Salina Art Center Cinema will take part in the fifth annual National Evening of Science on Screen® on Tuesday. Twenty-eight independent theaters in 25 states will participate in this event, each hosting a program pairing a scientific lecture with a screening of a feature or documentary film.

Salina will screen Jaws (1975) at 5:30 pm with an post-screening discussion with Mike Everhart author of “Oceans of Kansas – A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea” and Adjunct Curator of Paleontology at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Fort Hays State University.

The purpose of the evening? To celebrate using one of the nation’s favorite pastimes—going to the movies—to promote public understanding of science.

Per the Motion Picture Association of America’s most recent Theatrical Market Statistics Report, 71 percent of U.S. and Canadian citizens over age two—some 246 million people—attended a movie in 2016, purchasing an average of 5.3 tickets over the course of that year. Science on Screen and the National Evening aim to inspire in America’s many movie-lovers an increased appreciation for STEM topics by sharing with them the excitement of discovery and scientific enlightenment along with their popcorn.

The National Evening of Science on Screen is the annual showcase event of the nationwide Science on Screen grant initiative, which is funded by the Sloan Foundation and administered by the Coolidge. Grantee theaters run three or more Science on Screen events per year, creatively pairing screenings of classic, cult, science fiction, and documentary films with presentations by notable experts from the world of science and technology. One of the three screenings at each theater features a film that has been developed by or received a prize from the nationwide Sloan Film Program. Each film serves as a jumping-off point for the speaker to introduce current research or technological advances in a way that engages general audiences.

Additional dates for the Salina Art Center Cinema, Science on Screen series include:

April 9 –Rotor DR1 (2015) w/ discussion of multiple uses of drones in the U.S.; from security to movie making.

April 16 – Marjorie Prime (2016) w/ discussion of intrapsyhic and interpersonal dynamics that shape our relationships and experiences.

April 30 – Earthquake (1974) w/ discussion of seismicity issues in the midcontinent, focusing particularly on recent earthquakes in Kansas.

Read more about each free movie screening and discussion online at www.salinaartcenter.org. Salina Art Center Cinema is located at 150 S. Santa Fe, Salina, KS.