Talks & Demonstrations

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

Many people know their clinical specimens get sent to the medical laboratory, but what happens next? Who performs the testing, and how is it done? Tour the Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics Program and explore the different disciplines of the medical laboratory, do hands-on medical laboratory activities, and learn about the scientists who perform medical laboratory testing every day!

Learn more about Experience Medical Laboratory Science!

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

Join us for a popular quiz-style game show that asks questions like: “How are science skills useful?” and “What can I do in science careers?” The answers will surprise you! Of course, there will be fabulous prizes for our contestants!

Learn more about Game Show: So You Want to Be a Scientist!

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

Most of the fossil record is dominanted by hard parts including bones, teeth, and shells. However, seaweed or macroscopic algae do not have any hard parts and do not leave behind fossils in most enviornments. Rare seaweed fossils can be found in special places around the world where they provide an important window into understanding ancient ecosystems. Come see and learn about one of the first seaweed fossils that lived in oceans almost 1 billion years old. We will explore the role of seaweed in early animal communities almost 500 million years ago and their influence on modern ocean ecosystems today.

Learn more about Searching for Seaweed in the Fossil Record

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

Join SkoBot inventor and The STEAM Connection Founder Danielle Boyer for a conversation about robotics, access, and language revitalization. 

Danielle Boyer is a 22-year-old Ojibwe robotics inventor and advocate for youth who has been teaching kids since she was ten. Driven by her families own inability to afford science and technology education, she is passionate about making education accessible and representative for her community so that no child is left behind. Danielle creates equitable and innovative learning solutions for Indigenous youths with robots that she designs, manufactures, and gives away for free. In 2019 at age eighteen, she created The STEAM Connection, a minority and youth-led charity that has reached hundreds of thousands of children worldwide with technical education with an emphasis on language revitalization. The STEAM Connection focuses on the future: ushering in a new age of education via personal and wearable robotics, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality. Informed by the past and present, The STEAM Connection utilizes traditional knowledge to uplift and protect Indigenous communities with an emphasis on language. Her goal is not necessarily to get youth into STEM careers but rather to equip them with the skills to solve the problems that they see in their communities now. This must be done with technology the kids can relate to... and she's creating it.

Her flagship invention is Every Kid Gets a Robot (EKGAR), an innovative educational robotics kit that costs less than $20 dollars to make and is sent to youth for free, increasing their technical competency and understanding with a culturally competent curriculum. Her most recent invention is the SkoBot, created alongside her mentors. It is a personalized, wearable, and interactive Indigenous language revitalization robot that senses motion and speaks. The students build the robots themselves. Built to take tech learning out of the classroom, the robots were made to supplement community language learning for free. It has been a success in enabling youth to bring the robots home to learn with their families and in creating learning tools they resonate with.

Danielle has been named one of PEOPLE Magazine's Girls Changing the World, a MIT Solve Indigenous Communities Fellow, a L'oreal Paris Woman of Worth, a Teen Vogue Indigenous Youth Changemaker, NDN Collective Changemaker Fellow, an Echoing Green Fellow, and a Verizon Forward for Good Winner. She is a two-time guest, three-time invitee of the White House and is a featured story in The Big Idea by MIT Solve x HP, an award-winning docu-series on three women innovators. "Indigenous Robotics" followed her life for a year and premiered at the MIT Museum. It is currently showing at film festivals, with the series winning 10+ awards. 

Learn more about Featured Guest Speaker: Danielle Boyer

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

This presentation offers an introductory overview of how polymeric materials play vital roles across diverse fields—including energy, health care, automotive and aerospace, advanced coatings, intelligent packaging, and separation and purification technologies. It highlights recent advances in polymer science and technology while addressing the environmental challenges posed by synthetic polymers and emphasizing the urgent need for sustainable solutions, as outlined by recent National Science Foundation and National Academies initiatives.

Learn more about Polymers and Sustainability

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

Make your own edible ice cream aquifer! Learn about aquifers and groundwater and how you can protect water resources. Find out how groundwater in the aquifer can become contaminated by watching what happens when you start adding chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and soda to your ice cream aquifer.

Learn more about Edible Ice Cream Aquifers: What Can You Learn About Groundwater?

Appropriate for: High school age, 18 years and above

As urban living surges, Americans are returning to their roots through community gardens—but what design elements truly cultivate vibrant, socially cohesive spaces? Partnering with Greater Lansing Food Bank, this Master of Arts in Environmental Design study delved into 50 diverse gardens in Lansing, Michigan, combining site visits and a survey to uncover which garden features spark community bonds and simplify upkeep. The findings aim to empower current and future gardeners with practical tools, transforming urban plots into lively hubs of connection and growth—fostering both food and friendship in city landscapes.

Learn more about Cultivating Wellness: The Impact of Community Gardens in Lansing

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

Have you ever wondered how your iPhone can find an AirTag hidden under the couch? This demo reveals the “magic” behind the scenes—wireless sensing! We’ll show that wireless signals, like Wi-Fi, can do much more than connect you to the Internet. They can sense motion, detect heartbeats, and even see through smoke, fog, or walls. Using simple hands-on demonstrations, kids will explore how invisible waves can make the world around us “visible” in new ways. This interactive session will spark curiosity and inspire young scientists to explore the exciting world of STEM.

Learn more about Making the Invisible Visible: The Magic of Wireless Sensing

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

Join us for a free screening of "Secrets of the Universe," followed by a Q and A with researchers from the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at MSU.

"Secrets of the Universe" is a sweeping, 3D giant-screen adventure that immerses audiences in the greatest mysteries of our time. Travel with scientist Manuel Calderon de la Barca Sanchez as he journeys to the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and most popwerful partical accelerator.

Learn more about 'Secrets of the Universe' Screening