Michigan Tech Teams Demonstrate Mysteries Of Science In Washington, DC

Michigan Technological University's MindTrekkers are taking STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) to the heart of the nation -- the National Mall in Washington, D.C. And they're making it so much fun that it might just turn casual onlookers into science geeks.

MindTrekkers, a traveling science road show produced by Youth Programs at Michigan Tech, is one of two Michigan Tech teams that will share some of the stranger mysteries of science with hundreds of thousands of visitors to the first USA Science and Engineering Expo Oct. 23-24.

It's a completely hands-on experience: making and tasting liquid nitrogen ice cream, walking on (or is it in) oobleck -- an odd substance that looks like a liquid but acts like a solid -- and watching the flames in a Ruben's tube flicker and flash to a musical riff.

"We want people of all ages to have fun learning the science behind the mystery," says Steve Patchin, director of Youth Programs outreach and engagement at Michigan Tech.

MindTrekkers, with four booths in Woodrow Wilson Plaza, Booths #1150, 1152, 1154 and 1156, is one of two Michigan Tech exhibitors and more than 350 nationwide who were invited to Washington for the Expo. (See below for more on the other exhibit.)

Their goal: to try to help hook the American public -- and particularly their children -- on science and engineering education, an area where the United States lags behind other advanced countries.

The Michigan Tech team brings to Washington two years of success at using the amazing things science can do to capture young imaginations. MindTrekkers has taken its hands-on science show to more than 50,000 school children in Detroit, Minneapolis, Green Bay, Wis., and Grand Rapids, Mich., and most recently to another 50,000 at the massive Boy Scout Jamboree in Fort A.P. Hill, Va. Next year, with a new grant from AT&T and other partners, they will work with local businesses and schools to take the show to Escanaba, Sault Ste. Marie and Traverse City, and to the Girl Scouts in Jackson.

The hands-on science fun of MindTrekkers perfectly complements Michigan Tech's mission -- to prepare the next generation to create the future for an increasingly technological world. And the show exemplifies the state university's commitment to hands-on education.

The Science & Engineering Expo is the grand finale of a two-week festival promoting public interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. More than 1,500 interactive activities for all ages hosted by more than 350 of the nation's leading science and engineering organizations will expose attendees to a broad spectrum of science. All events are free and open to the public, and hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected to attend.

Also from Michigan Tech is a volcano exhibit is in Freedom Plaza, Section PA-13, Booth 1317. Graduate students will demonstrate equipment and techniques used by field researchers to monitor volcanic activity. By doing this monitoring, volcanologists can learn more about volcanic processes and identify potential precursors to eruptions.

The team hopes their exhibit will get people interested in geology.
"Geology is a science full of wonders, excitement and lots of things to discover," says Anieri Morales Rivera, "from understanding natural processes that may become a hazard to humans, such as volcanoes, to improving our knowledge of Earth and planetary sciences." People are "exposed to geology in a daily basis," she points out, "from the use of mineral resources to the location of petroleum and water supplies."

To illustrate what they look for when monitoring volcanoes, the Tech team is bringing an accelerometer and a Forward-Looking Infrared, or FLIR, camera. To demonstrate the accelerometer, which measures seismic activity, guests will be invited to jump on the ground, creating earthquake-like vibrations that the accelerometer will pick up and display as a seismogram.

The graduate students will also show visitors pictures of themselves taken with the FLIR camera, which measures an object's radiant energy, translates it into temperature, and displays an image using light intensity or color brightness to show levels of heat.

"Scientists can't predict eruptions," says Morales Rivera, "but we can talk about the probability of one based on changes in the volcano's behavior, such as increased seismicity, changes in gas concentrations coming out of the volcano, and deformation of the volcano itself."

The exhibit will also explain the kinds of hazards posed by a volcanic eruption, from ash clouds that can block sunlight and interfere with airline flights, to lava flows that can burn everything in their path.

Michigan Tech's Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences is one of only 15 National Science Foundation-funded projects invited to participate nationwide. Tech's project is part of the NSF's Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE) program. Tech operates PIRE programs in Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Peru.

"The NSF Office for International Science and Education, which manages the PIRE program, was very excited about our selection," says John Gierke. "We were the only PIRE project that was selected."

Does the Tech team feel intimidated? Of course not, says graduate student Luke Bowman. "We hike active volcanoes; we can handle the Mall."

More at www.mtu.edu.

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