STEM Community Day will be a fun-filled afternoon including:

• Interactive demos

• Engaging displays

• Short science talks

• Mini facility tours

• Refreshments & giveaways

...more details to be announced here as the event date approaches. Check out the photos from our 2019 and 2023 events to get an idea of what the day will look like. 

Registration is required by September 27. Attendance is free but capacity is limited, so register now.

UPDATE: As of Sept. 5, registration for the event is full. A waitlist form is available for those who are interested in attending in the event if space becomes available due to registered attendee cancellations. 

Volunteers needed! Sign up by Sept. 13 here. 

Contact: communityday@slac.stanford.edu

Program

(subject to change without notice)

Participate in interactive exhibits and demos 

• Watch how liquid nitrogen ice cream is made and get a sample to taste
• Find out how to blow up a marshmallow, make toilet paper fly, crush a soda can, and more using vacuum science techniques
• Watch a gummy bear turn into a fireball
• Test out a variety of fruits and vegetables as battery sources
• Learn how SLAC takes “pictures” of molecules by building your own molecule and tracing its shadow
• Watch your hair rise in an an electric field charged by Van de Graaff generators
• View a model of the SLAC linear accelerator to learn how a free electron laser works
• Drop a magnet inside an aluminum tube and watch it float down slowly 
• Turn on a light with just a pen, button battery, and paper in a paper circuit
• See objects with different temperatures using an infrared camera
• Learn how particles from space go through you with a cosmic ray detector
• Watch how polymers can be deconstructed into their building blocks using catalysts
• Create your own roller coaster track and let a marble take a thrilling ride
• Find out the speed of light in your kitchen with chocolate
• See how a salad bowl cyclotron propels silver-painted ping pong balls round and round
• Make your own lava lamp and watch the mesmerizing bubbles through a simple chemical reaction 
• Look through virtual reality goggles to view RNA structures
• Gaze at the sun safely under a giant solar viewer
• Build your own boat and watch how just a rubber band propels it forward
• Color your way through coloring sheets with fun science images

• Watch short videos in 3D at the KIPAC Visualization Lab (1:00 p.m. | 1:30 p.m. | 2:00 p.m. | 2:30 p.m. | 3:00 p.m. | 3:30 p.m. | 4:00 p.m. | 4:30 p.m.) 20 people maximum per show, Kavli Auditorium

   

Science talks

Each speaker will present their same talk three times, with a 5 minute Q&A after each talk. A raffle prize will be given at each talk. 

• Speaker: Caterina Vernieri

 A Camera for the Invisible: Bringing the Higgs Boson into Focus

 1:15 - 1:25 p.m. | 1:35 - 1:45 p.m. | 1:55- 2:05 p.m.

• Speaker: Taran Driver

Freezing Electrons in Motion with the World’s Fastest Camera

 2:30 - 2:40 p.m. | 2:50 - 3:00 p.m. | 3:10 - 3:20 p.m.

• Speaker: Axel Levy

Capturing the Dance of Proteins with AI-powered Vision

3:45 - 3:55 p.m. | 4:05 - 4:15 p.m. | 4:25 - 4:35 p.m.

Facility Tours

• Klystron Gallery Visitors Alcove (50 people maximum per tour, age requirement is 7 and older)

  Schedule: 1:10 p.m. | 2:10 p.m. | 3:10 p.m. | 4:10 p.m.

• LCLS (30 people maximum per tour, age requirement is 12 and older)

  Schedule:  1:10 p.m. | 2:00 p.m. | 3:00 p.m. | 4:00 p.m.

  Closed-toe shoes are required for all facility tours. 

Coming to SLAC

• Identification required 
  Adults are required to bring a photo ID to enter the SLAC campus.
• Free parking 
  SLAC offers free parking in our visitor parking lot.

• Bags
  In order for SLAC to provide a safe environment for the public and our employees, and expedite access to the event, no bags or backpacks larger than 12"x6"x12" will be allowed inside the venue. Exceptions to this policy will be made for all medically necessary items after proper inspection and for SLAC-badged staff.

• Accessibility 
  SLAC facilities meet American Disability Act requirements for accessibility. If you need assistance, please notify our security officers as you enter SLAC’s main gate, and they will direct you to a parking area and assist or escort you to the auditorium. 
• Getting here 
  SLAC is located at 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California, 94025. Please visit our Maps and directions page for driving directions.  

Click here to download the event flyer.png