Activities

Build a Neuron
Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior
Biology Building, South Hall
Are you curious about how you think and move? If so, stop by to learn about motor neurons as you build a neuron using pipe cleaners and pony beads.

The Migration Game
Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior
Biology Building, South Hall
Ever wonder what a bird’s migration journey is like? Then stop in and take on the role of a bird and play the migration game. This life-size board game walks you through the potential challenges birds face as they migrate.

Bee Keeping
Biology Dept
Biology Building, Room A106
Explore the honey bee life cycle and microbiome.

Birds, Bees, Bats, and Beetles—The Many Pollinators of Plants
Biology Dept
Biology Building, South Lawn
Pollinators have been visiting flowers for a very long time, and plants have evolved interesting flower colors, shapes, and smells to attract these insect visitors both during the day and night. At this exhibit, you will help different types of pollinators from bats and birds to bees find their favorite flowers.

Bloomington Urban Woodlands Project
Biology Dept
Biology Building, Atrium
Learn about BUWP’s education and community science initiative to investigate the connections between deer, invasive plants, and native plants in local woodlands.

Build a Bateriophage
Biology Dept
Biology Building, East Hall
Do bacteria ever get sick? Meet the bacteriophage, a type of virus that infects bacteria! Check out 3D printed models of bacteriophages, learn how we study these viruses, and even take home your own kooky phage made out of pipecleaners!

Circadian Rhythms
Biology Dept
Biology Building, West Hall
Ever wonder why you feel hungry at certain times or get sleepy at night? Our brains have built-in clocks, a group of special cells called 'clock neurons'. Come see glowing neurons under the microscope and learn how fruit flies help us understand how the brain controls daily rhythms.

Colorful Coral—Science Under the Sea
Biology Dept
Biology Building, West Hall
Come learn about corals - colorful creatures that live under the sea! Learn about how the power of friendship (symbiosis) gives corals their color! View the living, colorful coral with your eyes and then get a closer look through a microscope! When corals lose their color (coral bleaching), it affects thousands of organisms - including humans! We will also show you colorless coral - and you can even take one home with you to remind you of the importance of COLOR under the sea!

Frog Ecology, Evolution, and Development
Biology Dept
Biology Building, Atrium
Learn about the life cylce and the impacts in the ecosystem that frogs posses, you may not realize how important they are!

Fruity DNA Extraction
Biology Dept
Biology Building, South Lawn
DNA is present in all organisms; however, you can’t normally see it. Come learn about DNA and extract some from a strawberry before learning how the Wang lab studies how DNA interacts with other DNA in bacteria.

Greenhouse Tours
Biology Dept
Biology Building, Greenhouse
Guided tours of IU’s collection of beautiful living plants from around the world, including spectacular rainforest, desert, and carnivorous species!

Human Biology
Biology Dept
Biology Building, Room 122
Skulls! Bones! Skeletons! Join IU Human Biology students to learn how the human body works, look at fossil skulls of our early human ancestors, and compare yourself to a human skeleton.

Interactive Nestbox: Life as a Baby Bird
Biology Dept
Biology Building, South Hall
Take a peek inside the hidden lives of baby birds. Don your wings and explore a life-sized nestbox to experience how nestlings live and grow within these tiny worlds. Create an origami bird beak while you learn about bird behavior, and how animals adapt to challenges in their environment.

Killer Worms and Germs
Biology Dept
Biology Building, Atrium
Be amazed by the cooperation and warfare that IU researchers have discovered in our local soils and the dangers that lurk within for insects.

Know Your Soil
Biology Dept
Biology Building, South Lawn
Uncover the secrets that lie beneath our feet! Learn the importance of soil and see how soils can differ in composition!

Mammal Skulls
Biology Dept
Biology Building, East Hall
Explore the skulls of over 40 species of mammals, including humans! Play detective to discover what an animal ate, whether it was a predator, a prey, or both, whether it lived on land or in the water, who is it most closely related to, and perhaps how it died.

Science of Smells
Biology Dept
Biology Building, South Lawn
“What’s that smell?” Insects make and release chemicals that they use to communicate - just like you might talk or send a text. Try to match the smell to the insect message using the clues to help you. Let’s see how quickly you can finish.

Sorting the Rainbow: A Flow Cytometry Adventure
Biology Dept
Biology Building, South Lawn
Learn about a powerful and colorful laser-based technology—flow cytometry—and how it is used in the life sciences.

Sticky Business: Biological Glues at the Macroscopic and Microscopic Scale
Biology Dept
Biology Building, South Hall
Using glues and popsicle sticks come see how biologically adhesive organsims operate including a micro-scale adhesion!

The Rainbow of Photosynthesis
Biology Dept
Biology Building, Room A100
Explore the colors of photosynthesis with Microbiology Graduate Students. Learn about the awesome ways microbes use the sun for energy. Get your eyes on the prize and use our microscopes to observe to mighty microbes in action. When you’re done learning and observing, use your newfound knowledge to make your own petri plate of slime!!

Tortoises
Biology Dept
Biology Building, Room A105
Meet a group of live tortoises and learn about their biology.

Can you be a Limnologist?
Biology Dept
Biology Building, Atrium
Determine which of the samples is lake water using real, working sampling equipment from the IU Limnology Lab, like multiparameter sondes, pH meters, turbidity meters, etc. Clues will be given to help those unfamiliar with typical water quality measurements.

Basic First Aid
Intra Collegiate Emergency Medical Service at IU
Lindley Hall
We will have multiple stations set up with differing first aid/EMS tools and practices, and we will show demonstrations and allow people to try on their own at age-appropriate levels.

LUNGevity: Breathing Colors
IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center
Lindley Hall, Room 025
See how your breath affects the color of liquid!

Explore healthy living activities
School of Nursing
Lindley Hall, Room 125
Experience a selection of hands-on activities related to health: exercise dice, sugary drink, blood pressure, and infant safety. 

Can water change what you see?
School of Optometry
Lindley Hall, Room 135
Understand the fundamental process behind vision. Understand why a stirring rod is visible in air and water, but not in glycerol.

Optical Illusions
School of Optometry
Lindley Hall, Room 135
What we see is built on brain experience and memory. Your brain can be confused if information available is not enough to match a single experience.

Polarized Sunglasses
School of Optometry
Lindley Hall, Room 135
How cool will it be to work on your monitor without people seeing what is going on on your screen? Use the principle behind sunglasses to hide information on your monitor. Wear your cool sunglasses to “un-encrypt” your information.

Which is better, 1 or 2?
School of Optometry
Lindley Hall, Room 135
Come learn why some people need to wear eyeglasses, and why eyeglasses help some people and not others. Plus, learn the answer to the age-old question optometrists always ask, “which is better, 1 or 2?”.

The Science of Hearing, Sound and Swallowing
Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
Lindley Hall, West Lawn
Activity #1: Components of the ear puzzle.
Activity #2: How we swallow safely, what happens when it doesn't work, and how different thickening agents can help people swallow better.
Activity #3: Our voice can draw a picture: Using PRAAT technology, a person's voice is turned into speech signal/waveform."

Astronomy Coloring
Astronomy Dept
Kirkwood Observatory
Unleash your creative side by coloring your way through the universe. Learn space facts while taking your time to have fun and relax!

Astronomy Trivia
Astronomy Dept
Kirkwood Observatory
Test your astronomy knowledge by spinning our prize wheel. Everyone's a winner when you're learning!

Kirkwood Observatory Tour
Astronomy Dept
Kirkwood Observatory
Tour our historic 12" refracting telescope! Built in 1901, it is no longer used for research, but it is still regularly used to view planets during open house nights. Now is your chance to see it in the daylight!

Solar System Bracelets
Astronomy Dept
Kirkwood Observatory
We're making Solar Systems portable AND fashionable. Learn about the planets in our Solar System as you make a wearable model!

Scuba Diving Science
Center for Underwater Science
Student Building, South Lawn
Experience the underwater environment through virtual reality scuba diving and learn the science behind real-life scuba diving gear!

Underwater Archaeology Artifacts
Center for Underwater Science
Student Building, South Lawn
Get an up-close look at real artifacts recovered from Caribbean shipwrecks! See if you can identify an artifact pulled from the bottom of the ocean and spy important ancient marks on shipwreck artifacts!

Make Your Own Earthquake!
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Dept
Student Building, Room 005
Join IU geophysics students and faculty to learn about earthquakes and volcanoes! Make your own earthquake by jumping next to an active seismometer. See the inside of a seismometer to understand how it works. Stop by our interactive display of earthquakes and volcanoes throughout history and around the globe.

Make Your Own River
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Dept
Student Building, South Lawn
Talk to IU students and faculty and learn how rivers work. Use our stream table to build and remove dams, alter river banks, input sediment, and see how the river responds. Watch demonstrations in our sediment flume to get an up close view of how water and sediment interact. Why do ripples form on the beach? Why are river cobbles rounded? How much sand and gravel do rivers actually move? This unique view of a river will help to answer all of these questions and more!

Pressure, Clouds, and Tornadoes
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Dept
Student Building, Building 138
Learn how clouds form and how tornadoes develop with these tabletop experiments.

The Rock, Mineral, and Fossil Show
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Dept
Student Building, Room 005
Come check out a wide range of rocks, minerals, and fossils or ask our geologists and paleontologists questions about your rock, mineral, and fossil finds!

Tree Time
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Dept
Student Building, Room 138
Learn about dendrochronology (telling time with trees) by exploring slices of tree trunks. Place a flag on the tree ring from the year you were born!
(This activity is best suited for participants under age 15.)

Volcanic Eruption-circle at Maxwell Hall
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Dept
Student Building, Circle East of Building
Come see a volcanic eruption at the sundial circle between Maxwell Hall and the Student Building! Eruptions will take place at 11:00, 12:30, 1:30, 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30.

Bloomington Native Wildlife & Urban Conservation
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Dept
Student Building, Room 131
Participants to walk away knowing a few native species of plants/animals and understanding how urban areas and individuals living in them can conserve their native wildlife.

A Musical Introduction to Your Brain
Psychological and Brain Sciences Dept
Student Building, Room 150
Guitars, singing, and... neuroscience! Shows will happen at 11:30 and 3:00.

Acoustics
Physics Dept
Swain Hall West, Room 113
Discover the marvelous properties of sound in this room. Learn all about how oscillatory motion becomes sound and music. Play with standing waves on strings and a Chladni plate. See the waveform of your voice on a computer. 

Challenge Room
Physics Dept
Swain Hall West, Room 103
Challenge your brainpower! Pit your skills against others by solving electronic puzzles, performing experiments with gravity, and testing your skill at boat building. Great fun will be had by all!

Electricity & Magnetism
Physics Dept
Swain Hall West, Room 108
Explore the powerful forces of electricity and magnetism in this demo room. Our Tesla coil, Van de Graff Generator, and Jacob’s ladder are just a few of the shockingly exciting toys-for-physicists you’ll find.

Light & Color
Physics Dept
Swain Hall West, Room 150
Ever gazed in awe at a rainbow in the sky or wondered at the marvelous effects of a prism? Through holograms, mirrors, lasers, fiber, and optical illusions you’ll discover the astonishing properties of light and color and how our brains process them.

Low Temperature Physics Show
Physics Dept
Swain Hall West, Room 007
Come and explore the wonders of Low Temperature physics. Thermal, electric, and magnetic properties of many materials are well understood around room temperature. At low temperature the material properties undergo exciting and unique changes. This behavior may even appear to be strange when it is compared to properties of common materials like air and water. Let's take a journey into this extraordinary new world! Shows will start at 11:30 and 2:00.

Mechanics
Physics Dept
Swain Hall West, Room 109
The field of mechanics is rich with fun and engaging ways to explore linear and rotational motion. Be awed by the astonishing and counter-intuitive properties of ordinary objects when they’re moving, rotating, and oscillating!

Monsters, Magic, and Motion
Physics Dept
Swain Hall West, Room 119
Monsters are spreading chaos this Halloween, stealing candy and scaring the kids! But witches and wizards wield cosmic magic, turning physics into powerful spells. Join the spooky showdown where candy, chaos, and science collide! Shows will start at 10:30 and 1:00. 

Outdoor Physics
Physics Dept
Swain Hall West, South Lawn
Come play outside in the beautiful fall weather where we’ve located the extremely hands-on demos which are too big to stay indoors! Learn about friction on the dry-ice bowling lane! Defy gravity with the Bernoulli Blower! Test your skill with the table-cloth pull! Launch water-powered rockets! And much more!

Rocket Science
Physics Dept
Swain Hall West, West Lawn
Do you want to learn the physics behind how rockets work? Join us on the lawn to the west of Swain Hall, where we will launch water rockets and explore what makes them fly both high and straight. Demonstrations will take place at 10:45, 11:45, 12:45, 1:45, 2:45, and 3:45, wind and weather conditions permitting. If the weather is not suitable, the activity will be cancelled.

Symbol Scavenger Search
Chemistry Dept
Chemistry Building, Welcome Tables
You will find your task at the Welcome table. Find the symol of the assigned element or compound and find it carved on the exterior of the Chemistry Building. Snap a photo and show off your scavenger skills

Big Bangs on the Knoll
Chemistry Dept
Chemistry Building, Knoll South of Building
Join us for the opening and closing of Science Fest 2025 as the Undergraduate Lab personnel make great big bangs on the knoll behind the Chemistry Building.

Chemistry Quest: Revealing the Unseen
Chemistry Dept
Chemistry Building, Room 041
Use acid-base chemistry to write an invisible secret message and then reveal the message to the world! Also, use chromatography to reveal the secret colors hidden within leaves and markers!

Freezy Fun Dots!
Chemistry Dept
Chemistry Building, Dennis Peters' Courtyard
Join us in the Dennis Peters' Courtyard for some frozen fun as we help you make your very own frozen ice cream treat using liquid nitrogen! Make your own Frozen Dots!

Fun with Enzymes
Chemistry Dept
Chemistry Building, Room 046A
Have you ever wondered how the food you eat gets digested within a couple of hours? And how do you get energy after eating?

Molecular Expressions
Chemistry Dept
Chemistry Building, Room 046 Iodine Room
Join Hoosier Henna for a unique, interactive experience that blends science, art, and mental health awareness. Participants will learn about the brain's feel-good molecules, choose a meaningful henna tattoo design, and explore ways to support emotional well-being. Leave with a beautiful design - and a powerful reminder that feeling good starts from within.

The Musical Periodic Table: Listening to the Elements
Chemistry Dept
Chemistry Building, Room 033
Ever wondered what the elements of the periodic table SOUND like? Using the technique of data sonification, Stanford PhD student and Indiana University chemistry alumnus Walker Smith has converted the visible spectra of elements into sounds. His instrument, the Interactive Musical Periodic Table, converts the frequencies (or colors) of visible light waves emitted by elements into sound frequencies, creating unique "chemical chords" for each element. Join his rainbow-clad alter-ego "Roy G. Biv" for an exciting tour through the music of the periodic table. You can also play with his musical instrument yourself and come up with your own "elemental music!" Not best suited for pre-K ages. Shows will begin at 10:00 and 1:00.

Sweet As Sugar
Chemistry Dept
Chemistry Building, Room 045
Carbohydrates are more than food! They are key to life and are also involved in disease. See, taste, and learn about these key building blocks of our lives.

Symbol Scavenger Search
Chemistry Dept
Chemistry Building, Ground & First Floor Welcome Tables
Check in at the welcome tables to get your task. Bring a cell phone to snap some photos of specific elements around the Chemistry Building!

The Beautiful and Hidden World of Crystal Structure
Chemistry Dept
Chemistry Building, Room 049
The beautiful rocks we describe as “crystals” emerge from incredibly tiny and hidden structures. Join CSENND volunteers as we peer into the small and fascinating world of crystal structure with magnification tools, artistic resources, and colorful demonstrations. As you zoom in, what will you find?

The Magic of Chemistry: Chemistry in Color
Chemistry Dept
Chemistry Building, Room 122
Come and witness the exciting Magic of Chemistry in full and living color! There will be colorful fire, big bangs, color changes, sassy puppets, and a visit by everyone's favorite green frog. Come make a chemistry connection! Shows begin at 11:00 and 2:00.

The Science of Slime and Lava Lamp
Chemistry Dept
Chemistry Building, Room 047
Slime is made by mixing poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), found in glue, with borax solution, which produces borate ions that crosslink the PVA chains. The many OH groups on PVA allow hydrogen bonding and interaction with borate, resulting in the stretchy, fun slime texture. Lava lamps, on the other hand, rely on density differences between oil and water, which do not mix because their molecules aren’t attracted to each other. When an antacid tablet dissolves in water, it produces carbon dioxide bubbles that carry water through the oil, creating the rising and sinking “lava lamp” effect.

Pop-Up Library
Sciences Library
Chemistry Building, Sciences Library C002
Explore books from the IU Libraries' General Collections for all ages. This includes a wide range of content from the sciences to poetry, art, indigenous, folk, culture, and fiction. While browsing, you may obtain an IU Library borrower's card if you are an in-state resident (need an IN driver's license or state ID card) or use your IU Crimson Card, and check out our books!

Tinker with Tech Toys
Center of Excellence for Women & Technology
Franklin Hall, Commons
Explore a variety of tech toys with The Center of Excellence for Women & Technology! Make a 3D doodle using our 3Doodler pen or try out the Turing Tumble: a marble-powered computer you can use to solve logic puzzles. You can even design and make your own binary bracelet!

Photo Booth
College of Arts and Sciences
Franklin Hall, Sample Gates
Strike a pose at our photo booth! Pick your favorite props and make a Science Fest memory. You might even spot Hoosier the Bison in his new lab coat!

Brain Race Track
Psychological and Brain Sciences
Franklin Hall, Commons
Race RC cars with your brainwaves!

Color Perception
Psychological and Brain Sciences
Franklin Hall, Commons
What you see isn't always as it seems! Stop by for a chance to understand the mystery of color perception!
(This activity is best suited for elementary school aged participants.)

Neuron Necklace
Psychological and Brain Sciences
Franklin Hall, Commons
Color and craft a neuron necklace!

Dysfunctional Morphology
Anthropology Dept
Student Building, Room 025
Do you ever wonder how accurate those spooky animal skeletons you see at Halloween are? Come to the zooarchaeology lab to compare Halloween skeletons to the real life counterparts.

Elephants and Ivory
Anthropology Dept
Student Building, Room 025
Visit the zooarchaeology lab and learn all about elephants and ivory made from their tusks. You can even see bones from extinct mammoths and mastadons!

Glow Bones
Anthropology Dept
Student Building, Room 025
Did you know that our campus squirrels have a secret that can only be seen in the dark? Come find out why fox squirrel bones glow under UV light!

Mock Archaeological Dig
Anthropology Dept
Student Building, South Lawn
Come see what it's like to be an archaeologist as you search for artifacts in our mock dig!

Climate Comics
Artists for Climate Awareness
Student Building, Room 131
Come learn about the science of climate change and its' impacts through a zine making workshop and coloring book pages. Learn how to use nature as a medium of art and contribute to a participatory mural of our shared futures!

Where Did English Words Come From?
Germanic Studies
Student Building, Room 140
Compare an English word with words in other languages to determine if it is from the Germanic or Romance language family.

Cuneiform Tablets and the Mathematics of Ancient Babylonians
History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine
Student Building, Room 140
We will provide a peek at one of the oldest forms of mathematics and teach you how to do it. You can make your own multiplication tables, along with other fancier calculations in cuneiform numbers on clay tablets and take them with you.