WASHINGTON — Explore the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park on “Maryland Day” Saturday, and you can experience everything from a working farm to a wind tunnel.
“We started as an agricultural college, so farming and animal life is very important to the university,” spokeswoman Natifia Mullings said. “Not only are we going to have horses putting on a show, we’ll have pigs and cows and lambs and all the animals that make up our campus farm.”
The Maryland Dairy on campus was established some 90 years ago. The dairy ice cream shop will be open Saturday at the Stamp Student Union, serving a special flavor called “Too Good” that has a triple chocolate base, Tiramisu cream, Spanish sherry and chocolate truffles.
“Our activities are split across six different learning neighborhoods,” Mullings said. “There’s Science & Tech Way, Ag Avenue, Art & Design Place, Biz & Society Hill, Terp Town and Sports & Rec Row.”
There are more than 400 activities planned, including:
- Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel: Get rare access to the UMD wind tunnel that has been in use for aerodynamics research since 1949.
- Insect Petting Zoo: Meet insects friendly and fierce, including tarantulas, mosquitoes, stink bugs, honey bees and lady beetles.
- Maryland Equestrian Club Horse Show: See a live horse show and demonstrations by horses and riders.
- No Excuses Workout and World Record Attempt: Test your abdominal plank strength. You can help celebrity trainer and Maryland alumnus Steve Jordan attempt to break the world record for most people to hold an abdominal plank for 60 seconds.
- One-Stop Health Fair: Get free health screenings and health information.
- The Portal: Step into a shipping container equipped with immersive audio and video technology that creates a “portal” to another city. You’ll feel as if you’re standing in front of and talking with a “life-size” someone thousands of miles away.
- Do Good: Help perform a real community service project with Maryland students. #DoGoodUMD also will sponsor scavenger hunts for prizes.
- Kid Play Theatre Workshop: Play dress-up and participate in theater games during a half-hour acting workshop.
- Sing with Sonia De Los Santos: Family-friendly music from a Latin children’s musician who explores growing up in Mexico, moving to another country and learning about other countries.
No Metro train service will be available at the College Park station Saturday because of scheduled track work. Find workaround options on WTOP’s track work guide.
