This year the UW campus held its Science Expeditions Open House in conjunction with the UW’s 175th Community Open House for a truly special event. There were a host of activities that ranged from visiting the Botany greenhouses to exploring dance as medicine at the Health Learning Center. Dr. Sabrina Chin of the Gilroy Lab organized the Plant Cell and Molecular Biology science exploration stations at the Discovery building. From the Botany Department, the Maeda and Gilroy labs provided families hands-on introductions to everything from the pigments that make beets red to how to grow radishes on the Moon. Kids collected stamps for each activity in a passport. Those who participated at all the stations and filled their passports earned a button to take home. A real star of the show was Dr. Nathan Miller who guided visitors through contributing their individual strokes to an amazing collaborative plant painting. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) at its best!
Back at Birge Hall, the Garden and Greenhouse staff provided tours of the extensive teaching collection maintained for the Department. Many came looking for the Newton apple tree, which was one of the items on the 175th Anniversary Community Scavenger Hunt.
Check out more pictures from the event here.