Selasa, 19 April 2011

An Extravagant Science Extravaganza!

Math, science, and FUN! What could be better than that? With hands-on exhibits provided by the McDonald Observatory, Sibley Nature Center, Texas Tech TAME (Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering), the MISD Early College High School students, and many more there was definitely something for each of the 2,000 fifth and sixth graders that took over Midland College Friday April 8th. Watching as the elementary students played tons of number games in the math exhibits within the Abell-Hanger Science Faculty Building, learned to match DNA sequences and seeing firsthand the anatomy of cats in the Fox Science Building the events of Science Extravaganza 2011 never failed to bring enjoyment and entertainment to all those involved, including me!


One of the more popular exhibits presented by the Midland Police Department that caused a lot of attention was that of the "impaired vision stimulation." The students were given goggles to wear that had the same affect of being drunk and given simple tasks to perform, like standing on one foot or high-fiving each other, in order to see how hard it is to function while drinking. It was then that the students were allowed to drive, or attempt to drive, a golf cart in one of the MC courtyards while wearing the goggles to show just how dangerous drinking and driving really is. With cones set up in a course for the students to navigate through, there was of course not one cone still standing at the end of the presentation.


In addition to all the craziness of the "impaired" drivers, students were also shown an example of water pressure with a bottle rocket presentation by the MC Engineering Club. Getting the signal of the countdown to begin pumping water, the various elementary students stood in amazement as the handmade rocket shot into the air, leaving a stream of water trailing behind before landing several yards away. Screams of excitement began after each "take off" only to begin again once it landed. After two solid hours of learning and entertainment from all over the MC campus, it was time for the main event. Explosions of about 50 liters of soda fountained in the air after being combined with Mentos mints concluded the day's activities. It certainly made for an extravagant finale to such an extravagant day!













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