Yesterday, April 26th, was Take Your Kids to Work Day and as always, the Woodruff Lab opened its doors to the future generation of white coats! Woodruff Lab members brought their children in to take part in a day of activities to help them learn more about the research we do at the Oncofertility Consortium (and have a ton of fun while doing it)! The kids ranged in age from 2 to 7, and we even had a 3 month old nearby refusing to nap as she could not keep her little eyes off of the fun experiments taking place around her.
Our morning activities included:
Mini-scientists learned what alginate is, where you find it in your every day life, and how we use it in the lab. They made alginate beads, wrote a recipe for what they did, and drew their results in their notebooks.
Fun with dry ice and liquid nitrogen
Mini-scientists watched as a researcher used liquid nitrogen to freeze grapes and oranges. They got to feel and see the fruit before and after the freezing process and discussed how the process changed the fruits texture.
What Do you See Under the Microscope?
Mini-scientists looked at slides of oocytes under the microscope and drew what they saw in their notebooks.
What Does a Lab Mouse Do?
Mini-scientists got to meet and learn about how lab mice contribute to science. This was hands down, their favorite activity!
After a long morning of scientific activities, our little lab members were treated to a nutritious lunch and a PBS broadcast of Sid the Science Kid, before heading home. It was a great day and we love getting the opportunity to show children and young adults all the dynamic things we are working on in the lab to help cancer patients. Hopefully this will plant the seed in their young minds that they too can make a difference through science and innovative thinking.