The theme for the 7th annual MSU Science Festival is “Unraveling the Mysteries.”

“Unraveling the Mysteries” will give everyone the opportunity to explore and learn— whether you are a junior scientist or a lifelong learner. The line-up will include topics on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM), with talks, demonstrations, tours, open houses, hands-on activities, and special presentations by renowned scientists.

MSU Science Festival programs at the MSU Museum include:

Night at the Museum
Tuesday, April 9 from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Family friendly, hands-on learning about habitats and homes. Visit both the MSU Museum and the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at MSU to explore the many diverse and interesting ways people and creatures make use of materials found in their environment to design the ideal place to live.

Windows, Birds, and Museums
Tuesday, April 9 from 6:00 – 6:45 p.m.
A window-collision bird victim will be prepared as a standard museum study skin, with all the steps in the process demonstrated. While preparing the specimen, MSU Museum curator, Pamela Rasmussen will describe the steps for preparing a museum specimen and how salvaged birds are scientifically useful.

Skeletons, Jaws, and Jars: A Tour of the MSU Museum Vertebrate Collections
Friday, April 12
Tour Times:
2:00 – 2:30 p.m.
2:45 – 3:15 p.m.
Take a guided, behind-the-scenes tour of the Museum’s vertebrate collections, where over 117,000 specimens of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and fossils are preserved and cared for. See how these have been used for discovery and learning over the past 160 years. Pre-registration is required.
Registration begins on Friday, March 29 at 8:00 a.m. and closes on Thursday, April 11.
Register Here: https://sciencefestival.msu.edu/Event/View/1094

Sharks 101
Saturday, April 13 from 11:00 – 11:45 a.m.
MSU Museum curator, Michael Gottfried will cover the evolutionary history and basic anatomy of sharks as ‘living fossils’ including fossil specimens from the MSU Museum collection and a dissection of a preserved shark specimen.

The Art and Science of Oral History
Saturday, April 13 from 12:30 – 1:00 p.m.
Stemming from one of the oldest methods of preserving the past, oral history has developed into an important field. Oral historians engage the community and collect interviews that provide insightful and necessary information on a wide range of topics that are often overlooked in traditional historical accounts. The presentation will demonstrate to the public the Julian Samora Research Institute’s efforts to preserve local history through its Oral History of Latinos in Michigan (OHLM) Project, while showing effective techniques that aid practitioners in their quest to collect history, presented by Juan Coronado, Post-Doctoral Scholar, Julian Samora Research Institute, MSU.

Additional information about the MSU Science Festival can be found online at sciencefestival.msu.edu.

MSU Science Festival Fun Facts:
• The MSU Science Festival is the largest free science festival in Michigan
• The festival attracts more than 20,000 attendees per year with 250+ unique activities in 40 venues across 15 Michigan geographic locations.
• 81 statewide partners contribute to the festival.
• All statewide and on-campus events are free and open to the public.