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MSU Science Saturdays
Hands-on science and research for kids 8-13
 If you like to dig your hands into science and learn about cool new research and technology, you'll love MSU Science Saturdays!
MSU Science Saturdays are designed for kids aged 8-13. Particpiate in hands-on experiments, learn about exciting new projects and meet the scientists and MSU students who are the shaping the future in Montana.
Each month will feature a fun new science topic, so be sure to join us for all MSU Science Saturdays! If you can't make it to Science Saturday, you can download free activity sheets and watch video links below.
Science Saturdays 2009-2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
This session takes place in Haynes Hall, not the EPS Building
How do you stretch a rock?
Presented by Josh DeWeese and Dean Adams, Dept. of Art and Architecture
To pre-register, call Extended University after Feb. 8, 2010 at (406) 994-6550 during MSU business hours (M-F, 8am to 5pm).
Download a PDF flyer for the Spring Science Saturdays here
Saturday, April 10, 2010 What is the science of music?
Presented by Dr. Ilse-Mari Lee, University Honors Program, and Dr. Robert Maher, Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
To pre-register, call Extended University after March 8, 2010 at (406) 994-6550 during MSU business hours (M-F, 8am to 5pm). Directions to MSU EPS building
Read about Science Saturday South Africa!
Dr. Trevor Douglas, from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Center for Bio-Inspired Nanomaterials (CBIN), is establishing an international outreach project in conjunction with Stellenbosch University in South Africa. He is taking two undergraduates, Courtney Reichhardt and Kevin Harlen, as well as a post-doctoral fellow, Chris Broomell, to South Africa to work with approximately 500 students in schools in the township communities surrounding Cape Town. The students in South Africa will experience Science Saturday just like kids in the Gallatin Valley! Read about their journey...
Past programs
Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010
 How do insects communicate?
Presented by Dr. Kevin Wanner, Dept. of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology
Experience the diversity of insects and learn how they "talk" with each other. See the silkworm life cycle and take some home to raise! You will conduct experiments to learn how moths attract each other with odors and their sense of smell, and you will imitate the honeybee waggle dance to tell your companions the location of a good flower patch!
Download an activity sheet from Science Saturday. Test your insect knowledge, learn a new way to communicate.
Fun links:
Cool videos (These are the videos Dr. Wanner and his team showed at Science Saturday)
Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010
How do robots compute and move?
 Presented by Dr. Ross Snider, Electrical & Computer Engineering
What do computers and motors have in common? They both use electricity! They are also the main components in robots. come to make your own motor with wire, a battery, and a magnet. You will also be able to keep the motor! And, you will learn how computers add using only the numbers 0 and 1.
Download an activity sheet from Science Saturday. Robot jokes and the double-dog dare--How to Count in Binary!
Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009
What do baby diapers and cleaning up oil spills have in common?
Presented by Dr. Abigail Richards, Chemical & Biological Engineering
We learned what plastics, wood, clothes and erasers have in common. And, we made our own oobleck, gluep and slimy goop, and explored the unique properties of polymers.
Download an activity sheet about polymers
Watch Dr. Richards explain "What Chemical Engineers Do"
Fun links:
Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, 1-3pm
What are we made of?
Presented by Dr. Christa Merzdorf, Cell Biology & Neuroscience 
Download an activity sheet about cells and heredity
Did you know that each one of us started out as one single cell and that we are eventually made of about 100 trillion cells? And did you know that EACH of these tiny cells contains all of the instructions that make us what we are? Come find out how cells store these instructions in their nuclei and how these instructions, which are called genes, are used to determine what we look like. See cells through microscopes, play with models of DNA and explore genes.
Saturday, March 7, 2009: 1pm-3pm
Energy Alternatives
Presented by Robb Larson, MSU College of Engineering and Center for Bio-Inspired Nanomaterials staff
Learn about hydrogen, wind, carbon, solar and other energy sources and find out how MSU scientists study and develop alternative energy sources.
View photos from the Energy Alternatives Science Saturday.
Hydrogen explosion! Watch a video of Dr. Trevor Douglas blowing stuff up.
Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009: 1pm-3pm
Computer Simulations
Presented by Robert Szilagyi, MSU Center for Bio-Inspired Nanomaterials
We used computers to “look” at and manipulate molecules too small to see and learned how MSU scientists simulate biological and chemical processes with technology. We also watched really cool 3-D images of molecules!
Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009:
Bio-materials
Presented by Chris Broomell, Chemistry, and MSU Center for Bio-Inspired Nanomaterials staff 
Why is it so hard to pull a gecko off the wall? What are your mom's nylons made of? How strong is a Post-it Note? And how can studying a spider web help us make stronger string in real life?
At Science Saturday, we stuck our hands in oobleck and slime as we learned how scientists can create materials in the lab inspired by Nature.
Watch a video slide show on YouTube featuring photos from the Bio-materials Science Saturday.
Read an article in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle about the Bio-materials Science Saturday.
Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008
Magnetism
Presented by Yves Idzerda, physics, and MSU Center for Bio-Inspired Nanomaterials staff
Magnetism has been essential for generating and transferring electrical energy, recording information, and high-speed communication.
We learned more about the Montana State University researchers and students who are studying how these materials behave at the smallest sizes (the nanoscale) where new properties emerge to make ultra-high density memory (capable of storing 100 movies onto something the size of a credit card), new types of electronics (spintronics), and magnetic tags so small that they can ride along tethered to viruses and proteins.
Watch our video commercial featuring kids from the Magnetism Science Saturday on YouTube
Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008
Viruses
Presented by Brian Bothner, Trevor Douglas and Mark Young 
Read more about viruses in our newspaper ad, or download a one-page overview with photos from November's Science Saturday about Viruses.
All events take place in Studio 1080, the Burns Technology Center's interactive multimedia center in the lobby of the EPS Building.
Need directions? Access our Google Map.
MSU Science Saturdays are sponsored by CBIN, MSU's Center for Bio-Inspired NanoMaterials, Montana EPSCoR, and Extended University's Burns Technology Center with support from the Undergraduate Chemistry Society. CBIN is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.
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