24th Annual Take our Kids to Work Day

Program schedule:  Click here to view photo album 

In conjunction with the national Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day® effort, the ESF Women's Caucus hosted ESF's children, grandchildren, nieces, friends and neighbors from 16 area schools for the 24th annual program, April 27, 2017, with 8-11 yr old participants registered from 16 different area schools.  On tap for the day:
 Chemistry, kids made "Fluffy Slime" with Ms. Joy Logan, Chemistry. They modeled and tested Watersheds with Ms Molly Welsh, Grad Program in Env Science  & Ms Meghan Mussehl, Env Resource Engineering, visualizing how landforms and vegetation alter water flow, and what that water picks up in transit. Open Hand Theater's Mr. Peter Fekete helped kids think quick and through Improv games. After finding out how plants can be used to draw contaminants from soil through a process called phytoremediation, kids potted up pansies or tomatoes, and toured the Greenhouses during the Wonders of Plants with Dr Lee Newman, Env & For Bio. For STEM & Scientific Method, Dr Gary Scott, Paper & Bioprocess Eng, engaged participants in a series of short experiments to test their predictions, and discuss why or why not, made adjustments, and continued on. By participating in this iterative process, they saw how "failure" is also a learning opportunity--often more interesting than when everything simply falls into place!
In Natural Building: Getting Muddy, Ms Sasha Batorsky, MS student studying Sustainable Construction in the Department of Forest & Natural Resources Management, had kids make "cob" (still used today, in a process very similar to that demonstrated in The Ten Commandments), a stone wall, and used "The Shake Test" to separate soil into its components. Dr. Jaime Mirowsky discussed and demonstrated Air Pollution & Health Effects through an asthma simulation, and measuring airborne particulates.


Special thanks to:  Presenters (and their Supervisors, Department chairs or advisors) and our Volunteers. ALUMNI RELATIONS and the ESF CAMPUS BOOKSTORE, magnets and pins; COMMUNICATIONS, pencils and tattoos; PROVOST’s OFFICE and ESF WOMEN’S CAUCUS, lunch, bags and color printing; PHYSICAL PLANT and TRAILHEAD CAFE (MORRISVILLE AUXILLIARY SERVICES), set & clean up; COPY CENTER, B/W printing; and HEATHER ENGELMAN, for program and supply coordination.