Explore UT is often called “an academic Disneyland." Why? It offers more than 400 learning activities for explorers of all ages. It’s the perfect way to motivate students to go to college, provide enrichment for Gifted and Talented students, and show how learning can be fun.
What: Explore UT, annual campus-wide open house
Where: The University of Texas at Austin
When: Saturday, March 1, 2014, from 11 am to 5:30 pm.
Who’s invited: Everyone, especially k-12 students, their teachers and parents
Admission: Free. (Lunch on your own)
Registration: Only if you bring a bus (see below)
Website: The Explore UT website, www.utexas.edu/events/
More than 400 learning activities
HIGH SCHOOL: Attend sessions on college admission and paying for college. Tour residence halls, labs and libraries. Talk to University students about what college is really like. Watch a scene from Shakespeare, and learn about the latest advances in clean energy, nanotechnology, and biomedicine. Perfect for STEM students.
MIDDLE SCHOOL: Learn about careers in everything from aerospace engineering and computer science, to architecture and broadcasting. Tour the Tower, examine microbes through a microscope, learn how medicines are mixed in the pharmacy lab, and assemble a model rocket. Inspiring for AVID, GearUp, CIS students and first-generation-to-college students.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Take part in a trial of Gold E. Locks, pedal a bicycle-driven generator to power a TV, eat ice cream made with liquid nitrogen, get your face painted, see real dinosaur skeletons, and have your picture made with BEVO.
Look for lots of NEW learning activities all over campus, plus annual favorites like these:
· watch robots in action,
· learn how to extract DNA from a banana,
· watch a pig’s lungs fill with air,
· sample some of Russia’s most traditional foods,
· deliver the TV news in a real TV studio,
· march with the Longhorn Band.
Never been to Explore UT?
Get an overview of Explore UT by reviewing last year’s printed program. This 36-page program lists the entire schedule of 400 learning activities and contains a campus map. Many of the most popular activities are repeated from year to year. To receive last year’s program, email your US Postal Service address toblangham@austin.utexas.edu.
This year’s program won’t be printed until a week or so before the event, but you will be able to download a PDF of the entire 2014 program about mid-February when it’s posted on the Explore UT website.
Plan a field trip
Schools arrange their own transportation to Explore UT. If you bring students in a bus, register it online beginning the first week of January to help the University plan enough space for bus parking. You can also buy tickets online for lunch in a University dining hall, but of course you can bring your own lunch and picnic on campus.
Families may bring students on their own and have a fun family outing. There’s NO REGISTRATION for cars or for individuals to participate in activities. Just park in a campus garage, and take part in the activities of your choice.
Want to spread the word?
Request PDF files of the Explore UT handout and poster that you can print out and distribute, forward to colleagues and parents, and post on your website.
Questions?
Contact Barbara Langham, 512-637-2186 blangham@austin.utexas.edu for more information.
