On May 24th and 25th the StarLight Festival will present an amazing galaxy of STEM activities from robots to rockets to intriguing presentations, the festival will be riddled with engaging STEM-style events. Families with students of all ages are encouraged to attend this free event and to take part in many of the hands-on STEM science activities.
Big Bear Lake, California (PRWEB) May 14, 2014
Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics – These are the cornerstones of our future, and StarLight Festival organizers have made providing family fun in a STEM-focused environment a priority for their inaugural event.
“This is a great opportunity to share science and STEM with families that might not normally experience them together as a family. We would like to show how much fun STEM and the sciences can be,” said Dr. Mike Reynolds, Dean of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Florida State College and lead organizer of the festival’s STEM Zone.
From robots to rockets to intriguing presentations, the festival will be riddled with engaging STEM-style events. But the main STEM action will be at the heart of the festival in the STEM zone, which will offer a versatile mix of available activities to engage attendees of all ages.
One of the zone’s highlights will be an interactive exhibit titled “Moon Rocks and Meteorites” that offers visitors the chance to view moon rocks that are part of the 842 pounds of lunar material collected by NASA astronauts on the Apollo missions.
Reynolds will be on hand to talk about the samples and his own travels around the world to research meteorites. Exhibit visitors also will have the opportunity to touch rare meteorites, including an impressive 75-pound iron meteorite, a meteorite from the Moon and one from Mars.
Other hands-on activities in the STEM zone include:· Saturn and Its Rings: Participants can build and decorate their own model of Saturn complete with rings.
· Martian Landers: Participants can build their own planetary landers complete with a balloon engine.
· Environmental Sampling: Visitors to this station will see how environmental scientists sample the Earth’s environment and have an opportunity to try their hand at the profession.
· Meteroite Hunters: Attendees can learn from the experts about how meteorites are found and then employ those techniques to find their own.
· Chicken Little: Zone guests will get a crash course in cratering here on Earth and on other rocky worlds. Participants can try to create their own crater as they discover all about meteorite impacts.
National STEM personalities also will be on hand for the event, including solar astronomer Stephen W. Ramsden, who is the founder and director of the Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project. In addition to lecturing on the Sun, Ramsden will be hosting daily solar observing sessions using high-end telescopes and imaging equipment to give attendees up-close live views of solar flares, sunspots prominences and other magnetic phenomena in three wavelengths of light.
“The festival’s entire concept and intent is to bring together the worlds best STEM providers into one festival so that attendees can have easy access to state-of-the-art astronomy equipment provided, explained and demonstrated by the best minds in the industry,” Ramsden said. Reported by PRWeb 1 hour ago.
Big Bear Lake, California (PRWEB) May 14, 2014
Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics – These are the cornerstones of our future, and StarLight Festival organizers have made providing family fun in a STEM-focused environment a priority for their inaugural event.
“This is a great opportunity to share science and STEM with families that might not normally experience them together as a family. We would like to show how much fun STEM and the sciences can be,” said Dr. Mike Reynolds, Dean of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Florida State College and lead organizer of the festival’s STEM Zone.
From robots to rockets to intriguing presentations, the festival will be riddled with engaging STEM-style events. But the main STEM action will be at the heart of the festival in the STEM zone, which will offer a versatile mix of available activities to engage attendees of all ages.
One of the zone’s highlights will be an interactive exhibit titled “Moon Rocks and Meteorites” that offers visitors the chance to view moon rocks that are part of the 842 pounds of lunar material collected by NASA astronauts on the Apollo missions.
Reynolds will be on hand to talk about the samples and his own travels around the world to research meteorites. Exhibit visitors also will have the opportunity to touch rare meteorites, including an impressive 75-pound iron meteorite, a meteorite from the Moon and one from Mars.
Other hands-on activities in the STEM zone include:· Saturn and Its Rings: Participants can build and decorate their own model of Saturn complete with rings.
· Martian Landers: Participants can build their own planetary landers complete with a balloon engine.
· Environmental Sampling: Visitors to this station will see how environmental scientists sample the Earth’s environment and have an opportunity to try their hand at the profession.
· Meteroite Hunters: Attendees can learn from the experts about how meteorites are found and then employ those techniques to find their own.
· Chicken Little: Zone guests will get a crash course in cratering here on Earth and on other rocky worlds. Participants can try to create their own crater as they discover all about meteorite impacts.
National STEM personalities also will be on hand for the event, including solar astronomer Stephen W. Ramsden, who is the founder and director of the Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project. In addition to lecturing on the Sun, Ramsden will be hosting daily solar observing sessions using high-end telescopes and imaging equipment to give attendees up-close live views of solar flares, sunspots prominences and other magnetic phenomena in three wavelengths of light.
“The festival’s entire concept and intent is to bring together the worlds best STEM providers into one festival so that attendees can have easy access to state-of-the-art astronomy equipment provided, explained and demonstrated by the best minds in the industry,” Ramsden said. Reported by PRWeb 1 hour ago.