By Ashley Stender | April 30, 2026

At this year’s Michigan State University Science Festival, visitors were asked a simple question: What does this plant need to survive?

As part of the STEAM Expo Days on April 11-12, the C-SPIRIT team hosted “Crop Defenders,” a hands-on activity designed for visitors of all ages. The event took place on MSU’s campus in East Lansing as part of a month-long celebration of science across the university.

Over the course of the weekend, 612 people stopped by the booth to take a closer look at soybean plants and try to match each one with the right “defense.”

Visitors stop by the C-SPIRIT “Crop Defenders” booth during the Michigan State University Science Festival.

Each plant was facing a different challenge: heat, drought, or salinity. Some showed visible damage from heat, while others were lighter in color or not growing as much as expected. Visitors were encouraged to look closely and think about what might be happening.

From there, they chose from a set of “defense cards,” each representing a natural compound that helps plants respond to stress. Some strategies help plants hold onto water, while others support root growth or protect cells from damage.

Visitors use “defense cards” to match plant stress with possible solutions.

The activity gave visitors a chance to test their ideas and talk through their reasoning with booth staff. After making their matches, participants checked their answers and earned a “Crop Defender” sticker.

Visitors talk through their ideas with C-SPIRIT team members.

The soybean plants themselves made the differences easier to see. Each one had been prepared to show a different type of stress, and the effects became clearer with a closer look. Some plants were losing older leaves under extreme heat, while smaller, newer leaves remained. Others appeared lighter in color and less developed under limited water, as the plants shifted their energy away from growth. Plants exposed to salt showed damage along the leaf edges and uneven growth.

Soybean plants showing the effects of heat, drought, and salinity stress.

The booth was staffed by C-SPIRIT members Yingtao Li (visiting MSU from the University of Tsukuba), Kathe Rivera-Zuluaga, Nick Schlecht, Maricar Macalincag, and Ashley Stender. Throughout the event, they helped guide conversations and connect what visitors were seeing to how plants respond to environmental stress.

Activities like this are a core part of C-SPIRIT’s outreach efforts. By giving people a chance to interact with real plants and simple ideas, it becomes easier to see how plant science connects to agriculture and the challenges crops face as environmental conditions become more extreme.

The C-SPIRIT “Crop Defenders” booth setup and informational materials.