Tours and Open Houses

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Elementary school age, High school age

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? Take a tour of the Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics program and explore the different disciplines of the medical laboratory, do some hands on medical laboratory activities, and learn about the scientists who perform medical laboratory testing every day!

Learn more about Explore Medical Laboratory Science!

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Explore the MSU food processing complex, including the mobile food processing lab, a state-of-the-art food-grade facility that recently underwent a $4.4 million renovation funded by the State of Michigan. This facility is used for student education, research, conducting small-scale processing and recipe optimization, and collaborating with industry. The mobile food processing lab is a one-of-a-kind creation capable of operating a wide range of food processing equipment to produce a variety of finished food products that include blanching, pasteurizing, canning, drying, washing, cutting, and many other operations.

Learn more about Food Processing at MSU

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Discover the latest in technology that allows us to see and interact with individual cells and molecules. Try your hand with our microscope at a technique called ‘optical tweezers’ using lasers to catch and grab hold of live cells and interact with them.

Learn more about Laser Tweezers: Reach Out and Grab Bacteria! Tour

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Come climb the 74 steps of Beaumont Tower! Learn about the tower's history and see how the carillon is played.

Learn more about Beaumont Tower Tours

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Interested in learning about osteopathic medicine and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM)? Join our own DO, Dr. J'Aimee Lippert who will provide an OMM demonstration and walk participants through practicing on each other!

Learn more about Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM): Demonstration and Practice

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

The Rachana Rajendra Neotropical Migrant Bird Sanctuary is home to a diverse ecosystem of plants, animals, and microorganisms. Located in the Baker Woodlot property on campus, the sanctuary provides an urban refuge for wildlife and people to enjoy year-round. Experience this hidden gem while learning about its inhabitants and what makes it such a special place.

Learn more about Exploring the Rachana Rajendra Bird Sanctuary

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Don't miss your chance to meet and handle live beetles, cockroaches, millipedes, and more at the MSU Bug House. Observe museum displays featuring over a thousand preserved insects from around the globe and ask our knowledgeable guides all your burning insect biology questions!

Learn more about Explore the Amazing World of Insects at the MSU Bug House!

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Learn about the history of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics at MSU during the University Archives & Historical Collections pop-up exhibit! Visitors will be able to see and touch scrapbooks, photographs, diaries, and other historical items from the 1860s through the 1980s. This is a unique opportunity to see gems of the Archives’ collections, and to meet and talk with the University’s archivists who care for over 165 years of MSU history.

Learn more about History of STEM at MSU Pop-up Exhibit at MSU Libraries

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Tour the MSU Libraries Hollander Makerspace! The Makerspace is an alternative learning environment and gathering space that encourages cross-discipline collaboration, experimentation, and learning. See a variety of 3D printers in action and learn about our technologies which are available to the public. Explore a digital Minecraft version of the library using a credit card-sized computer, the Raspberry Pi, which can be checked out from our lending collection!

Learn more about Makerspace Open House at MSU Libraries

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Legacy audiovisual formats such as motion picture film, magnetic tape, and optical media contain audio and moving image recordings of important events. Over time, the materials on which these instances are stored experience chemical breakdowns such as “sticky shed syndrome” (binder breakdown), mold, and “vinegar syndrome” (acetate decay). The Media Preservation Unit at MSU Libraries will show different examples of deterioration on various audiovisual formats and discuss methods of dealing with deterioration in order to provide greater access of the recorded content to the Spartan community and the public.

Learn more about Media Breakdown: Tales of Deterioration on Audiovisual Collections and Their Historical Comebacks at MSU Libraries

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Join others to help make a community art piece inspired by religious sounds from the Sounds of Religion exhibition. No art experience is needed; all materials will be provided. Come ready to express yourself and have fun! Recommended for ages 10-adult.
This program is in conjunction with the Sounds of Religion exhibition on view in the Ground Floor Gallery at the MSU Museum from January 27 – June 30, 2023. Read More Here: https://museum.msu.edu/?exhibition=american-religious-sounds

Learn more about MSU Museum Collaborative Art Workshop

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Those familiar lyrics resonate with all of us. Have you ever noticed how steep the bank is along the river? With flooding events, the river has been scouring out soil and exposing tree roots. In the last five years, we’ve put an emphasis on restoring and stabilizing the riverbank on campus. We’re removing invasive shrubs and restoring with Michigan native plants. Join us for a walk and discussion on the restoration efforts of the Red Cedar Riverbank.

Learn more about On the Banks of the Red Cedar: Restoring the Riverbank

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Print a butterfly postcard with a woodcut illustration from Special Collections! Our antique iron handpress is the same basic mechanism as a Gutenberg printing press. Then go around the corner for a pop-up exhibit of rare entomology books, and learn how butterflies and dragonflies migrate long distances.

Learn more about Print Your Own Butterfly Postcard at MSU Libraries

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Insects make some of the longest migrations in the animal kingdom, traveling across the globe in search of food, habitats, and mates. MSU Libraries' Special Collections has many rare and antique books that have been used to study these migrations throughout history. Discover how entomologists used these books and illustrations to learn about migratory insects, trace their routes across the globe, and color some insects of your own!

Learn more about Rare Books on Butterflies and Dragonflies at MSU Libraries

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Have you ever wanted to look into the past and see the unseeable? Want to know how a regular camera makes an image that mimics human vision? Now you can! Watch MSU librarians and Rochester Institute of Technology’s Color and Imaging scientists demonstrate exciting new technologies helping cultural heritage institutions in novel ways. In the first demonstration, one type of multispectral imaging utilizes wavelengths invisible to eyesight, to reveal faded or worn texts and colors from ancient items. In the second demonstration, color science turns a regular camera into another type of multispectral camera to reproduce art matching human eyesight.

Learn more about Seeing is Believing: Using Multispectral Imaging to Reveal the Unseeable in Art and Cultural Heritage at MSU Libraries

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Experience materials of the future at the microscopic level. This 360-degree exhibit will showcase the stories of renewable, regenerative materials that are resilient under a range of environmental and human-made stressors. Thus they could allow humans and nature to coexist in harmony.

Learn more about What Are We Made Of?

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Test your knowledge of MSU geography to see if you can win a prize! This outdoor trivia challenge will allow you to explore the area around the MSU Geography building - Phillips Hall, Snyder Hall, and more.

Learn more about MSU Geography Trivia Challenge

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Have you heard the AI bot creepily ‘singing’ the song ‘Jolene’? Artificial intelligence initially arose to automate mundane tasks and computations, but lately it’s been making waves in creative spheres. This brings up questions about intellectual property, ethical use of technology, bias in algorithms, and the nature of creativity itself. The MSU Museum CoLab Studio invites you to join us as we explore text-to-sound generative AI, learn how to use the algorithms, and grapple with the future implications of this technology. This hands-on workshop will be led by Mark Sullivan, a practicing photographer, composer, and the creative director of the Museum CoLab Studio.

Learn more about AI Sonic Art Workshop

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Ever wonder what trees we have on campus, and which ones are native to Michigan? Join Plant Recorder Carolyn Miller as she guides you around campus learning about how to ID our native trees and where to find them. In addition, she will introduce you to the MSU Campus Virtual Tree Map, where you can find all the trees on campus!

Learn more about Beneath the Pines: MSU Native Tree Walk

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Weather is very important for agriculture, and the trends we are seeing in our climate will also affect what we grow and how we grow it. Learn about how we measure the weather, and how that can be used to help growers make management decisions on their farms. See different types of weather stations at our facility and learn about how weather affects insects and diseases.

Learn more about Don't Underestimate the Weather - How Weather and Climate Affect Agriculture

Appropriate for: High school age, Over 21 years only

Ethnobotany is the study of the relationship between plants and people and there is nowhere better to explore than in MSU’s own Botanical Garden! This tour is designed to get you thinking about your own relationship with plants from your chemical dependency on coffee every morning to hating the smell of boiled brussels sprouts!

Learn more about Exploring Ethnobotany and our Relationships with Plants

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Middle school age, High school age

Animals can't tell you when they're sick or point to where it hurts. Come learn how veterinarians and laboratory technologists help to diagnose disease. At the MSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, we have unique expertise in safeguarding the health of companion animals, livestock, wildlife, and people. Test your knowledge with a chance to investigate and diagnose cases!

Learn more about Inside the MSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory: Disease Detectives at Work

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Join Potter Park Zoo staff, zookeepers, and volunteers as we explore the natural world!

View the microscopic world as a scientist; try your hand at a simulated veterinary lab; learn how to be an animal chef with our zookeepers; test your skull-matching skills; discover some amazing things about bats; find out how to be a conservation champion; have an up-close encounter with our live ambassador animals; and so much more! Selected exhibits will also be open for our guests to explore.

Learn more about Potter Park Zoo: An Evening of Awesome, Interactive Experiences at a Living Museum

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Take a guided, behind-the-scenes tour of the Museum's vertebrate collections, where over 117,000 specimens of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and fossils are preserved and cared for. See biodiversity specimens that have been used for discovery and learning over the past 165 years. Explore unique and rare materials that are difficult or impossible to find elsewhere!

Learn more about Skeletons, Jaws, and Jars: A Tour of the MSU Museum Vertebrate Collections

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Join the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department for fun hands-on activities and demonstrations!

Demonstrations:
• Apple harvester
• Drainage demonstration
• Torrefaction
• Algal bioreactors

Hands-on activities:
• Stream restoration activity
• Microscope with nanoparticles, microscopic worms, and Wolffia

Learn more about MSU Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Open House

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

See butterflies up close at the MSU Horticulture Gardens Indoor 4-H Children's Garden!

Learn more about Butterflies in the Garden

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only

Join us in the MSU Herbarium and Plant Biology Teaching Conservatory for behind-the-scenes tours and activities that bring the story of a museum specimen to life. This is a first-hand opportunity to experience how an Herbarium stewards knowledge about plant biodiversity. From a living plant to a preserved one, learn about what herbarium specimens are, where they come from, and some of the unique ways they’re used by researchers right here at MSU.

Learn more about Getting to the Root of Botany: Behind the Scenes in the MSU Herbarium