Arizona State University's Open Door held its finale at the Tempe campus on Saturday, where visitors learned from ASU experts on a veritable smorgasbord of cool topics, including medieval armor-making, how earthworms help a compost pile and what nanotechnology means for the future.
Guests navigated obstacle courses with the Arizona National Guard, said hello to crawling spiders at the School of Life Sciences, watched glass-blowing demonstrations, hung out with Sparky and more.
From the world of space exploration to the cutting edge of sustainability solutions, the event gave thousands of attendees a look at the colleges, schools, programs and student groups that help make ASU the most innovative university in the country.
Video by Jordan Currier/ASU
READ MORE: The Polytechnic campus starts Open Door in style | Open Door shakes up Downtown Phoenix campus | Discoveries abound at ASU Open Door at West campus
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Young members of the Berhane and Acejo families check out "The Tunneling Earthworms" in the compost area of the sustainability display at ASU Open Door on the Tempe campus on Saturday.
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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Doctoral student Andrew Johnston displays a Chilean rose-haired tarantula at the Tempe Open Door.
Photo by Marcus Chormicle/ASU Now
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Sparky takes a selfie with Joselyn and Allen at Tempe Open Door on Saturday.
Photo by Marcus Chormicle/ASU Now
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The Amazing Stevie of Tempe gives a purple cat balloon to 4-year-old Juliette Strojnik of Phoenix on Hayden Lawn at the Tempe Open Door event.
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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The crew from the School of Life Sciences showed off a bee colony to Open Door visitors in Tempe.
Photo by Marcus Chormicle/ASU Now
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ASU graduate student Yoshiko Kato writes a young woman's name in Japanese at the Tempe Open Door.
Photo by Marcus Chormicle/ASU Now
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Oliver Weaver, 5, of Mesa, makes his way through the Arizona National Guard's obstacle course at ASU Open Door on the Tempe campus Saturday.
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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Sixth-graders from Adams Elementary School in Mesa take a selfie during Tempe Open Door.
Photo by Jamie Ell/ASU Now
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Supporters of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies — Ferenc Feher (left), an ASU graduate student, and Bill Jackson — watch a tornado as part of the Extreme Weather! display at ASU Open Door on Saturday in Tempe.
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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Cadence Rigler, 6, of Chandler, designs her urban park as part of the landscape architecture display Saturday in Tempe.
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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Tyler Resh, 11, studies some of the bone samples from the ASU Center of Bioarchaeological Research.
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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Sparky takes a photo with future Sun Devil Marcus Arthur at the Tempe Open Door event Saturday.
Photo by Marcus Chormicle/ASU Now
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Tabitha Creviston, 3, bangs the bass drum as part of the School of Music's "Community Music Lab" jam session Saturday at Open Door on the Tempe campus.
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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ASU School of Art faculty member Dani Godreau paints eye wings on 9-year-old Jamie Hattstaedt of Tempe on Saturday.
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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Professor Trevor Thornton talks to a group of people about nanotechnology at Tempe Open Door.
Photo by Summer Sorg/ASU Now
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Elliot Holst runs across a pool of cornstarch in a photosynthesis electron-transfer obstacle course during Open Door at the Tempe campus on Saturday.
Photo by Summer Sorg/ASU Now
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Glassblowing facility manager Christine Roeger demonstrates for guests how glass can be molded with heat and cooling.
Photo by Summer Sorg/ASU Now
ASU Now also was at the Tempe Open Door, certifying young guests as "junior reporters" and documenting the fun with our photo booth, where many visitors posed as newspaper cover stars. Check out some of our favorites below.
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Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now
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Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now
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Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now
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Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now
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Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now
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Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now
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Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now
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Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now
Top photo: A young visitor to ASU Open Door on the Tempe campus on Feb. 24 taps the screen that controls Magic Planet, a 6-foot-diameter digital video globe in the atrium of Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building IV that accesses real-time data from NASA, NOAA and other agencies to present visual data. Photo by Jamie Ell/ASU Now
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