Batavia, Ill.-Area Girl Scouts will visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory on Saturday, Nov. 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for the Girl Scout Fermi Workshop, as they earn their newly designed Fermilab Girl Scout Badges.
The Scouts will come in small groups and engage in a variety of activities, including exploring Wilson Hall’s 15th floor visitors’ area; viewing a video on Fermilab’s Prairie Restoration Project; hiking on prairie trails; and learning about the Prairie School of Architecture. In case of bad weather, the activities will be indoors and will include visiting the Lederman Science Education Center. Previously, a rain date had been announced but was canceled.
At the end of the day, girls who have completed a minimal number of activities will get to sew a Fermilab Badge onto their uniform. “Scouts like to earn their badges, and to show them off on their uniforms,” said workshop organizer Anne Lucietto of Fermilab.
Volunteers from Fermilab’s staff will provide directions and brief presentations on Fermilab topics at key points of interest throughout the laboratory’s grounds.
“The point of the workshop is to get the word out that Fermilab is here,” Lucietto said, “and that there are a lot of things to see and learn, and it’s not just the physics.”
The newly minted Fermilab badges come in three types, each for a different age group: “Try-it” triangles for ages 6-8, round badges for ages 9-11, and rectangular “Interest Patches” for ages 12 and over. All badges feature two classic Fermilab symbols: The buffalo and the silhouette of Wilson Hall.
Media representatives wishing to cover the event should contact the Office of Public Affairs by Nov. 5 to arrange for access to the site.
Fermilab is a DOE Office of Science national laboratory, operated under contract by Universities Research Association, Inc.