Summer Undergraduate Research Forum & Outreach Expo

When: Thursday, Aug. 3, 2006, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Louisiana State University Union, Raphael Semmes Rd., Baton Rouge

Cost: Free

Age limit: All ages

Categories: Children, Lectures, History/Science

Description: LSU will bring together undergraduate students, children, K-12 educators and parents at the second annual Summer Undergraduate Research Forum & Outreach Expo, to be held on Thursday, Aug. 3, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the LSU Union.
The free, public event is designed to interest children in science, technology, mathematics and engineering, or STEM subjects, and encourage them to consider future careers in those fields. It will also showcase LSU undergraduates’ STEM research projects, and will demonstrate the resources available to all K-12 educators through LSU’s outreach activities.
Doors open at 8:30 a.m. for registration with a general welcome at 9:15 a.m. in the LSU Union Theater. Leroy Chiao, former NASA astronaut and visiting professor at LSU, will kick off the day’s activities with a keynote address.

From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the Expo will include a “Kidz Zone,” which will feature hands-on science experiments geared toward children; and “Share-A-Thon” workshops, in which teachers will share their ideas for incorporating science, math and engineering elements into their curricula. In the “Kidz Zone,” children can use “Scope on a Rope,” a hand-held microscope, to find hidden clues on money; participate in the ChemDemo program and see styrofoam disappear, make liquid nitrogen ice cream and see a flower shatter; and make their hair stand on end through static electricity. Exhibitors in the “Kidz Zone” include the Louisiana Art and Science Museum, the Audubon Council Girl Scouts, Ocean Commotion and the LSU Museum of Natural Science. All of these exhibitors offer programs and activities for children.

The afternoon, from 1-4 p.m., will consist of the Summer Undergraduate Research Forum, or SURF, poster session. Undergraduate students will be on hand to discuss their summer research projects with visitors and provide a glimpse into some of the groundbreaking developments taking place at LSU.

Refreshments will be served and registered participants will be eligible to win door prizes including a handheld GPS System, a digital camera and more.

Co-sponsors and collaborators include the Summer Undergraduate Research Forum; the LSU Center for BioModular Multi-Scale Systems, also known as CBM2; the LSU Gordon A. Cain Center for STEM Literacy; and the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices, or CAMD. The sponsors’ funding agencies include the National Science Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the National Center for Research Resources and LSU.

Event posted July 17, 2006
Last updated July 17, 2006