Fermilab Education Office offers Family Open House on Sunday, February 19, 2006

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See Mr. Freeze’s cryogenics show, tour the linear accelerator, and enjoy fun activities for all ages

This year’s Education Office Family Open House at the Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory will take place on Sunday, February 19. The event offers free family-style hands-on activities and exhibits, make-and-take projects, science shows and tours. Registration is required.

New this year will be a reprisal of Leon Lederman’s “Late Show with Leon,” which first appeared as a Web cast in the fall. Nobel Laureate Lederman will interview three young Fermilab physicists during a live show in Fermilab’s Ramsey Auditorium. Also new this year will be a number of science shows adapted from the World Year of Physics classroom presentations.

The Ask-a-Scientist group will return to the 15th floor, back by popular demand. “I remember being impressed last year when I walked onto the 15th floor and saw how engaged everyone was,” said Spencer Pasero, an education specialist at Fermilab. “There were good, lively discussions going on and the scientists were really getting into it.” Other returning popular events from last year’s Family Open House, which attracted about 2,000 visitors, include Mr. Freeze’s cryogenics show, the Gravity Accelerator exhibit, and tours of the Linear Accelerator and Main Control Room galleries. Plans for tours to additional sites are now being finalized.

The Family Open House will take place on Sunday, February 19, from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. The event is free but registration is required. All ages are welcome, but the open house is most appropriate for children in grade 3 and up. Tours are restricted to ages 10 and up. Participants can register online at http://www-ed.fnal.gov/ffse/openhouse.html. Contact Nancy Lanning at edreg@fnal.gov or 630-840-5588 for more information.

Fermilab is a national laboratory funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy, operated by Universities Research Association, Inc.