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ASU Open Door 2021
Natural Sciences Activities
Natural Science | Demonstration
DIY Lava Lamp Creation
Come learn about chemistry as you make a mini lava lamp! By mixing water with oil, and adding just a few drops of food coloring, you will see bubbles begin to form right before your eyes! This is a simple and fun activity, that shows off some basic science principles, all without the use of heat.
Natural Science | Demonstration
Build your Own Mini-Siege Engine!
It may not be able to launch a 90 kilogram projectile over 300 meters, but this little catapult can throw just about anything you can fit in the bucket. Join the physics group at ASU's Polytechnic campus in this demonstration to learn how to build your own personal siege engine. This catapult only requires very simple materials, does not take very long to build, and is easy to construct so anyone can make one.
Natural Science | Presentation
Plastics Pollution and Sustainable Fisheries
Join Beth Polidoro, Associate Center Director, Center for Biodiversity Outcomes and Associate Professor, School of Mathematical Sciences, New College and her students as they examine plastic pollution and the ways it can affect us as consumers of fish.
Natural Science | Tour
Emerging Minds Lab
Take a tour of our lab space! In our lab, we investigate how infants and young children learn about the world around them. We look at: (1) how children's early curiosity supports their thinking and reasoning; (2) what role the social and cultural environment plays in shaping early learning; and (3) how children's extraordinary capacity for learning differs from other closely related species. To conduct this work, we use a variety of methodological approaches (e.g. behavioral experiments, naturalistic observations, looking-based paradigms) across a range of species, ages, and diverse cultural groups.
Natural Science | Presentation
Healthy Experiences Across Relationships and Transitions lab @HEART
The @Heart lab is a multidisciplinary lab using a multilevel perspective to study the development of romantic relationships and adjustment. We study adolescent romantic couples within their natural environments by using dyadic methods that capture affective, psychophysiological, genetic, and neurocognitive levels of development at multiple time scales, from milliseconds to days, years, and decades.
Natural Science | Presentation
How a Mosquito's Kiss Can Leave You Sick
Learn about the spread of malaria from an expert — the parasite "Plasmo"! Follow the unique journey of this disease from mosquito to human to learn how it makes us sick. You’ll also meet the scientists at the School of Life Sciences who are working to find ways to stop the spread of this disease.
Natural Science | Demonstration
Drops on Abe's Head
Have you ever seen a bug sitting on top of a puddle? Have you ever noticed how water forms droplets on a window on a rainy day? These occurrences all have something to do with surface tension. Try our activity, Drops on Abe’s Head, to learn more about it!
Natural Science | Presentation
Dr. Impact: Impact Craters on Earth
Have you ever wondered what happens when an asteroid strikes the surface of the Earth? Did you know that Arizona is home to one of the best preserved impact structures on Earth? Have you ever wondered why there are so many craters visible on the Moon, but the Earth’s surface is so different? Join us for an exploration into the fascinating process of impact cratering. This overview will review: asteroid discovery in our solar system; some impact crater discoveries on the Earth; and how ASU scientists have dated various craters that formed millions of years ago.
Natural Science | Presentation
How Strong is Strong?
Do you like strong coffee? The concentration of solutions is important whether you're talking about the weather, swimming pools or your coffee.
Natural Science | Presentation
Essential Skills for Early Career Ecologists
What skills should the next generation of ecologists invest in to be able to answer complex questions about our changing world? This video features some of today's brightest minds in ecology and their advice on what the bright minds of tomorrow will need.
Natural Science | Demonstration
NASA Psyche Mission: Journey to a Metal World
Psyche is the name of an asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter and the name of a NASA space mission to visit that asteroid, led by Arizona State University. The full spacecraft, including the solar panels, is about the size of a singles tennis court! Join Psyche’s journey today by building and decorating your own scale model. When you are done, we invite you to share it on social media with #PsycheSpaceCRAFTY to the link on the side.
Natural Science | Presentation
Flux Pinning with a YBCO Superconductor
Superconductors are a type of material that remain a mystery to scientists, exhibiting strange properties under extreme conditions. In this video, the Society of Physics Students at ASU talks about this weird material and what scientists do to try and unravel its secrets!
Natural Science | Demonstration
Ask A Biologist: Banana DNA Extraction
Biologist Melissa Wilson shows how you can extract DNA from a banana using things you can find in your kitchen and local grocery store.
Natural Science | Presentation
Clone of The birthday paradox (in under one minute)
Consider a group of n people. How large n should be so that the probability that at least two of these people share the same birthday is at least one-half? This problem is called the birthday "paradox" because most people guess that the answer should be above 200 but this is only 23. This video gives a proof in under one minute. Brought to you by associate professor Nicolas Lanchier.
Natural Science | Tour
Introducing ASU Compact X-Ray Free Electron Laser
The compact X-ray free electron laser, currently being built at ASU will be the first of its kind in the world. Brought to you by the Biodesign Institute, a unit of the ASU Knowledge Enterprise.
Natural Science | Presentation
Dr. Water: Biogeochemistry at Tempe Town Lake
This presentation reveals research of the water cycle in a man-made reservoir in the hottest part of the United States. Meet Dr. Water, also known as ASU Professor Hilairy Hartnett, a biogeochemist and oceanographer. Since 2005, Professor Hartnett and her students have collected water samples from Tempe Town Lake measuring water properties including temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen, organic carbon and total nitrogen to understand the cycles in the lake over time. This project is one area of Professor Hartnett's research and is part of the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research Program (CAP LTER).
Natural Science | Demonstration
Cosmology Research: Appreciating The Hubble Space Telescope
View images of stars and galaxies through the Hubble Space Telescope, now celebrating 31 years of exploration. View a demonstration of "Appreciating Hubble at Hyper-Speed" (AHaH), a Java-based, three-dimensional simulation tool to explore the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, the most detailed portrait of the cosmos to date. This teaching tool was developed by ASU students in the Cosmology Research Group.
Natural Science | Presentation
Math Talk for 5th Graders
Hey 5th Graders! Are you good at noticing patterns? Join us for a peek into Ms. Bolduc's ASU Prep Digital fifth-grade math class as students look at patterns and brainstorm how recognizing them could help you do quick math!
Natural Science | Presentation
Biomimicry: Exploring Nature-Inspired Design
What can a kingfisher bird beak teach us about reducing drag? What can we learn from a lotus leaf about self-cleaning surfaces? Join The Biomimicry Center for a short presentation about what we can learn from nature, and how these lessons might inspire innovative designs. See our unique 3D-printed models in action as we explore two popular examples of biomimicry.
Natural Science | Presentation
How many degrees are in a martian circle?
We humans say there are 360 degrees in a circle. What would Martians say? Brought to you by adjunct faculty member James Tanton.
Natural Science | Presentation
Ask A Biologist: Life in the Cold
At different times of year and in different parts of the world it can get really cold outside. How do animals deal with colder temperatures? Does the cold affect organisms in different ways? We asked some of our experts about how life deals with the cold.
Natural Science | Tour
Biodesign Institute. Innovative. Impactful.
Take a look at all the innovation and impact that is happening within ASU's Biodesign Institute. Brought to you by the Biodesign Institute, a unit of the ASU Knowledge Enterprise.
Natural Science | Demonstration
Good Vibrations: Exploring Resonance with ASU Society of Physics Students
Meet current members of the ASU Society of Physics Students. Explore the physics of resonance and get some good vibrations in these demonstrations using a Tibetan bowl, Ruben’s tube, and Chladni plates.
Natural Science | Presentation
Ant Hunting with Kyle: Looking for ants at Rivendale Park and Open Space
Kyle is an Evolutionary Biology PhD student and studies ants. One of his favorite things to do is hike around and look for different ant species. There are thousands of different ant species across the globe, and Kyle wants to see as many as he can. Here, Kyle takes us on an "ant hunt" at Rivendale Park and Open Space located in southern California.
Natural Science | Presentation
Understanding dogs
Join Clive Wynne, a professor of psychology at Arizona State University and founder of the Canine Science Collaboratory, as he explores what makes dogs special. In this playlist, you’ll learn how dogs’ drive for strong emotional connections with other species – for love – is the secret to their success in the modern world. These videos explore how dogs’ capacity for love can be investigated from many different angles. They also show the range of ways people and dogs live together around the world. After watching, you may have a deeper and richer sense of who your dog is and what your dog needs from you.
Natural Science | Presentation
AZ Space Technologies: Exploring with ASU Space Missions
See a presentation by AZ Space Technologies, a contractor company providing support to these upcoming mission teams: LTES, EMIRS, SPARCS, and LunaH-Map. This video will highlight an instrument built at ASU to explore Mars.
Natural Science | Presentation
Campaign ASU 2020/Piper video of Josh and Biodesign
Philanthropic funding accelerates important research at ASU's Biodesign Institute. Brought to you by the Biodesign Institute, a unit of the ASU Knowledge Enterprise.
Natural Science | Presentation
Low-frequency Cosmology: Viewing the Radio Sky
Cosmology is a branch of astronomy that studies the origin and evolution of the Universe. Arizona State University has accelerated these efforts by building instruments to observe the early Universe in radio waves. Meet members of the Low-frequency Cosmology group (LoCo Lab) and the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) as they share their research. Go LoCo!
Natural Science | Presentation
Catching the Next Wave
This movie is a simulation showing movement of a fluid inside a rectangular cavity. The fluid is heated from above and cooled from below, resulting in a stable temperature stratification. When the cavity is oscillated up-and-down, the fluid experiences an instability which develops into a full-fledged wave-breaking event. The movie illustrates this event over ten oscillation periods, using the temperature to visualize the flow. The simulation was conducted over one month on the ASU Agave supercomputer. Brought to you by postdoctoral scholar Jason Yalim and associate professors Juan Lopez and Bruno Welfert.
Natural Science | Presentation
Plastics Pollution and Sustainable Fisheries
Follow along with Beth Polidoro, Associate Professor and Associate Director of Research for the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes, and her students as they examine plastic pollution and the ways it can affect us as consumers of fish.
Natural Science | Presentation
Today I Learned… How to Save the Environment
What can you do to help save the environment? For the 50th anniversary celebration of Earth Day, follow along with founding director of the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Leah Gerber and other ASU sustainability experts to discuss reducing consumption, working with your community and other ways to become involved in this important topic.
Natural Science | Demonstration
How Many Pear Trees?
Hey first graders! We're trying to figure out how many pear trees are in the grove. Do you know? Miss Steenburg is calling for your help!
Natural Science | Presentation
Explore the Moon with LROC: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera
LROC, also known as Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, is part of a NASA mission that returned to the Moon in 2009. Mission operations continue from the ASU Tempe Campus. This presentation will introduce this incredible camera system and mission goals. Additionally, a link to the LROC website will be provided where visitors can explore further and find lunar activities that they can do from home.
Natural Science | Demonstration
Planting A Beanstalk
Jack planted a beanstalk and found many treasures. Teaching your children how to plant a beanstalk of their own will also bring many treasures. They will learn to garden, develop patience in waiting for a harvest, learn where food comes from, responsibility, and many other essential skills!
Natural Science | Tour
Biodesign Institute Opens the Door
Take a look at the first Night of the Open Door hosted by Biodesign Institute - 7 years ago. Brought to you by the Biodesign Institute, a unit of the ASU Knowledge Enterprise.
Natural Science | Presentation
Ask a Physicist
Ask a Physicist is a monthly webinar series, with renowned physicists Paul Davies, Sara Walker and Maulik Parikh from the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University. Each month they address the big questions in physics with viewers participating in the discussion during the live event!
Natural Science | Presentation
Heart Dissection
Poets tell us to look into the eyes to see what is truly in the heart but there’s an easier way. Dissection! Watch a live dissection of an animal heart to see how this miraculous organ keeps you alive. This is one of the videos used in actual School of Life Sciences online classes.
Natural Science | Presentation
All About Sharks!
Have you ever wondered what it's like to work with sharks? Check out our interview with Dr. David Shiffman, a research scientist with the Marine Stewardship Council and a Postdoctoral Scholar at Arizona State University. We learn about what he did to become a scientist, his advice for aspiring shark enthusiasts and what you can do to help preserve a shark's delicate ecosystem. Plus, download instructions to craft a shark mobile with everyday household materials and a coloring book containing pictures of other exciting careers you can have with a graduate degree.
Natural Science | Presentation
Today I learned....How to Save the Environment
What can you do to help save the environment? For the 50th anniversary celebration of Earth Day, follow along with Founding Director of the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Leah Gerber and other ASU sustainability experts to discuss reducing consumption, working with you community, and other ways to become involved in this important topic.
Natural Science | Tour
Online Labster ASU Biology Degree
ASU Online will share some of the innovations ASU is employing to deliver a premium online college experience. ASU Online showcases the relationships and technologies that are the foundation of all our programs through an augmented reality experience.
Natural Science | Demonstration
Ask A Biologist: Protein Breaking
Breaking proteins in your kitchen. Biologist Melissa Wilson shows how you can break proteins at home or the classroom using some simple materials and supplies.
Natural Science | Presentation
Treating a Rattlesnake Bite
ASU School of Life Science's attending veterinarian and associate professor Dale Denardo shares information about snakes in Arizona and what to do if you see one, or in the unlikely event you get bit by a rattlesnake.
Natural Science | Tour
Exploring Science at ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus
The College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at the Downtown Phoenix campus includes a vibrant community of science educators who make it fun to learn chemistry, biology, physics, and anatomy. Join us through the eyes of a student as we reveal how we use modern teaching labs, cutting-edge technologies, and engaging teaching strategies to help our pupils make meaningful contributions to their communities!
Natural Science | Presentation
Extinction and the Value of Biodiversity with Leah Gerber
Join Leah Gerber, founding director of Arizona State University’s Center for Biodiversity Outcomes, as she explores the topic of biodiversity as it relates to extinction.
Natural Science | Demonstration
5 Chemical Reactions to do at Home!
Want to do science but don’t have your own laboratory? Don’t worry! During this video experiment, you will learn about 5 chemical reactions that can be done at home using materials you likely already have in your house. Egg & Vinegar: Acid Base Reaction; Styrofoam & Acetone: Dissolution Reaction; Red Cabbage Juice: pH Indication; Elephant Toothpaste: Catalyzed Decomposition; Carbon Snake: Combustion. Choose your experiment and engage in science!
Natural Science | Presentation
EdPlus at ASU
EdPlus is a central enterprise unit for ASU focused on the design and scalable delivery of digital teaching and learning models to increase student success and reduce barriers to achievement in higher education.
Natural Science | Presentation
Einstein's Photoelectric Effect
For centuries people debated if light was a particle or a wave. Einstein in his groundbreaking work in 1905 finally settled the question. Both! In this video we talk about how Einstein was inspired to think about the Photoelectric effect and what the over-reaching effects of his principle are. We also discuss how to this day we still use his principle in our research of solar panels, CAT scans and the study of different materials.
Natural Science | Presentation
Have A Bright Idea: Learn How to Light a Bulb
Have a bright idea and learn how to light a bulb. Join the Physics faculty at ASU Polytechnic in this presentation to learn the properties of series and parallel circuits using simple mini light bulbs and batteries.
Natural Science | Presentation
Resonance Physics
In this video, Society of Physics Students, President Greg Babić and Vice President Chase Hanson, talk about the physics of resonance.
Natural Science | Demonstration
How to Make Elephant's Toothpaste
This video will cover the basic science behind the exothermic reaction that leads to the amazing phenomena known as elephant's toothpaste! With a few basic ingredients, any family can conduct this simple yet fun experiment at home in a safe manner.
Natural Science | Tour
The Hidden Beauty of Mosquitoes
Discover the amazing life cycle of the deadliest animal in the world - mosquitoes! These beautiful insects are known for their life above water when they annoyingly bite you and suck your blood, but they actually start their life underwater. In this video you'll see this awesome transformation occur right before your eyes.
Natural Science | Presentation
ASU Healing the World’s Oceans
Oceans: How one life powered by ASU can change the world. By the year 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. That's why Charlie Rolsky put his passion for saving the world’s oceans into action through a life-changing experience with internationally renowned ASU Professor Rolf Halden. Learn why students such as Rolsky discover that being at ASU allows them to take the leaps needed to save the world — ultimately, the biggest problems in the world cannot be solved alone. Brought to you by the Biodesign Institute, a unit of the ASU Knowledge Enterprise.
Natural Science | Presentation
ASU & NASA Missions: Ronald Greeley Center for Planetary Studies
Discover ASU's involvement in current and upcoming NASA missions. Meet planetary geologist Dr. David Williams, Director of the Ronald Greeley Center for Planetary Studies for an exciting overview of how ASU explores Earth - and way beyond.
Natural Science | Demonstration
How does a solar cell work?
Solar energy is a renewable free source of energy that is entirely sustainable and inexhaustible, unlike fossil fuels that are finite. Moreover, Fossil fuels produce large quantities of CO2 when burned. Carbon emissions trap heat in the atmosphere and lead to climate change. In the United States, the burning of fossil fuels, particularly for the power and transportation sectors, accounts for about three-quarters of our carbon emissions. Solar panels convert the sun’s light into usable electrical energy. We are going to explain how a semiconductor p-n junctions works and converts energy of photons into electricity.
Natural Science | Presentation
Exploring non transparent objects with mathematics: Images and data analysis
Images give us a rich description about the reality around us. The first x-ray film was taken in 1895, and the first applications of x-rays were in industry and then in medical imaging. Nowadays, images are present in many medical applications. My research is driven by the quest for better models and tools for image and data understanding. At different levels of abstraction, I would like to contribute to a diverse spectrum of mathematical challenges related to image and data with useful applications in the development of science, technology, and society. Brought to you by postdoctoral researcher Mirjeta Pasha.
Natural Science | Presentation
Extinction and the Value of Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variety of living species on Earth and the ecosystems they form. We need biodiversity on Earth for many critical functions of our lives as humans. From food production, to medicine, to clean air and water, biodiversity plays a critical role in sustaining human populations across the globe. Join Leah Gerber, founding director of Arizona State University’s Center for Biodiversity Outcomes, as she explores the topic of biodiversity as it relates to extinction.
Natural Science | Tour
Tour of the zebrafish lab
Take a tour of the Zebrafish lab at the School of Life Sciences. Zebrafish are a small fish species native to the parts of the Indian continent. There are many advantages of using zebrafish as a model organism in research. Humans share many physiological and genetic characteristics with these little fish and their transparent bodies during early development make it easy to see inside of them as they grow. In our lab, we breed and house domesticated and wild zebrafish collected from their native habitats in India. You can hear more about our research on zebrafish from the video.
Natural Science | Presentation
I don’t believe subtraction exists
Seeing mathematics you thought you already knew so well can lead to new insights. Brought to you by adjunct faculty member James Tanton and the Global Math Project.
Natural Science | Demonstration
GEOPIG: Into the field! An exploration in geochemistry
Meet the Group Exploring Organic Processes in Geochemistry (GEOPIG). This presentation will show basic concepts in geochemistry and how scientists work in the field in places like Yellowstone National Park. See a demonstration of gases dissolved in water using a can of soda, and simple water-rock interactions. Our demonstration of fieldwork will use a local water source, take the temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen measurements and compare with samples collected from a Yellowstone hot spring. Will there be a difference? Find out how your water source compares to a hot spring.
Natural Science | Presentation
Properties of Matter
Everything around us can be described by its properties. These properties are important to rocks that make up planets to reactions that happen in your body.
Natural Science | Presentation
An Experiential Model of the Atmosphere
Collaborative Steering with Movement and Ordinary Objects. Brandon Mechtley, PhD, Synthesis Center, School of Arts, Media + Engineering, ASU. With Melissa Bukovski (NCAR); Connor Rawls, Julian Stein, Emiddio Vasquez, Todd Ingalls, Megan Patzem, Chris Roberts, Sha Xin Wei (Synthesis). September 2018.
Natural Science | Presentation
Combustion Reactions
Combustion reactions are an exciting and important type of chemical reactions. A variety of combustion reactions are presented, along with their importance.
Natural Science | Presentation
The Growth and Differentiation of Metabolism: Extended Evolutionary Dynamics in the Technosphere
Evolutionary biologist and interim director of the School of Complex Adaptive Systems, Manfred Laubichler explains the dynamics behind the formation of the metabolic activity and complexity of our planet. Our current sociotechnological system seems to be producing just another step change in evolutionary history, leaving us with the question of what is needed to halt its negative effects, which threaten to annihilate life on Earth as we know it.
Natural Science | Presentation
Dr. Mineral: Science, Form, and Beauty
Meet Dr. Mineral; also known as ASU Professor Tom Sharp, a geologist who specializes in mineralogy, field geology and electron microscopy. View specimens in incredible detail and learn about the science, structure and beauty of minerals.
Natural Science | Presentation
Discovery of the Electron
Our modern understanding of the atom has a story that begins in the 4th century B.C.E., around the time of Aristotle. See how, over 2000 years later, the electron was discovered. See a beam of electrons, called a cathode ray, in a cathode ray tube, the ancestor to the television.