The Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden celebrates Earth Day on Saturday, April 18 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in conjunction with The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). The School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics at UTD has planned dozens of science and mathematics activities for children throughout the Children's Adventure Garden. Each activity is run by a different group with more than 50 participants from among UTD STEM faculty and students, as well as external STEM collaborators. This lively, interactive, and educational program is free for paid guests of the Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden. In case of inclement weather, the event will be cancelled.

Dr. Bernine Khan, Assistant Dean, UTD's School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics, said, "We had such an amazing time doing a similar event last year during the first full year of the Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden that we wanted to expand on that to offer more topics of science this year. It works well to tie it into Earth Day because the garden is the perfect place to learn about science, nature, the earth and habitats. The more children and adults learn about these topics, the more likely they will care for the planet."

The groups will have stations throughout the Children's Adventure Garden offering hands-on activities about Biology, Chemistry, Electricity, Energy, Geosciences, Marine Science, Mathematics, Robotics, Space Science, and Physics. A sampling of the hands-on activities and discussions include the following:

• the geology of rocks and minerals;
• chemistry experiments exploring density, endothermic and exothermic reactions, and more;
• the marine wonders of whales, their eating habits, and how they survive in their cold water habitat;
• the mathematics of fractals;
• fun static electricity experiments;
• a space science trip around the solar system;
• a circus of physics demonstrations, such as the Bernoulli effect and how to use the oscilloscope to show the waveform of voices;
• craft-making activities such as a ladybug necklace and "plantable" paper;
• all about robotics, renewable energy, and much more!

Caelie Dunn, Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden public programs manager, added, "Children will take the things their brothers and sisters learned in the garden to the next level of science on this one day."