The entire eighth grade (about 140 students) from Southern Hills Middle School in Boulder, CO participated in the third annual INSTAAR Open House on Friday, May 18th. Mrs. Briggs, their science teacher, lead the Southern Hills students, who had divided themselves into small groups of fifteen. Each small group was lead by a INSTAAR scientist through the morning's open house, which took place at or near INSTAAR and NSIDC (National Snow and Ice Data Center). Exercises included:

• Boulder Creek
• Lab Tours
• Lectures
  

Many of the students had been to the previous Open House (Fall 1999) as seventh graders and were enthusiastic about the new activities, such as the sampling the creek. The purpose of the repeat visit to INSTAAR is to reinforce their impressions of the diverse aspects of Earth science, the use of sophisticated instrumentation and modeling in Earth science, and the relevance of Earth science to important global and local issues.

The INSTAAR Open House committee members were Diane McKnight, Bill Manley, Bruce Vaughn, Ryan Vachon and Vicky Nelson. Ryan Vachon organized the INSTAAR graduate students and staff who led the small student groups. Some of those leaders are pictured at left in white t-shirts. Main organizer Diane McKnight is wearing a green shirt.

The Open House was a big success thanks to the many 8th graders, faculty, staff, grad students, and researchers who participated!