Student Workshops for 2020

Back to Current Year Student Workshops

• 7th & 8th grade workshops
• 9th grade workshops

7th and 8th Grade Workshop Descriptions

1. Adventures through the Plant Kingdom!

Have you ever wanted to become an adventurer? In this workshop, you can: join us as we explore the jungle found right at Cornell! We’ll explore the many different types of plants found there, and highlight the exciting, exotic, and important plants. You will see plants that make pretty flowers, a plant that doesn’t make roots, stems, or leaves, plants that make medicine, and plants that move! We will also learn how people study plants, and give you a plant specimen to take home!

2. Beyond Bacon: Why Fats are So Important

Fats are a major component of some of our favorite foods, from bacon, to ice cream, French fries, and potato chips, but that is not all that fats are or do. This workshop delves into the amazing world of unique roles that they play in our bodies. Fats help keep animals warm in the winter, hold your body’s cells together, keep you from turning into a mummy, and so much more. Join us to learn how they do it!

3. Black Widow vs. Wonder Woman

Ever wonder what you have in common with Black Widow and Wonder Woman? Your body does amazing things and you just don’t know it! Like the super spy Black Widow, it can decode secret messages. It can also make sure your cells only tell the truth when talking to other cells, just like Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth! These superpowers help make us who we are and allow us to do incredible things. Come discover how “super” you are and better understand some of your favorite heroes!

4. Cell City Relay

Have you ever wondered how the tiny cells that make up our bodies ultimately govern everything that we do? Or how your cells communicate with each other to fight off pathogens? Join us as we shrink down to become the organelles inside of a cell and conduct our own cell signaling relay race. You’ll also get to stain a slide with your own cells and see different cell types under the microscope!

5. Command Your Own Robot

How would you like to have your own robot that could do your chores at home or drive you to school? Come and see how what was once science fiction is becoming part of our daily lives. During this workshop you will get to program a real robot and watch it compete against your friends’!

6. Cows and Chickens and Beetles... Oh my!

What does an animal scientist study? Come explore the variety of opportunities in animal science. Meet Sunny, our rumen fistulated cow, and learn how hay gets turned into milk. Look into the egg of a developing chick with candling. See how beetles can be used to break down feathers to decrease animal waste.

7. Digestive Detectives!

Have you ever wondered what your food was made of? Do you like to solve mysteries and do science experiments? Are you interested in how health care professionals discover diseases? If you answered yes to any of these questions, sign up for our workshop, Digestion Detectives! We'll take a very close look at what carbohydrates, fats, and proteins do in our bodies, and find out what happens when things go wrong!

8. Exploring Math: Patterns and Puzzles

Do you know how to win games every time? Or how to calculate and maximize your chances of winning a game? Or what happens when you can teleport across the board while playing tic-tac-toe? We will explore these ideas using twists on common games to introduce notions of strategy and mathematical analysis.

9. Fantastic Photons

Have you ever wondered how cell phones work? Or how scientists measure the distance to the moon? How holograms make images magically appear? The answer to all of these questions is LIGHT. Come explore the fantastic properties of photons and learn how scientists and engineers use light to make awesome new technologies!

10. Fueling Your Gut Reactions!

Did you know that there are TRILLIONS of tiny microbes living inside your gut? Some can be helpful, others harmful, and they are influenced by the foods you eat every single day. Scientists refer to this community of microbes as the gut microbiome. Join us to learn about the microbes that make up your gut microbiome, how they interact with your diet, and what reactions they are carrying out inside of you right now!

11. Genetic Freaks

Have you ever wondered why sisters and brothers don't look exactly alike? Everyone's mom and dad pass on half of their genes to each of their children but it is not always the same half? Sometimes "recessive", or sneaky, genes can give you a look you would never guess, like having red hair when both your parents have brown hair! We'll use mom and dad "bugs" to show how genes are passed from parents to kids and how different combinations occur. Using our parental bugs’ genes, you'll build your own baby genetic freak. Unlike real bugs, you'll want to eat these when we're done!

12. Googling with Paper Airplanes

Have you ever wondered how computers talk to each other? How a video from California gets onto your phone in New York? Would you like to throw paper airplanes? In this workshop, you will learn how the internet works by throwing paper airplanes!

13. Program Your Own Animation

Do you love Moana or Zootopia? Interested in how animators make cartoons fly? Do you like to play puzzle games? If you’ve ever wondered about what it takes to make something creative with the computer, this workshop is for you! We will teach you basics of Scratch, a popular free program, to make characters fly. We’ll teach you computer science techniques to make your animations super cool with interactions and fun effects! Come make animations and discover how the inner details of programming can help you create!

14. Reverse Your Tastebuds

How do we differentiate the tastes of so many different foods? How does our tongue work to allow us to taste sweet, salty, or sour? Wouldn't it be nice if vegetables tasted sugary sweet? Well, maybe they can! The miracle berry fruit contains a compound that will turn your taste buds upside down! With this workshop, discover the science behind taste and the molecular signaling events that make it all possible.

15. Search and Destroy: Advanced Tumor Warfare

Are you interested in biomedical engineering, being a doctor, or just fascinated with science in general? Look no further! In this activity, you will dive into the world of biomedical imaging by learning about how doctors can locate tumors in the body using fluorescent particles! Then, as an engineer, you will design your own surgical tools before becoming a neurosurgeon and conducting brain surgery on a gelatin brain to help remove a tumor in the best way possible!

16. Somebody Call the Plant Doctor!

Somebody call the doctor...the plant doctor! Have you ever wondered what’s spoiling your favorite fruits and veggies? Plants can get sick, just like you. Take a trip with us to the lab and solve the mystery of what is killing your tomato plants, ruining your grapes, and making your potatoes a rotten mess!

17. Squeaky Clean Brains

Have you ever wondered what the Ice Bucket challenge was really about or where all the money raised was going? Perhaps you wondered what the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s disease looks like or what causes the disease? Wonder no more! Cells are like a city and they can’t function if the garbage is not cleaned off the streets. Cells in our body even have specialized “garbage trucks” that are needed to maintain our health. In this workshop, you will be responsible for removing litter from a brain until it’s squeaky clean before it’s too late! Come learn what brain cells do to stay clean, and how cellular garbage can otherwise cause diseases like ALS and Alzheimer’s.

18. Tree-Ring Time Detectives

Tree-rings are time capsules that can tell us stories about past climate, environment, and human history. In this workshop, you will learn the secrets of how trees grow and get a close look at how dendrochronologists (tree-ring scientists) use tree-rings to unlock the past. Come use your own tree-ring detective skills to sleuth out the histories of local trees, learn how to dig up timber from ancient environments, and even use tree-rings to spot forged paintings!

19. Up, Up, and Away

Nature may not have given humans a way to fly, but science did! In this workshop, we will explore the science behind airplanes, rockets, and how humans learned to fly. This workshops will get you building rockets and learning how to fight the forces of gravity to land safely.

20. Whacky Armor

When the going gets tough, the gooey gets tougher! Come make your own goo to explore how polymers can link together and become something completely new. Learn about functional apparel by smashing (or protecting?!) candy with your new goo.

9th Grade Workshop Descriptions

Schedules will be available on the day of the conference.

21. A Day in the Life of an Ornithologist

Have you ever seen birds in your backyard and wondered why they behave the way that they do? Join us at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to learn about studying birds, including the different tasks and questions that ornithologists tackle every day! You will use binoculars to identify common backyard species, see live bird banding using mist nets, and design an experiment based on the hypotheses YOU create.

22. Actin' Up

Do you want to learn how to make your own artificial arms? In this activity, you will discover how your muscles work at a molecular and mechanical level to move your body around, specifically your arms. Muscle contraction drives your body's movement, and it starts with an electrical ZAP that we can recreate and transfer from one person to another utilizing simple and safe circuit equipment. You can use your own body’s electricity to create movement! Then, you will be introduced to the mechanical properties of the elbow joint and we will guide you through the design process of making a hydraulic arm joint. What will your arm be able to do?

23. Alien Worlds

Did you know that the Kepler space telescope has discovered thousands of alien worlds orbiting stars just like our Sun? Come build a working mini-Kepler to observe the eclipse of a planetary system and learn how astronomers use these observations to measure distant worlds. We’ll also show you how to become a citizen scientist and help with real scientific research discovering exoplanets from the comfort of your own home!

24. Bone-afide Archaeology

Have you ever wondered how archaeologists learn about the past? Have you ever wanted to learn about bones and what they can tell you about ancient (and modern) people and societies? Come join us on an archaeological expedition to learn about the people and animals who populated an ancient site! Learn fundamental skills of osteological analysis, such as differentiating between animal species, types of bone fractures, and estimating height and age-at-death.

25. Brainsss!

Your brain lets you walk, talk, chew gum, breathe, think about what you want for lunch, and more—all at the same time! We use our brains every single second of every single day but scientists are only just beginning to understand how that lumpy chunk of gray matter in your head works. Learn about how scientists study the brain (hint: they study the brains of animals!) and about the different parts of the brain - where they are, what do they do, what happens if they're gone. For all you brave souls: we will see (and touch!) real human and animal brains and meet the animals whose brains we study.

26. Earth Systems Explored

Join us as we explore Earth from its interior up and beyond the atmosphere to better understand natural processes in efforts to promote a sustainable future for all of us.

27. Fabricating a Better Future: 3D Printing Concrete

3D printing can be used to make medical devices, airplane parts, and even fashion, but can it be used to make a house? 3D printing concrete is a fun, cutting edge tool used by engineers and architects. In this workshop, participants will learn the basics of concrete by testing concrete strength in the Winter Concrete laboratory. They will then learn about 3D printing concrete while making their own 3D printed concrete.

28. Logical Labyrinths

Have you ever wondered how a computer “thinks”? What’s the connection between the electronics inside your computer and writing code? How is electronic music made? Did you know you can do it all with only TWO NUMBERS: zero and one! In this workshop, we’ll play with real circuits, solve puzzles, and create with binary logic. You’ll go from 0 to 1100100!

29. Museum Mysteries

Did you know that natural history museums give us the information we need to find new species, study the diversity of life, and even solve mysteries? Did you know that Cornell has collections of plants and insects from all around the world, right in the middle of campus? Join us at the Bailey Hortorium, where participants will learn how to use pressed plant specimens and give a plant a new scientific name based on its traits. Then, at the Cornell Insect Collections, participants will follow a set of clues and use museum specimens to find the culprit in a case of invasive insect infestation.

30. Outbreak Investigators!

What’s causing everyone to get sick at the school homecoming? You’re our food detectives, and it’s your job to find out. We’ll use several tests that real microbiologists use to figure out which bacteria are making people sick. Be a detective all-star and extract real DNA from a food product.

31. Radioactive World

From energy to medicine to everyday life, radioactivity is all around us. As scientists, we solve problems and learn about different systems by using radioactivity in techniques including carbon dating and cancer therapy. Join us as we learn how to identify, detect, and understand fundamental nuclear chemistry!

32. Tasty Science

How do we taste? How do we smell? What makes the food we eat tasty? Can onions ever taste like apples? Why do we eat what we eat, and why do we like the taste of unhealthy food? Come engage your senses in new ways and learn about the taste system!

33. The Error of Our Ways

Ever wonder why we make the decisions we do? Or how we make sense of each other and figure out when others lie? We all make judgments like this every day and it’s very easy to make mistakes. Come learn how choices and decisions can go awry and how to make yourself invincible against the common mistakes that everyone makes.

34. Turning on the Lights

Have you ever passed by a wind farm and wondered what the “windmills” were for? Wind farms convert the energy in the wind into electricity that can be used to power your computer or phone. Join us in this exciting workshop, where you will get to build your very own wind electricity generator and test it to turn real lights on!