EYH 2017 was held on March 25th, 2017 at the University of Chicago.

For driving and transit instructions, please visit Transportation to the University of Chicago our transportation page.

Our Keynote speakers were Emily Graslie from the Field Museum and Eugenia Cheng from the Art Institute of Chicago. Please see our Keynote Speaker page for more information.

Schedule:

8:00-9:00: Check-in

9:00-9:40: Keynote Speaker and Opening Ceremonies

10:00-11:00: Workshop 1

11:10-12:10: Workshop 2

12:25-1:00: Lunch

1:10-2:10: Workshop 3

2:30-3:00: Ending assembly/raffle

Please see our Parent Program page for more information on the Parent Program.

Workshops

Coding with Scratch

Maria Power & Emily Zvolanek — Argonne National Laboratory

Learn what makes computers work. In this interactive workshop you will use basic programming like algorithms, conditionals, and loops to create your own interactive animation!

Become a Natural with Natural Products

Alanna Condren and Jessica Cleary — UIC

The world around us is filled with plants and animals that are all shapes, sizes, and colors. Many of these organisms release molecules in order to protect themselves from predators or survive in extreme environments. The chemical compounds the organisms release are examples of what we call natural products, which can be used to as medicines to help you feel better when you are sick. In our workshop, you will explore the compounds released by living things by going on a natural products hunt!

Oh Behave!

Carly Uebel, Sarah Jacobson — Lester Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes

Ever wondered what animals spend their time doing when we’re not paying attention? How might a squirrel’s day-to-day routine differ from that of an elephant or that of a human being? In this workshop, we’ll explore animal behavioral trends by utilizing an ‘ethogram’ to track, record, and interpret observable behaviors in a variety of animal species.

Webcomix Remix

Tina Shah — Art Institute of Chicago

Remix HTML tags and images to tell a story through the web! In this workshop, you will learn basic HTML code and search for reusable images to create your own web page comic.

Banana DNA

Nora Vasquez — UIC Pharmacy

What makes roses beautiful, cockroaches creepy, bananas yellow, or you the way you are? A simple answer is “DNA”, the blueprint that cells use to build everything they need. Learn how to extract DNA from banana cells. Not only will you get the feeling of working in a research lab, but you will also learn how scientists use DNA to find new treatments for diseases, to catch criminals, and to find out whom our great-great-grandparents were.

Rooting Into Your Future

Heather Sherwood, Ayse Pogue — Chicago Botanic Garden

You want to clone plants? Come discover the wonderful world of plant propagation with horticulturists from The Chicago Botanic Garden. Propagating plants from seeds, cuttings, or divisions is one of the most gratifying of the horticultural skills. You will pot up and take home your very own little trumpet jade flower!

Solar Houses

Edyta Dudek — UIC WISE

Solar panels and wind turbines will help save the environment by preserving energy sources. You will learn how to use the energy from the Sun to power a Solar house using boxes, batteries, LED lights, switches, and motor wheels. A structural engineer will help you connect your house with other students houses to form a Solar Town!

Mix it Up! A Food Science Experiment

Anna Bauer — ConAgra

Have you ever heard oil and water don’t mix? If you know food science, you know this isn’t true! You can see it in everyday foods like mayonnaise and salad dressings because of a thing called emulsions. We’ll play around with other foods to show and explain this phenomenon. This session will include shaking, stirring, and whipping different foods together to understand the science of emulsions. We’ll also taste how these different ingredients influence how the product tastes, and you’ll get recipes (and scientific knowledge) to take with you! ALLERGY WARNING – Ingredients may include allergens such as nuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, dairy, and eggs. Ingredients may have also been exposed to other allergens. We kindly request, that if you are allergic to any foods, you refrain from signing up for this session.

Scalpel Please!

Jacqueline Greene — Northwestern

Want to become a surgeon? Learn about the beautiful intricacies of head and neck anatomy, learn a cranial nerve exam, and practice tying knots like a surgeon. Will discuss the long training pathway to becoming a surgeon and answer questions.

Hunting for a New Earth

Leslie Rogers, Hsiao-Wen Chen — UChicago Astronomy & Astrophysics

Learn about the “toolbox” that astronomers use measure properties of planets, stars, and even other galaxies using only light! In this workshop, you’ll see how astronomers look for other planets that might be like Earth.

Architect in Residence

Jane Heistand — HOK

Design your dream living space and studio! Learn how to illustrate your ideas through building floor plans and sections, using tools architects work with every day. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll use your imagination to configure spaces and problem-solve real issues designers encounter in their projects.

Bird Bugs: Avian Pathogen Identification

Heather Skeen — UChicago & the Field Museum

Did you know birds can get sick just like humans? In this workshop we will run an experiment using real DNA in order to determine if a bird has malaria, one of the most common diseases in the world.

Particle Detectives

Caterina Vernieri — Fermilab

Particle physicists study what the universe is made of and how it is structured. But the particles that make up the universe are even smaller than atoms, and we cannot see them by eye or even with microscopes. in this workshop, you will learn how we gather clues with giant particle detectors and you will use the same techniques to collect clues that will help you “see” things in our experimental test stations.

Private Eye: Zoom in on Nature

Dana Simmons and Jody Simmons — UChicago Neurobiology/Lake Surich Community Unit School District 95

Have you ever wondered about things so tiny that you can’t see them? Join us in exploring nature by magnifying the tiny patterns in insect wings, textured fabric, flower petals, and more. We will combine both science and art as we draw our observations and journey into the exciting microscopic world.

Glucose, Lactose, Sucralose, Oh my!

Micaela Vargas and Sharon Sintich — Young Women in Bio Committeen of Women in Bio; Consultant; Attorney

What makes people lactose intolerant? The answer is in the digestive enzymes and their function. Come join us in experimenting with enzymes and sugars and observe through biochemical reactions how we digest food and the biochemistry driving lactose intolerance. In this workshop students will learn the scientific method, conduct experiments, and experience working in a research laboratory.

It’s all fun and games: The Coding Concepts Behind Common Games

Valerie Hall, Sarah Ritter — Pariveda Solutions

Interested in learning more about programming and how it’s entangled in everyday life? Come join us as we break down the core concepts of software development that are applied in familiar board games. We’ll dive into the code and show how to become a master programmer by seeing computer logic in the world around you!

A Snail’s Tale

Nicole Bittler — UChicago

How might fossils like marine mollusks teach us about environments and animal interactions of the past? We shell sea! Come join this hands-on workshop where we will examine fossil and present-day sea shells to learn about ecology & evolution!

Microbes! Exploring Invisible Worlds

Sara Paver and Gwen Gallagher — UChicago

We cannot see them, but microbes are everywhere. Learn about microbes that live in aquatic environments like Lake Michigan and the Oceans: what do they look like? what are they doing? what do they eat? Find out how scientists collect samples and answer these questions. You will design your own unique microbe with personalized accessories (adaptations) and discover how well it could live in different habitats.

Unfolding the World

Jon Yaggie

Geometry has revolutionized the world we live in. It has influenced technological advances ranging from satellites to cell phones. While these geometric objects may rarely make it into a classroom, this workshop will focus on creating some known examples, exploring their properties, and encouraging students to create their own geometric objects.

Paleontology

Maria Viteri — Paleo Club

This interactive tutorial will teach you how paleontologists make copies of fossils for museum exhibits and research. We will even make our own plaster casts of fossil crocodile and dinosaur teeth!

Buggy Brouhaha

Brendan O’Handley — Notebaert Nature Museum

Why would a museum care about bugs? Learn to identify insects such as butterflies and beetles as well as compare their lifecycles. Make observations about insect specimens and have a conversation curators and educators about why museums maintain scientific collections.