Summer 2022 Workshops

Be Your Own Biologist, Build Your Own Microscope
Scientists use microscopes to see amazing things that are otherwise invisible. Build your own take-home microscope and investigate microbiology, environmental biology, cell biology, and the rest of the teeny-tiny world around us.
 
Chemistry on Canvas: The Science of Colorants in Paintings
What gives paintings their color? Learn about the chemistry of artists’ pigments, how scientists identify colorants used on paintings hundreds of years old, and how to identify fake art!
 
The College Essay
Nine Days; one killer essay. Can you do it? Yes, you can. In this workshop, you will learn to write the positive stories that unveil who you are, at your best, to a college admissions officer. This is a Creative Writing experience, not an English class.
 
Consciousness - Self, Science, and Society
What makes us human? Do we have free will? And when exactly will technology have a sense of self? By cracking open these questions, we’ll explore the neuroscience of consciousness.
 
Creating a Small Video Game Using Construct 3
The video game industry is larger than the movies and North American sports industries combined. Learn how to make a video game of your own using Construct 3, a 2D video game editor.
 
Exploring the (Simulated) Universe 
Using data from state-of-the-art simulations run on some of the largest supercomputers in the world, take a guided tour through the Universe to learn how galaxies form and evolve.
 
ForAGirl
Did you know video games can be used for good? Come explore how our lab develops video games to impact teen health! Teen input leads the way. 
Are you game?
 
Galaxies and Black Holes in Many Colors
Humans see only a narrow spectrum of light, but the Universe is beautiful in many more colors. Explore how modern technology allows us to “see” the Universe hidden from our eyes.
 
How to (Not) Kill a Plant
What happens if you feed toothpaste to a plant? Explore how plants absorb nutrients and avoid poisons. Build your own hydroponic system to grow plants and test fertilizers and toxins.
 
Living Forces: Mechanics in Biology
What do flour, toothpaste, and biological tissues have in common? Let’s explore mechanics in biology and learn why nature is the ultimate engineer.
 
Measuring Earth’s Velocity with a Radio Telescope
How do we know our galaxy is rotating? Is this evidence for dark matter? Use a simple radio telescope to observe hydrogen gas in our galaxy and chart how it moves.
 
Model Organisms in Biology: The Mighty Worm
We will look into the daily life of a biologist that uses C. elegans to ask important questions in the life sciences, with the hopes of stimulating students to think about how their own outstanding scientific questions could be addressed!
 
Peanuts to Plasma Cells: Exploring Allergy and Immunology
From recognizing billions of foreign proteins, to silently neutralizing pathogens, our immune systems are the ultimate weapon against disease. Discover how this protective system can also mediate life-threatening allergic reactions.
 
Perfect Plants: Overcoming the Environment One Organ at a Time
We rely on plants for food, clothing, and housing, but what makes a plant tick? Dissect plant organs such as flowers and stems, and plan experiments to learn their inner workings.
 
Sensory Physiology Club
We experience the world through our senses. Explore how they work, test their limits, and compare sensory abilities of animals through hands-on experiments involving taste and smell, touch, and sight.
 
STEM Meets Storytelling: Using Data Science to 
Tell Stories about Our Communities
Data is everywhere, but what is it telling us about our communities? We’ll learn how to visualize and analyze local data, and communicate the story underneath in hands-on computer programming activities.
 
Stroke Busters
Dive into brain anatomy to explore the symptoms and risk factors of stroke with experts from the field. Then take this information to create fun, interactive lessons to teach younger children about stroke prevention.
 
The Mathematics of Symmetry
From wallpaper to crystals, symmetry underlies art, architecture, and science. Mathematics identifies commonalities and rules out the impossible. Learn to draw, analyze and appreciate symmetric patterns from a mathematician’s perspective.
 
The Microbes On and Around Me
From antibiotic-resistant bacteria to the microbiome, come explore the vast unseen world of microorganisms. Your experiments will investigate the bugs that keep us healthy and those that cause disease.
 
The Physics of Light
For all of us who can see, we experience light and color every moment. But what are they? We will explore light’s visible and invisible properties, and how these properties enable technologies from lasers to smartphones.
 
The Power of Electrochemistry
The future of sustainable energy is based in electrochemistry. By building your own batteries, redox pairs, solar cells and more, you will learn about the science behind how electrical energy is applied!
 
What’s Inside the Proton? Smash It to Find Out!
What makes up matter? Is anything smaller than the proton? Find out by smashing protons with electrons in computer simulations and studying the debris–just like physicists at the next-gen particle collider.