Indiana University’s Science Fest on Saturday will take advantage of the upcoming solar eclipse.
Jo Anne Tracy, assistant dean for research, said the festival is designed to share “the wonders and amazement of science.” The one day only, family-friendly Science Festwill take place on campus from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. just two days before the total solar eclipse on April 8. Along with science experiments and family-friendly demonstrations, the festival will highlight eclipse education.
“This is a service that the college is providing to the public, to the state,” said Tracy, the festival’s organizer. “But it's also a long tradition in many departments — and especially sciences — to reach out to the public and make sure everyone gets to experience the awesomeness of science.”
Tracy said every event is free, but the festival is expecting more people than usual this year. A complete list of activities, a map and other event information can be found on Science Fest’s website. Tracy said visitors can create a custom schedule by logging in or registering an account.
Food trucks will be available, and a few IU Dining locations will be open, but Tracy said people should still bring their own food and water.
The festival will host astronomers at two locations and give out eclipse viewing glasses throughout campus.
“This year, we're very focused on education, of course, and educating the public about the eclipse,” Tracy said.
One of the most popular shows from the Department of Chemistry, called “Dr. E. Clipse - Fire and Ice,” will be ticketed on a first-come basis. If seats are open, those in line without tickets will be let in 5 minutes before the show begins.
“Folks should show up early in the day, to the atrium entrance of the Chemistry Building that's on the south side of the building to pick up tickets for it,” Tracy said. “And so then only ticket holders will be admitted until five minutes before the show.”
Another popular demonstration, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences’ “Volcanic Eruption,” will open at the top of every hour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. near Maxwell Hall.
Some new groups have joined Science Fest this year, Tracy said.
IU’s Department of History will host a “History Slam,” 13 talks covering the impact of eclipses through the years.
The African American Dance Company will host a dance performance ritual inspired by the solar eclipse near Maxwell Hall.
“It's an eclipse-inspired dance where the public is invited to participate,” Tracy said. “We're really excited about that.”
Also bringing some music to the Science Fest are the Jacobs School of Music and the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture and Design. Tracy said the schools will host an “immersive” art and music performance called “Ellipses.”
IU scientists recently launched a community science project, Solar Bird, for the total eclipse. Tracy said ambassadors for the project will be at Science Fest to explain the project and introduce visitors to the Solar Bird app. The app’s developers are asking locals to document the impacts of the eclipse and its darkness for their research.
“The idea is to monitor, to get everyone to help collect data on animal behavior during the eclipse, because some animal behavior does change, particularly birds,” Tracy said.
This year’s Science Fest was moved from the fall semester to the spring semester for the solar eclipse. Tracy said the festival has evolved from open houses in the ‘70s to what it is today.
“The [College of Arts and Sciences] as a whole takes really seriously this responsibility to the community to share new knowledge and to provide opportunities like this to really understand the sciences,” Tracy said.
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.
