- Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 April 2020 14:30
Dr. Sarah Meiss, an associate professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at California University of Pennsylvania, partnered with the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh as part of its virtual Earth Week events April 20-26.
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| California University of Pennsylvania Professor Sarah Meiss contributed her knowledge of plants to the Carnegie Science Center’s weeklong series of Earth Week events |
Meiss, a plant biology expert, showed children how to make a mushroom spore print as part of Toadstool Tuesday on April 21. Earth Week content will be available on the science center’s Facebook page, facebook.com/carnegiesciencecenter.
“One of the ways to identify mushrooms is to look at the spores they produce,” Meiss said. “I’m going to demonstrate how to use a mushroom cap, water and a cover to create humidity so that the mushroom will send its spores out.”
Since the science center has been closed to the public due to COVID-19 restrictions, staff have developed a Facebook program called ‘Three Things — something to read, watch and do’ — to keep the public engaged.
On April 21, the science center screened the film “Fantastic Fungi,” and Meiss demonstrated the hands-on activity.
“There is a sense of connection,” Meiss added. “Kids from all over Western Pennsylvania learned and participated in the same activities. It inspires me to think that we can still go out and enjoy nature. We can use this time to learn something new and also to educate differently.”
This is the second recent collaboration between Cal U and the Carnegie Science Center. Last fall, Dr. Cassandra Kuba, an expert in anthropology, was on hand to answer questions at Mummies of the World: An Exhibition. Further collaboration between Kuba and the center is being planned.
