CFANS at the Minnesota State Fair

Visit CFANS at the Minnesota State Fair in the Agriculture Horticulture Building! 

CFANS staff and faculty: Sign up to volunteer as a greeter in our CFANS display area! Shifts are three hours in duration and training is provided in advance. You receive a free admission ticket for the day and a CFANS T-shirt. 

Daily Exhibits (9 a.m. – 9 p.m., Southwest wing of the Agriculture Horticulture building):

• CFANS Climate Solutions: Adaptation in Action | Fairgoers will learn about a range of research and climate solutions underway at CFANS to prepare Minnesotans for a changing climate. Research highlights are featured in four topic areas: climate and our communities, the food we eat, our dynamic landscape, and the outdoors we love. Fairgoers will find out how they can help and get involved, and take a selfie in a custom canoe photo booth
• UMN Extension Master Gardeners | Get your gardening questions answered by representatives from the University's Master Gardener program. 
• Turfgrass Science | Learn how to create a "smart lawn" to save water and attract pollinators with University turf experts.
• Forever Green Initiative | Find out what new crops are on the horizon and those making a great debut from Forever Green researchers.

Pop-up Learning Schedule (dates/times vary; Southwest wing of the Agriculture Horticulture building)

• Thursday, August 26 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Dietary Detectives- Discover the Science of Food | Visitors will learn about the three macronutrients in food and perform tests to identify mystery food ingredients.
• Friday, August 27 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Dept. of Forest Resources | Learn knot-tying with an arborist, and play a match the leaves game, learning how to identify tree leaves! There will also be self-guided tree cookie puzzles where you can solve the puzzle and count the rings!
• Friday, August 27 | 3 – 6 p.m. | Dept. of Agronomy and Plant Genetics and Dept. of Horticulture | Come meet researchers in the applied plant sciences program and the plants they study, ask questions, and participate in fun, interactive activities for all ages to learn about vegetable, fruit, and grain crops.
• Saturday, August 28 | 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. | Dept. of Agronomy and Plant Genetics and Dept. of Horticulture | Come meet researchers in the applied plant sciences program and the plants they study, ask questions, and participate in fun, interactive activities for all ages to learn about vegetable, fruit, and grain crops.
• Sunday, August 29 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Animal Science: Learn About Farm Animals | Spin the wheel! If you get a question right, you will win a prize. Experience seeing through an egg with our egg candlers. A cow stomach will also be on display.
• Monday, August 30 | 3 – 6 p.m. | Living Sustainably with Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
• Tuesday, August 31 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Plant Pathology: Which Plant Disease Are You? | This fun and interactive activity explains the habits of plant pathogens to a variety of audiences.
• Tuesday, August 31 | 3 – 6 p.m. | Dept. of Agronomy and Plant Genetics and Dept. of Horticulture | Come meet researchers in the applied plant sciences program and the plants they study, ask questions, and participate in fun, interactive activities for all ages to learn about vegetable, fruit, and grain crops. 
• Wednesday, Sept. 1 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Bell Museum "I Spy" Challenge | Use a range of items, from natural history specimens to astronomy, for this "I Spy" challenge. Pick up a Bell Museum magnifying glass and a discount pass to visit the museum this fall!
• Thursday, Sept. 2 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Bell Museum "I Spy" Challenge | Use a range of items, from natural history specimens to astronomy, for this "I Spy" challenge. Pick up a Bell Museum magnifying glass and a discount pass to visit the museum this fall!
• Thursday, Sept. 2 | 3 – 6 p.m. | Plant Pathology: Which Plant Disease Are You? | This fun and interactive activity explains the habits of plant pathogens to a variety of audiences.
• Friday, Sept. 3 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Entomology: Get Buggy! | CFANS student organization Frenatae will have live arthropod specimens to share and hold, pinned insect collections to look at, and a spin the wheel insect trivia game for kids.
• Saturday, Sept. 4 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Entomology: Get Buggy! | CFANS student organization Frenatae will have live arthropod specimens to share and hold, pinned insect collections to look at, and a spin the wheel insect trivia game for kids.
• Saturday, Sept. 4 | 3 – 6 p.m. | Living Sustainably with Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
• Sunday, Sept. 5 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Entomology: Get Buggy! | CFANS student organization Frenatae will have live arthropod specimens to share and hold, pinned insect collections to look at, and a spin the wheel insect trivia game for kids.
• Monday, Sept. 6 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Dietary Detectives- Discover the Science of Food | Visitors will learn about the three macronutrients in food and perform tests to identify mystery food ingredients.

Questions? Contact Meredith Dwyer, mdwyer@umn.edu and Lori Fligge, lfligge@umn.edu.