The UO invites science enthusiasts of all ages to its Science Open House event Wednesday, Sept. 24, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

In its fourth year, Science Open house take place in the Willamette Hall atrium and will have 24 hands-on activities sponsored by 19 different groups. It is organized by the Science Program to Inspire Creativity and Excellence, known as SPICE.

SPICE’s mission is to engage middle and high school aged girls in science, technology, math and engineering by creating a positive learning environment, said Brandy Todd, the group’s director. She said Science Open House is a way to reach youngsters who don’t realize science is full of cool things and offers a whole host of options for kids.

Last year, the event drew between 400 and 500 people. It is designed to engage the K-12 age group, but science fans of all ages are invited.

Some activity stations at the open house take simple household items and turn them into science experiments. For example, the fruit DNA extraction activity is done with strawberries, shampoo and alcohol.

“The soap helps to pull DNA out of the cell and then alcohol pulls the DNA up to the top of the fruit,” Todd said. “It’s a little mind blowing ― you can see the DNA.”

A flubber factory station gives participants a chance to make their own batches of the green goo. Borax, Elmer’s glue and water make the green slime that can be pulled apart and molded back together.

The egg-drop activity is one of the more popular stations with kids.

“Kids make a contraption to protect an egg from breaking and then the egg is dropped from the second floor,” Todd said. If the egg breaks, participants have the chance to rebuild their contraption. If it survives, the egg is dropped from the third floor.

For a list of all activities at Science Open House, visit their website.

—By Corinne Boyer, Public Affairs Communications intern