Can you hear her heart beating?\
Ten-year-old Anna Freudenberg nodded her head, wide-eyed, holding the stethoscope more firmly to her ears. UW-Madison veterinary student Maryn Ptaschinski smiled in response. ""Would you like to listen to your heart?""
Once again, Anna nodded. Ptaschinski moved the stethoscope from the chest of her German shorthair pointer, Sadie, to Anna's own chest, giving her insight into her body's intricate mechanisms.
Ptaschinski and Sadie were volunteers at Saturday's Science Expeditions, an annual event held by the UW-Madison Science Alliance. Visitors to the Engineering Centers building were treated to 32 hands-on exploration stations manned by area researchers.
""We've been coming to this every year. It's our family tradition,"" said Pat Powers, a Madison-area parent. ""The hands-on stuff is really a unique opportunity for kids to play with materials they wouldn't normally come into contact with.""
Powers' 8-year-old son, Newton Wolfe, demonstrated his chemical expertise as he worked with magnetic models of water molecules. ""I'm trying to make this ice,"" he explained as he fit the molecules together into a crystalline structure.
Wolfe's interests were not confined to chemistry. Physics and engineering were also on his to-do list. The event did not disappoint, as the booths ranged from neurology to entomology to mechanical engineering to spectrometry. ""We try to represent as many of the sciences at the University as possible,"" said Renee Meiller, a co-organizer of the event.
""It's a way to share what's going on at the University in science in a way that's understandable to just about anybody,"" Meiller said. ""The idea is the event is not only beneficial for the public. It's good for the researchers to be able to share what they're doing.""
The researchers say they agree. Dr. Gary Lake hosted one of the exploration stations as a way to share his recent work. ""I do enjoy it. I think it's one of the nice things about our community,"" Lake said. ""People don't know what they're interested in until they're exposed to it. In Madison, we can give them this exposure.""
""I think it's important for people to know that science is a part of everyday life and that life is richer because of it,"" Lake said.
\
