The Hua Lu lab successfully hosted a plant-centric study break for the Fascination of Plants Day on May 18th on UMBC campus.
Over 100 students were attracted to the FoPD Study Break hosted by 18 volunteer hosts (15 undergraduates and 3 graduates). Over the course of the ~3-hour event, the hosts presented posters, fun facts, and jokes about plants. They also brought in tomato, basil, and flower plants to give away and Arabidopsis and Volvox to introduce to visitors. Fresh fruits and corn chips were served so visitors could snack on some of our most popular plants. The event attracted about 100 visitors. And both the student hosts and participating visitors commented that they really enjoyed the event.
Tips from Professor Lu (so you can try this, too):
- Pick a date when an intelligent & short distraction will be welcome on campus (e.g. exam week).
- Meet to organize at least 2 weeks before the event.
- Assign event PR (flyer design & distribution, tweets, FB posts, etc)
- Assign the event’s elements: banner design, informational posters, a collection of fun facts and jokes about plants.
- Split volunteers (students) into three-one-hour service shifts (for a 3-hour event).Optional: Professor Lu awarded one point towards the final grade to student-hosts.