Batavia, IL- In recognition of “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work” Day, the Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory plans a series of activities for employees and their children. On Thursday, April 25, employees are invited to introduce their offspring to the world of work at the nation’s foremost high-energy physics laboratory. To allow the visiting children to join in Arbor Day tree-planting activities, Fermilab will also celebrate Arbor Day on April 25, one day early.
Besides the opportunity to observe mom or dad on the job, employees’ children may take bird-watching and woodland walks and help with the Laboratory’s annual Arbor Day planting of trees and shrubs. Members of the Fermilab Roads and Grounds staff will lead these activities.
In a separate event, “Kids as Science Journalists,” children will hold a mock press conference, interviewing members of the Fermilab community to learn what careers in science entail. The young reporters will transcribe their notes and help produce a publication and a World Wide Web page to share with their classes and friends.
Following the interviews, children and their parents may attend the highly popular cryogenics demonstration by Fermilab engineer Mike Urso. Urso has appeared before local and national television audiences with his dramatic illustration of the properties of materials at very low temperatures. Finally, children may explore exhibits from various areas of the Laboratory at the Leon M. Lederman Science Education Center.
Earlier in the week, on Earth Day, Monday, April 22, Fermilab employees had the opportunity to join a lunch-hour birdwalk in recognition of the Laboratory’s longstanding dedication to stewardship of the environment. Research Division physicist Peter Kasper, an experienced observer of Fermilab’s large and diverse bird population, led a bird-watching tour.
Universities Research Association, Inc., a consortium of research universities, operates Fermilab under a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy.