A Balanced Science Fest Does a Mind Good
by Bani
What is Science? How do things happen? Why does the Earth orbit the Sun? What is Space? These questions and mysteries were all answered during the Science Fest held in Madison, WI.
For five days every year Science Fest is one of the most exciting events in town. We discussed it in Mr. C's class. Many of us got inspired by Mr. C to visit the Science Fest. A lot of kids have had the experience of Science Fest in previous years, but this was my first time attending. Science Fest was held at the University of Wisconsin and throughout Madison, but the sites where most students went were the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery and Union South.
Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery is a special research building where scientists interact with each other, and community involvement is highly encouraged. There were lots of exhibits there such as taste buds, bottle biology, nano technology, and even cow eyeballs. Yes, you read it correct - “Cow Eyeballs”. Something I thought was really cool was that we could hold the eyeball. I learnt about the blind spot and the photo cells on the retina that help you visualize things. There was also a presentation about Nano Technology which was very popular too. At the nano technology presentation, scientists talked about nano materials. Nano materials are 1/10,000th the width of a hair, but 100 times larger than molecules of other chemicals such as vinegar and aspirin. But if the scientists are not careful the materials might harm the environment.
At the taste bud exhibition they were making us taste couple of M&M's and then making us taste some kind of bitter tea. After a minute we tasted couple more M&M's. The M&M's tasted bitter because the tea blocked our sweet taste buds. There was also an experiment called Bottle Biology. They had planted a lettuce plant in a bottle tied with string. The reason and mechanics behind planting it in the bottle was that you wouldn't have to water the plant until the plant got extremely dry. The water was traveling up the string due to capillary action. Capillary action is the ability for a liquid to move upward through small spaces against gravity.
At Union South kids enjoyed Wisconsin Robotics. A high school team built a frisbee throwing robot and a machine which moves with an X-box remote control. A few boys from our school got to visit Physics of Football because of their passion for the game.
At Sauk City library a couple students went to see the 3-D printing machine and said, “It was really cool,” because the way it popped out 3-D objects after printing. That was outstanding. It made images more interesting than regular printing.
At the Mechanical Engineer Department a couple of my classmates also visited the flight simulator where there is a screen and a control handle, and it felt as if actually flying a jet-pack. Experiencing the jet-pack was amazing and amusing for the students.
I went to the Geology Museum and so did Mrs. Mahr. At the Geology museum, the scientists were testing different levels of salt in the water. There were three kinds of salty water – normal drinking water, salty water and finally extremely salty water. Days after the visit, Mrs. Mahr said, “I can still feel the salty taste in my mouth right now.” The reason for tasting different sorts of water was to signify how important is drinking water to us. The Geologists had also displayed a rock from Mars which we could hold in our hands. The experience to hold a rock from Mars was marvelous!
Science Fest was not only for kids or adults who have interest in science but for all who are just curious to learn the “why” behind phenomena. I hope our experiences during the Science Fest will inspire you to visit it next year.
by Bani
What is Science? How do things happen? Why does the Earth orbit the Sun? What is Space? These questions and mysteries were all answered during the Science Fest held in Madison, WI.
For five days every year Science Fest is one of the most exciting events in town. We discussed it in Mr. C's class. Many of us got inspired by Mr. C to visit the Science Fest. A lot of kids have had the experience of Science Fest in previous years, but this was my first time attending. Science Fest was held at the University of Wisconsin and throughout Madison, but the sites where most students went were the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery and Union South.
Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery is a special research building where scientists interact with each other, and community involvement is highly encouraged. There were lots of exhibits there such as taste buds, bottle biology, nano technology, and even cow eyeballs. Yes, you read it correct - “Cow Eyeballs”. Something I thought was really cool was that we could hold the eyeball. I learnt about the blind spot and the photo cells on the retina that help you visualize things. There was also a presentation about Nano Technology which was very popular too. At the nano technology presentation, scientists talked about nano materials. Nano materials are 1/10,000th the width of a hair, but 100 times larger than molecules of other chemicals such as vinegar and aspirin. But if the scientists are not careful the materials might harm the environment.
At the taste bud exhibition they were making us taste couple of M&M's and then making us taste some kind of bitter tea. After a minute we tasted couple more M&M's. The M&M's tasted bitter because the tea blocked our sweet taste buds. There was also an experiment called Bottle Biology. They had planted a lettuce plant in a bottle tied with string. The reason and mechanics behind planting it in the bottle was that you wouldn't have to water the plant until the plant got extremely dry. The water was traveling up the string due to capillary action. Capillary action is the ability for a liquid to move upward through small spaces against gravity.
At Union South kids enjoyed Wisconsin Robotics. A high school team built a frisbee throwing robot and a machine which moves with an X-box remote control. A few boys from our school got to visit Physics of Football because of their passion for the game.
At Sauk City library a couple students went to see the 3-D printing machine and said, “It was really cool,” because the way it popped out 3-D objects after printing. That was outstanding. It made images more interesting than regular printing.
At the Mechanical Engineer Department a couple of my classmates also visited the flight simulator where there is a screen and a control handle, and it felt as if actually flying a jet-pack. Experiencing the jet-pack was amazing and amusing for the students.
I went to the Geology Museum and so did Mrs. Mahr. At the Geology museum, the scientists were testing different levels of salt in the water. There were three kinds of salty water – normal drinking water, salty water and finally extremely salty water. Days after the visit, Mrs. Mahr said, “I can still feel the salty taste in my mouth right now.” The reason for tasting different sorts of water was to signify how important is drinking water to us. The Geologists had also displayed a rock from Mars which we could hold in our hands. The experience to hold a rock from Mars was marvelous!
Science Fest was not only for kids or adults who have interest in science but for all who are just curious to learn the “why” behind phenomena. I hope our experiences during the Science Fest will inspire you to visit it next year.