Classroom Science
How to sign up
Our Classroom Science programs bring a scientist into your class for activities and discussion. To sign up, reach out to the presenter directly to arrange a date and time.
Alternative Fuels and Combustion Science (Middle/High)
Elisa Toulson
toulson@msu.edu
Onsite at MSU Energy and Automotive Research Center (ERC-South): Short talk on energy throughout history that discusses both traditional and renewable forms of energy and their application in everyday life and how they are applicable to the different engineering disciplines. Tour of the Energy and Automotive Research Laboratories at MSU and hands-on experiments that allow students to look inside a candle flame and participate in high speed photography experiments. At Michigan Schools: Short talk on energy throughout history that discusses both traditional and renewable forms of energy and their application in everyday life and how they are applicable to the different engineering disciplines. Hands-on experiments that allow students to look inside a candle flame and participate in high speed photography experiments. I will be unavailable from March 8-April 3
Build-a-Fish! (Elementary, Middle, High)
Jamily Lorena
ramosdel@msu.edu
Have you ever wondered what makes a fish? Fish are made of a head, body, and tail. They have fins, scales, and teeth. They’re made in many shapes, colors and sizes. Explore fish diversity through a presentation where you’ll learn about fish with awesome colors and shapes and fish that live in places you’d never expect! In this activity you’ll design your own fish with any size, shape, or color you want and choose a home for your fish in any place you can imagine!
The Day in the Life of a Veterinary Nurse (Elementary/Middle/High)
Sarah Machniak
machnisa@msu.edu
What is a veterinary nurse? What do they do? How do they fit into the healthcare team? I am here to talk to you about veterinary nursing, the pathway to get there and so much more!
Physician Assistant Science (Middle/High)
Alexandra Lillie
lillieal@msu.edu
As Michigan State University's first PA cohort, we are looking to spread the message on how physician assistants are integral to the healthcare system. Our graduate students would present foundational information about the profession via Powerpoint, explain the anatomy of select bodily systems (heart, lungs, or ears), then transition to how we evaluate each respective organ system as clinicians. From here, we would take an interactive approach and allow all the students to have a hands-on experience with our medical equipment (stethoscopes, otoscopes, and more) to apply what they have learned. We hope curate an educational, yet exciting experience for your students. Our goal would be to spark interest in the study of medicine as a whole while promoting awareness about the Physician Assistant career path.
Who Will Solve the Problems? and other thoughts on research science careers (Elementary/Middle/High)
Zachary Constan
constan@frib.msu.edu
MSU’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) leads the world at making and studying radioactive nuclei. Inside, researchers regularly smash nuclei together at half the speed of light. To make new discoveries, it takes a team of 800+ physicists, chemists, mathematicians, plumbers, welders, machinists, computer scientists, and many more. Find out what kinds of jobs are needed to make cutting-edge science work!
How Can Students Play an Effective Societal Role Now and in the Future Related to Plastics? (Elementary/Middle/High)
Cimberly Weir
cimberly@msu.edu
We will present to students the importance of recycling and how to sort their waste for recycling. We also show them how recycling works.
What is a Packaging Engineer? (Middle/High)
Euihark Lee
leeeuiha@msu.edu
MSU School of Packaging is the No. 1 packaging program in the US, and about half of the packaging professionals in the US are our alumni. This presentation focuses on career opportunities as a packaging engineer, and how the school of packaging at MSU helps students to become well-rounded packaging engineers.
You Don't Say! Understanding Ways We Communicate (Elementary)
Zachary Hesse
hessezac@msu.edu
Understanding autism and communication differences. Alternative modes of communication. Read an age-appropriate book, facilitate discussion, hands-on experiences trying out ways to communicate without talking!
Explore Lab Science (Elementary/Middle/High)
Heather Seymour
seymourh@michigan.gov
The goal of the Explore Lab Science program is to introduce children to lab science. The program has three tiers and activities can be tailored to specific ages and classroom curricula.
Exploring the benefits of radioactivity (High)
Trenton Vogt and Nicholas Dahlen
vogttren@msu.edu
Radiation is often viewed as an invisible danger and something to be feared; however, radiation is utilized in several modern technologies that are crucial to today's society. Radiotherapies for cancer and PET imaging rely on the emission of radiation to either kill cancer cells or image precise tumor locations. NASA takes advantage of the heat produced by radiation to produce energy on Mars rovers for years without needing to recharge. Currently, the work we are doing at Michigan State University is focused on advancing the effectiveness of cancer treatments using radium as a source of radiation. We also research the fundamental chemistry of promethium, which has shown promise for use in small-scale nuclear batteries that could be commercialized and safely implemented into everyday technologies, such as cell phones that never need to be recharged. We hope through this presentation we are able to show the benefits that can come from harnessing radiation rather than fearing it.
What is in the box? (Middle/High)
Allison Pease
peaseall@msu.edu
Using soundwaves to image the unknown. Geologist and archeologist use soundwaves to image structures below the surface. Geophones convert these interactions into a voltage that can be recorded by a computer. In this activity students will be given a black box, within the box is an unknown object/structure. A geophone will be used to determine what the object in the box is. Students will explain what they are seeing, while learning more about the applications of geophones in different disciplines. We will preform the activity in a classroom setting. Student will be divided into groups of 5-6. Each group will be given a box, the box will have an unknown structure or object in it. Student will use a geophone and computer to determine what is in the box. We will discuss what is found, why that is important and how it relates to the field of geology, archeology, or physics.