3/6/2004    Saturday
"Explore UT!" Offers a Saturday of Free Educational Activities The University of Texas at Austin will host its fifth annual "Explore UT: The Biggest Open House in Texas!" on Saturday, March 6, 2004. Explorers of all ages are invited to take part in free, fun-filled activities, demonstrations and exhibitions from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. "We extend a special invitation to the schoolchildren of Texas," said Larry R. Faulkner, president of The University of Texas at Austin, "to reach higher, explore further, and encounter new interests on this day of creative adventure." Students from kindergarten through high school, their parents and teachers can enjoy more than 300 activities across the campus, like these: piloting a virtual plane using a flight simulator designing a city using boxes and blocks checking out a solar-powered mini-car creating your own art at the Blanton Art Museum trying your hand at American sign language making an Egyptian sand drawing and seeing your name in Arabic hearing a concert of Medieval music on authentic instruments designing a simple highway using CAD (computer-aided design) software making a Texas-size art print with a steamroller observing Venus through an 18-inch telescope learning to sing German folk songs reading your own nightly news as anchor in a TV studio buying and selling stocks in a virtual Wall Street market learning about careers in architecture, business, computers, communication, engineering, health, law, pharmacy, education and more! See a full listing at http://www.utexas.edu/events/exploreut/. Or watch for a printed insert in the Thursday, March 4, Austin American-Statesman newspaper. "Explore UT" requires no registration. Because of limited space, some events require getting free tickets in advance. Information booths around campus will supply explorers with maps, schedules and passports. Stamps collected in the passport after at each activity can be traded in for a free T-shirt at the University Co-op, the event's major sponsor. Bring a lunch or buy it from campus vendors. For more information, call the Office of Relationship Management and University Events at 512-471-7753.