Celebrate Maryland Day on April 26, 2025

The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences will host 49 events.

Explore our world of innovation and learning on Maryland Day! Maryland Day is an opportunity for prospective students and community members to learn more about the University of Maryland—and find out how the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences is reimagining teaching and learning to prepare the next generation of scientific leaders for success.

Unlock a world of learning, discovery and exploration, with hundreds of family-friendly festivities including exhibits, workshops, hands-on demonstrations, performances, cross-campus tours, lectures, petting zoos and athletic events.

Maryland Day will be held on Saturday, April 26, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. Admission and parking are free—see this campus map. Join CMNS on Science & Tech Way for the 49 events listed below!

Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering

Alpha Omega Epsilon Grand Prix – Lobby
Terps can rev up their college experience with UMD's professional and social sorority for underrepresented minorities interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Its F1-themed event combines speed, excitement, and sisterhood.

Computer Science Prospective Student Workshop – Gannon Auditorium, Room 0318
Learn more about the computer science major in a 50-minute information session from academic advisers with an opportunity for a Q&A session with current students.

Girls Who Code Computing Trivia – Lobby
Join Girls Who Code UMD to answer fun trivia questions on the history of computing for a chance to win cool prizes.

Immersive Media Design – Room 0110
The Immersive Media Design major fuses students' artistic talents with technical skills and computer science. Stop by the IMD lab to experience student and faculty interactive pieces, including large-scale projections, virtual reality and augmented reality.

Iribe Initiative for Inclusion and Diversity in Computing – Lobby
Learn how the organization supports computing majors through mentoring, professional development and community-building programs and conducts K-12 outreach in the local community.

Iribe Initiative for Inclusion and Diversity in Computing (I4C) Summer Academy Showcase – Rooms 1208, 1108
Students present innovative projects showcasing the skills they’ve gained in his program. Explore hands-on projects, celebrate their achievements and learn about summer camp opportunities. Open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Robotics in Action – Plaza
Meet Testudog, a fully 3D-printed robotic dog designed by Robotics@Maryland students. See innovative technology up close and learn how robotics shapes the future of creativity and design.

SECURE IT Summer Camp – Room 1116
Curious about cybersecurity? Learn how middle school students can explore ethical hacking, coding and digital defense at this cybersecurity day camp. It offers hands-on activities, real-world challenges and expert-led learning to students, whether they're beginners or looking to level up. Open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Technica – Lobby
Learn more about the world's largest hackathon for underrepresented genders in tech.

The Mokhtarzada Hatchery Pitch Game – Lobby
Learn about the incubator's student startups, which feature innovative ideas to advance education, gaming and more! Play an interactive pitch game every half-hour from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Chemistry Building

Alka-Seltzer Lava Lamps – Front lawn
Watch homemade mini lava lamps come to life after adding a tablet of Alka-Seltzer.

Build a Molecule With Legos – Front lawn
Learn about atoms and molecules using Lego bricks.

Dry Ice Bubbles – Front lawn
Catch a bubble made from dry ice.

Elephant Toothpaste – Front lawn
Watch an hourly demonstration of an exothermic reaction.

Invisible Ink – Front lawn
Create a secret message and watch how heat brings it to light.

Magic Milk – Front Lawn
Perform your own chemistry experiment to see color move on its own.

Moon Sand – Front lawn
Experience the calming, sensory play of soft and moldable sand.

Red Cabbage Juice Indicator – Front lawn
Experiment with red cabbage juice, a natural indicator, and use it to test the pH of different solutions.

Thermochromic Slime – Front lawn
Play with slime that changes color at different temperatures.

UV Color-Changing Bracelets – Outdoor
Make a bracelet with beads that change color in the sun.

Geology Building

Be a Volcanologist – Front lawn
Learn about the inner workings of volcanoes and the forces that lead to their eruptions. Do you have what it takes to be a volcanologist? Test your skills by learning to identify crystals in samples of pumice and ash from an explosive eruption of Cerro Machin in Colombia.

Earthquake Cycles – Front lawn
Learn about tectonic plate movement and earthquake cycles; observe a shake table that simulates ground motion; design an earthquake-safe structure and test whether it can survive an earthquake; and learn about albedo and measuring surface temperatures.

Isotopes Reveal Earth's Early Exuberance – Front lawn
The prolonged and extremely violent history of Earth's accretion and following early years is directly constrained by the so-called siderophile, or iron-loving, elements, which include, among others, rhenium, platinum, osmium, and tungsten. Osmium and W isotope systematics of plume-derived ultramafic lavas called komatiites reveal the complex chemical evolution of the Earth's interior. This evolution was controlled by impacts of Moon-sized differentiated planetesimals, formation and solidification of deep magma oceans, and interaction between the metal and silicate parts of the planet.

Liquefaction Demo – Front lawn
Sudden movement of faults results in earthquakes that can cause violent shaking. Such shaking leads to a dangerous but fascinating hazard known as soil liquefaction. When shaken, loose, water-logged sediments lose strength and behave like a fluid, which can result in sinkholes. In this demonstration, make an entire city disappear by just shaking a box.

Meteorites and Meteorwrongs – Front lawn
Only four meteorites have been found in Maryland. Can you tell the difference between Earth and space rocks? Find out how.

Minerals and the Earth: The Stuff of Life – Room 2118
See and touch pieces of a planet's insides. These minerals, rocks and gems are the raw materials of life.

Moonquakes and Marsquakes – Front lawn
Create your own "moonquakes" and discover how NASA and UMD are helping to prepare astronauts to explore rocky worlds. Learn about the tools that Apollo astronauts used on the surface of the moon and those we may send with astronauts headed there this decade.

Paleoclimate CoLaboratory – Front lawn
Learn from scientists and students studying ancient climates how we put present-day climate change into a longer-term context. Can you find the lucky cats in the isotope lab?

Water in the Earth – Front lawn
How is water cycled beneath the Earth's surface? What impact does this have on us? Learn about how much water is present in different Earth materials, and participate in a water-related craft that you can take home.

Glenn L. Martin Hall

Ask an Astronomer – Front lawn
Faculty and students answer your perplexing astronomy-related questions.

Bites and Bytes – Front lawn
Learn how microbes, nutrition and computers contribute to gut health. Enjoy activities related to the human microbiome and computational analyses of microbiome data.

Explore the Earth System With Scientists – Front lawn
Explore our planet with Earth system scientists from the University of Maryland, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Learn what it takes to be a scientist and enjoy educational and entertaining Earth science-themed activities, including a virtual reality demonstration about lightning and flash-flood safety.

Fingerprinting the Universe – Front lawn
Each person has a unique fingerprint. So does each chemical element in our bodies and the universe itself, encoded in light. Learn how astronomers study the skies using different wavelengths of light and how they decode the light to unravel the mysteries of the universe.

Fun with Waves – Front lawn
Take part in hands-on experiments demonstrating the fundamental principles of electromagnetic, acoustic and mechanical waves.

Looking Into the Cosmos – Front lawn
Join the AstroTerps, the Terrapin Astronomy Society, to explore the familiar and not-so-familiar sights of the universe. How many can you identify?

Maryland's Weather and Climate – Front lawn
Learn about Maryland's weather and how the materials we use to build cities make where we live hotter, and play with a tornado in a bottle.

Our Neighbor, NASA Goddard – Front lawn
Around the corner and around the galaxy: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, five miles away in Greenbelt, builds spacecraft and instruments and invents technology to study Earth, the sun, the solar system and the universe. Discover how its mission affects you.

Puzzles and Brain Teasers – Front lawn
Play with puzzles and other brain teasers brought to you by UMD's math wizards.

Solar Observing – Outside
Take a safe look at the big, bright, yellow (or red, depending on the filter) ball in our sky through telescopes with Astronomy Observatory staff.

Hornbake Plaza

Maryland Wildlife Quest – Front lawn
Explore the wildlife of Maryland and contribute to a Chesapeake Bay and Appalachian Mountains mural.

Who’s That Scientist? ¿Quién es Ese(a) Científico(a)? 
Play a game with UMD's chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science to learn about prominent Chicano/Hispanic and Native American scientists around the world and at UMD.

John S. Toll Physics Building

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream
Bet you haven't had ice cream like this! This homemade specialty tastes great and is safe for all ages. Try it, while supplies last.

Radar Velocity – Front lawn
Test your throwing ability at the Radar Velocity Detector Station.

Physical Sciences Complex

Move Like a Cell – Outside
Skin cells that move collectively are better at healing wounds, and immune cells that work together are better at detecting and eliminating infections. "Move like a cell" in games like follow the leader while a camera tracks you, or check out a new acoustic levitation demonstration.

Physics is Phun – Front lawn
Students and faculty from the Department of Physics share fantastic demonstrations that explore and explain some of the amazing principles and concepts of the universe.

Smoke Cannons
Two cannons make for amazing motion when rings collide.

Think Quantum: Magnetic Levitation – Front lawn
See levitating superconductors, cooled by liquid nitrogen, zoom along a magnetic track.

Plant Sciences Building

Discover a Swamp – First floor hallway
See and capture small aquatic creatures common in nearby wetlands and learn about their behavior as they swim through water and climb on plants.

Insect Petting Zoo – First floor hallway
Imagine tarantulas, exotic insects, scorpions, bees and millipedes longer than your hand for you to look at and touch—if you dare.