the focus is on North American birds with Bird Fest, an event featuring some 70 colourful winged species. Keep your eyes and ears open as you stroll along the path and use the identification guide to try and spot them. Who in your family can identify the most?

INSECTARIUM/BOTANICAL GARDEN – Butterflies Go Free – Until April 26
As the days get longer, the butterflies are stocking up on even more sunlight before they start fluttering around the Main Exhibition Greenhouse. You can admire over 1,500 multicoloured butterflies, from Costa Rica, the United States, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, El Salvador and Tanzania. To help you understand these natural masterpieces, nature interpreters from the Insectarium will explain the physical and chemical phenomena responsible for the vivid patterns on some of the butterflies' wings. You're sure to be amazed!

RIO TINTO ALCAN PLANETARIUM – DAWN @ Ceres – Until June 14
This year, spring is the time for astronomical events sure to keep your eyes turned skyward. Every day, once an hour starting at 10:30 a.m., the experts at the Planetarium will be sharing the results of the DAWN mission. The DAWN probe has now taken up orbit around Ceres, a protoplanet in the asteroid belt, where it will collect and send back all kinds of information to astronomers. Does its surface contain a lot of clay, or is it made of water? The DAWN mission is sure to help solve some mysteries about how planets form.

Montréal Space for Life is made up of four attractions on the same site: the Botanical Garden, Biodôme, Insectarium and Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium. These four prestigious municipal institutions form Canada's largest natural science museum complex. Together, they are launching a daring, creative urban movement, urging everyone to rethink the connection between humankind and nature and cultivate a new way of living.

For further information and to purchase tickets online, see our website montrealspaceforlife.ca.

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SOURCE Espace pour la vie

Karine Jalbert, Communications Co-ordinator, Tel.: [phone] 250-3230, E-mail: [email protected],