2004 Student Workshop Descriptions:

1. Design and Make Your Own Perfume:
Come, dive into the world of Chemical Engineering and make your own perfume! People have used perfume, oils, and unguents on their bodies for thousands of years. Perfume as we know it, was developed in the late 19th century due to advances in our knowledge of organic chemistry. In this workshop, we will describe the steps used to extract and purify scents. You'll have a chance to make your own and then see some of the chemical engineering tools that companies use to make products such as these for millions of people. (Chemical Engineering)

2. Shake, Rattle, and... CRASH!!!
Have you ever been in an earthquake? Do you wonder why the local convenience store is in ruins after a quake, but a downtown high rise is undamaged? Ever wonder how engineers predict and plan for earthquake damage? Come out to the geology department and learn all about what happens when the ground shakes and rattles. Learn how what seismology is, how a seismograph works, how engineers and city planners plan for earthquakes, and try your hand at building an earthquake-resistant structure! (Geology)

3. Upp Nboz Tfdsfut (Too many secrets!)::
Secret codes have been used for thousands of years to protect sensitive documents, relay important messages, and verify one's identity. Today, we use codes everyday to keep our e-mail private, shop safely on the Internet, and withdraw money from ATMs. Discover how to protect secret messages from prying eyes, and learn to break codes used by the likes of Caesar, Napoleon and Queen Elizabeth. To get started, try to unscramble this message: JU'T IVNBO OBUVSF UP GJHVSF TUVGG PVU. (Math)

4.Galaxies Galore:
Almost everything in the Universe lives in one galaxy or another: from the brightest stars, to the most exotic planets, to the biggest black holes. Come join us, and learn more about these distant giants as well as about our own home in the Universe! In this workshop, you will explore different kinds of galaxies, "observe" a few for yourself, orchestrate a catastrophic galaxy collision, and learn about the tools we astronomers use. (Astronomy) Shown on right is the Grand Design Spiral Galaxy M100. Image taken from Astronomy Picture of the Day

5. A Bird's Eye View:
Birds are among the most fantastically diverse animals in the world! Can we tell where birds live and what they do, by how they look? Together, we will catch local wild birds and examine museum specimens from all over the world. You will discover how scientists measure traits that give us clues about how these animals make a living in the wild. After all, a bird in the hand makes two in the bush! Come prepared to spend some time outdoors. (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Warning: off-campus, outdoors, feather allergies On left is an image of a Cardinal in Flight from Birds in Flight, Credit: Russell Hanson.

6. Using DNA Technology in Biodiversity Conservation:
Learn how to extract DNA from bananas in a real research laboratory (and use the leftovers for banana smoothies!). See how this and other laboratory techniques (including robotics) can help discover, save and use the Earth's biodiversity: all living organisms. (Institute for Genomic Diversity)

7. Can You Believe Your Eyes?
Try this: stand sideways with your left foot against the wall and your feet shoulder-width apart. Now lift your right foot. Can you do it? The secret is in something called "center of gravity." We'll be learning the important role it plays in some really cool magic tricks. By the end of the workshop, you'll be able to go home and recreate these tricks with household items. And you'll be able to explain how they work! (Engineering)

8. Choose Your Gene and Decode It's Sequence:
DNA is the genetic key to life! This fascinating molecule is the reason why you are so much like your parents and yet so uniquely different. Come and participate in your own mini genome project! You get to choose your own gene sequence and learn how it is decoded and read. Explore evolutionary connections by looking for closely related genes. At the end of it all, you get to take home your very own DNA bracelet! Also get acquainted with other exciting experimental techniques that are used in modern molecular biology labs. (Molecular Medicine) Illustration of DNA strand taken from PBS 'Create a DNA Fingerprint'

10. Go With the Flow!
Ever wonder how a airplane can stay in the air? How a boat can sail into the wind? Why a curve ball curves? What exactly "turbulence" and "aerodynamic" mean? Come explore the world of air flow! We will answer these questions and others with lots of fun demonstrations and hands on activities using paper airplanes, hairdryers and more! (Physics)

11. Protostar Tilt-a-Whirl
Explore Skyview, a virtual game world, and enjoy our current observatory show on protostar formation. Learn about how Cornell and Russian scientists are partnered to study the evolution of young stars. Then challenge your new friends to an astrophysics trivia match, or take a spaceship ride just for fun. (Cornell Theory Center)

12. Fortune Telling for the 21st Century:
Some things in life seem to be left to chance. But just because something isn't predetermined doesn't mean we can't make predictions about it. Come and experiment with us as we play games, think about luck, and discover what probability theory is all about. (Math)

14. Looking at Atoms:
Did you know that scientists are able to take pictures of atoms? Ever wonder how they do it? Come learn about a special kind of microscope called an Atomic Force Microscope, or AFM, which is used by many physicists and engineers to take pictures of really tiny stuff. You will use a model AFM to learn how these microscopes work and what their limitations are. Then we will use a real AFM is used to look at a carbon nanotube, which is a cylinder with a diameter about a ten-thousandth of that of a human hair. (Physics)

15. The Wonderful World of Words:
Have you ever wondered how people can understand you when you speak? Do you know what your mouth has to do in order to say a word? Are you curious to know what your voice "looks" like? Come learn all this and more in a hands-on workshop on human language, where we'll explore the wonderful world of words. Participants will have a chance to "see" their voices on a computer screen and to watch their tongues move with an ultrasound. (Linguistics)

16. Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones:
Ever wonder what trees can tell us about volcanic eruptions thousands of years ago? What pots and rocks and bones can tell us about the way people lived? How you can tell dog bones from deer bones-- or even human bones? We'll explore these things and more in this workshop, where we will discover the secrets of tree-rings, the conundrum of bones and the mysteries of ancient times. (Archaeology)

17. Graph Theory: Play Games and Explore Graphs
In this session, we will explore mathematical structures called graphs -- not to be confused with bar charts, pie charts, and x-y plots! On the contrary, graphs and graph theory are used to model computer networks, the internet, road maps, social relations, and much more. Through game playing, we will explore common graph properties such as degree and diameter, and try to intuitively come up with some fundamental results in terms of the game strategy. After 2 or 3 games, we may try to play with an open problem that used to have a cash prize for solving it! You won't even know you're doing math it'll be so much fun! (Math)

18. What Are Animals Saying to Each Other?
Do whales talk? How does a baby elephant find its mother? Learn how scientists around the world are using computers to study how animals communicate with each other. We'll listen to a lot of cool animal sounds and see how amazing technologies are being used to better understand what animals are saying. We'll get hands on experience with these technologies, including recording and "seeing" our own voices (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)

19. Make an Itty Bitty Picture:
How could you possibly draw a picture that is smaller than the width of your hair? It sounds impossible, but scientists and engineers at the Nanobiotechnology Center do this every day. In this workshop, you will create a computer aided design drawing and transfer your drawing onto photosensitive paper, using special technology to shrink the image. (Nanobiotechnology Center)

20. The Incredible Edible Foam:
Did you know that there is a science to making ice cream? Join us in the Food Science Pilot Plant to make your own ice cream! We will try variations of the traditional recipe for this popular foam (yes, ice cream is a foam!) and try to imitate our favorite brands. We'll see and taste how changes in ingredients such as fat and air (yes, air!) can change the look, mouthfeel and flavor of the final product. (Food Science)

21. Plants can breathe?
You bet! We will take a look at how plants "breathe" using three very different pieces of equipment. The first, a thirty thousand dollar machine that looks like a Ghostbusters pack, will help us measure and calculate photosynthesis. The second, a high-tech digital camera and microscope combination will let us see how gases move into and out of the leaves of plants. The third device we use to help image leaf surfaces you may already have with you... but you'll have to join us to find out what it is! In addition to finding out plants breathe you will be able to pot and take home your own plant. (Plant Biology)

22. Holey Cow and Funky Chickens!
Why can a cow eat hay but we can't? She has a rumen. Come explore a preserved rumen, a real rumen, and learn what a balanced diet for a cow looks like. Don't miss the hands-on (and hands-in) introduction to ruminant nutrition as well as discussions about the role biotechnology plays in animal science today. How does a chicken lay an egg? The formation of an egg and its path through the reproductive tract will also be explained and observed. In the lab, you will learn how the chicken is used to study human reproductive disorders such as ovarian cancer. (Animal Science) Warning: animal allergies Above: our Workshop Chair tries out the holey cow.

23. This IS Rocket Science!
Have you ever wondered how the Space Shuttle rockets work? Have you ever wanted a chance to build and launch your own rocket? Then come explore the exciting world of rocketry! In this workshop, we'll investigate how both big and small rockets work, build a model rocket from a kit to take home, and if weather permits everyone will have a chance to launch their rocket. (Astronomy) Warning: off-campus, outdoors, loud noises. Image shows the Space Shuttle taking off. Credit: NASA

24. Particles from Space:
Ever wonder what type of matter is found beyond our own solar system? Did you know that tiny particles from distant galaxies travel through space at nearly the speed of light and bombard the Earth at all times? Some of these particles travel through our atmosphere where they initiate the creation of new particles that hit the surface of our planet. How many of these particles would you guess go through your body every minute without you noticing? Because these particles are too small to see with the human eye, scientists had to build special detectors to observe their behavior. These detectors come in all shapes and sizes: some are small enough to fit on your desk and some are as big as a small house. Come see different types of detectors at our laboratory and learn about how we study the microscopic components of the universe. You'll get to build your own small detector and collect evidence of these particles for yourself! (Physics) Shown above are some of the detectors that were built in 2003

25.Which is your favorite apple? Come and Learn Why.
Come and taste different apples... Find out why they taste different. You will have the opportunity to measure the acids and sugars in different apple varieties and then decide if your results agree with your taste buds. Have you ever wondered how you can be eating apples in April when they are harvested in October? Come and learn how apples can be stored for many months and still taste good. Can you tell which apples have had special treatments to make them last longer? (Horticulture)Warning: off campus

26.Creative Color Chemistry
Have you ever wondered how your computer printer can make hundreds of colors from just cyan, magenta, yellow, and black? Come learn about this and more! Help solve a crime using chromatography to separate colors from a mixture and use this technique to make your own "tie-dyed"t-shirt to take home! (Chemistry) T-shirt patterns shown on right from T-shirt Chromatography

27.I don't know what you see on it:
Is this what your response would be if someone asked you about looking at something with a scanning electron microscope? Well not anymore! Learn all about what you can see and operate the controls yourself. (Cornell Center for Materials Research)

28. Don't Step on the Cracks!
Have you wondered about why the Liberty Bell cracked or why the Sphinx lost her nose? Come to this workshop and learn all about cracking and fracture. You'll get to watch cracks grow and break some things without getting into any trouble! (Cornell Center for Materials Research)

29.Household Chemistry: Easy Reactions to Do with Ordinary Items
Think chemistry is only done by scientists in labs with white coats? Wrong!!!! Chemistry isn't just for labs, it can also be done around the house. In fact, you've probably done it and not even known it. Come learn about the science behind reactions you may have already done, and how you can use household items to do new reactions that produce exciting results. (Chemistry)

30.Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper
Ever wonder how silly putty is made? Love slimey, gooey gak? Want to make your own bouncy ball? Then come explore the rubbery world of polymer chemistry and take your creations home as souvenirs! (Chemistry)

31. Putting Together a Weather Forecast
Learn about weather instruments, what data are collected and how the data is displayed in paper form and by computers. Includes a trip to our weather station at Game Farm road. Learn how to read weather maps, interpret radar and satellite images, and utilize forecasting techniques, to produce a weather forecast of your own. Your forecast will be typed into our weather email-list and sent to all subscribers and also recorded on our "Weather-phone" audix system. (Earth and Atmospheric Science) Warning: off campus, outdoors

32. Makin' Waves: The Science of Light and Sound
This workshop explores the mystery of light and sound. Both light and sound exist as waves, very much like the waves in the ocean, except on a much smaller scale. Unique functions of these waves are attributed to their distinctive size and shape. By using lasers in this workshop, we will be able to closely investigate all of light's exceptional properties. Similarly, we will look at sound waves and understand how they can travel through air to give us the ability to talk or make music. To do this, you will build your own guitar to create an array of different sound waves and find out why it works! (Chemistry)

33. Crazy Cascadilla Creek
What crazy creatures live in Cascadilla Creek? Explore the stream to catch and meet the fish and invertebrates that call Cascadilla home. We'll have the D-nets, dip nets, seines, viewing boxes, sieves, and electroshockers - you bring your rubber boots and sense of adventure. (Natural Resources) Warning: off campus, outdoors.

Shown are some participants and leaders of this workshop during the 2003 Conference

34. I Always Wanted to Be a Veterinarian...
It's a quote your hear in interviews from celebrities like Lance Armstrong or Julia Roberts. It's also something I hear every day from various people I meet. When you say vet, most people think about small animal medicine. But the field of veterinary medicine is immense. The range of activies spans beyond your imagination of just the different species with which you can work. You can choose all branches of medicine and surgery: live animals or dead animals, small or large, general practice or specialty. Some come see a smorgasbord of what veterinary medicine has to offer you. There will be a variety of stations that you can choose to work through. (Vet School) Warning: animal allergies

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