Thomas Hoebbel Photography

Assistant Professor Peng Chen, left, and Associate Professor Paul Chirik of the chemistry department connect a circuit through every member of the audience during their Dr. Demo Presentation in Baker Lab during Cornell's Bring a Child to Work Day, April 24. The pair of scientists had the audience eat handfuls of potato chips before holding hands to complete the circuit, which is registering on the screen above.

More than 670 children and parents enjoyed a day of hands-on learning at this year's Bring a Child to Work Day, April 24. From its opening session, with entertainment by the student vocal group Anything Goes, through a day of such activities as learning about explosions and fire, military firepower, making ice cream and sticking a hand in a cow, children got a glimpse of Cornell, where most of their parents work, while parents (or other accompanying adults) got to enjoy aspects of Cornell that are not part of their daily lives.

"My daughter, Audrey, went to the sessions on poisonous plants and the 'Holey Cow,'" said Clive Howard, acting director of the Office of Publications and Marketing. "She enjoyed being in an actual college classroom hearing a college professor, and she got a whole new understanding about how milk is produced. She said that the cow 'grossed her out,' but that she could not believe that she actually got to put her hand inside its belly."

Cornell's annual Bring a Child to Work Day is part of the national Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. The national day is designed to help children learn about what the adults in their lives do when they go off to work.