The Department of Earth and Space Sciences held its very first Open House at Johnson Hall on April 21, 2024, just one day before Earth Day. This event was organized by the student-led outreach program Rockin’ Out, and visitors enjoyed a variety of exhibits related to Earth and planetary sciences. Participants could look at explosions on the sun’s surface through a telescope, explore rocks and minerals under a microscope, handle dinosaur fossils from the Burke Museum, and even break large rocks with small sledgehammers. This year, there were 14 interactive booths showcasing different topics from the Department.
We estimate that over 200 kids attended the first ESS Open House, plus their parents and guardians, representing all K-12 grades!
Making a pet rock with GeoClub students using paint, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners was a big hit. Visitors also enjoyed learning how to build marshmallow structures that could survive a big earthquake, and they had fun jumping up and down while watching a seismometer (an instrument that measures ground movement) display their jumps on a screen.
Volunteers from the North Seattle Lapidary & Mineral Club joined us for the Open House, inviting guests to explore rocks, minerals, and fossils from near and far. Visitors even searched through gravel for small garnets that they could take home!
Did you know that there is a lot of liquid water and ice beyond Earth? Visitors learned about the structure of icy moons and dwarf planets in our Solar System by creating their own alien icy worlds!
After exploring the exhibits in Johnson Hall, visitors headed to the courtyard where they made chalk drawings of minerals and dinosaurs on the sidewalk and colored in Earth and planetary science-themed coloring pages of their choice.
The primary goal of the Open House, and similar outreach activities, is to make Earth and planetary science truly accessible to our local communities. All people deserve the opportunity to learn about the world around them…and we believe that should be fun! The Open House aims to inspire curiosity and motivate more young people in Seattle and the surrounding areas to find and pursue their passions in science.
We are excited to bring this event back next year! Please stay tuned for announcements regarding the ESS Open House later this year and early next year.