Dazzling Demos and Talks

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

Why is the supercomputer at MSU so great? The secret is parallel processing, which allows MSU's supercomputer to perform multiple tasks simultaneously, while a typical laptop can only perform a small number of tasks concurrently. Discover more about parallel processing with this engaging, interactive, and hands-on "Raspberry Pi Supercomputer" demonstration. Try your hand at our instructive game on a simulated supercomputer to see how much you can increase performance with parallel processing!

Learn more about Experiment with the Principles of Supercomputing Through an Educational Videogame

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

Creating borax crystals is a captivating and visually stunning science experiment that combines art and chemistry in a mesmerizing display of crystal growth. This process allows you to grow your own dazzling, geometric crystal formations using just hot water, Borax, and pipe cleaners.

Learn more about Creating Winter Magic: Crystalized Icicle Ornaments

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, Over 21 years only, 18 years and above

Bioluminescence is the naturally occurring ability of various animals to produce light. This glowing phenomenon can be observed in fireflies, as well as several deep-sea creatures. The goal of the program is to explain and demonstrate how these unique, light emitting abilities evolved in nature over millions of years. It will also showcase how these bioluminescent mechanisms are now being used by scientists for biomedical research.

Learn more about From Seaside to Bedside: Learn About Light-Emitting Marine Organisms and Insects

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

Dr. Brandt will lead us on a tour through Michigan’s geologic history, from its fiery beginnings marked by volcanoes in the Upper Peninsula, through eons of inundation by a shallow, tropical sea, to the shaping of our modern landscape by glaciers during the last ice age. Learn what a Petoskey stone tells us about Michigan’s ancient environment, the easiest way to tell a mammoth from a mastodon, and why you are unlikely to find a dinosaur in Michigan.

Learn more about Fire, Water, and Ice: Michigan's Geological Story

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: Learn About Groundwater and How to Protect It

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

Investigate how temperature relates to the movement of atoms and molecules in this exciting presentation. Utilizing liquid nitrogen (LN2), we’ll see some "cool" effects on solids, liquids and gases!

Learn more about Frostology

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

Are you curious about careers in SCIENCE? Join the hosts of the award-winning WKAR series Curious About Careers, as they share insight into their adventures with women who work in STEM-related fields! Genesis, Janellyn, Callan, Aikem, and Olivia present video and talk about their experiences exploring a variety of careers based in science, technology, engineering, and math, including a professional welder, martial arts master, power plant director, and others! Carol Yancho, senior producer at WKAR Public Media, is the emcee for this fun presentation. Recommended for ages 9-16.

Learn more about Curious About Careers with WKAR

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

The second most prevalent neurodegenerative illness in the world is Parkinson's disease. Two well-known symptoms of this disease are tremors and balance issues. Patients experience speech problems at some stage during the illness. Another typical symptom is a subdued speaking voice, makes it challenging to communicate effectively. We will evaluate, manage, and study speech issues related to Parkinson's disease and other neurological conditions and discover local resources that are offered right here in Michigan!

Learn more about Can You Hear Me Now? How Parkinson’s Disease Affects Speech and What We Can Do About It

Appropriate for: High school age, 18 years and above

King Corn is a documentary that follows two best friends who move from the east coast to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America's most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat and farm. Following the film, MSU Extension crop educator Monica Jean will lead a discussion on corn cultivation in Michigan.

This program is presented as part of the Food Fight! exhibition by the MSU Museum CoLab Studio.

Learn more about “King Corn” Film Screening

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

Join featured speaker Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer and learn how to cultivate a reciprocal relationship with the living world. Listeners are invited to consider what we might learn if we understood plants as our teachers, from both a scientific and an indigenous perspective.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. In 2022, Braiding Sweetgrass was adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith. This new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us.

Robin tours widely and has been featured on NPR’s On Being with Krista Tippett and in 2015 addressed the general assembly of the United Nations on the topic of “Healing Our Relationship with Nature.” Kimmerer is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, whose mission is to create programs which draw on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for our shared goals of sustainability. In 2022 she was named a MacArthur Fellow.

As a writer and a scientist, her interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but restoration of our relationships to land. She holds a BS in Botany from SUNY ESF, an MS and PhD in Botany from the University of Wisconsin and is the author of numerous scientific papers on plant ecology, bryophyte ecology, traditional knowledge and restoration ecology. As a writer and a scientist, her interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but restoration of our relationships to land. She lives on an old farm in upstate New York, tending gardens both cultivated and wild.

Livestream video of the event

The livestream will start on April 20, 2024 at 6:00 PM EST.

Learn more about Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge And The Teachings Of Plants