STEAM night: Showcasing Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathmatics

It's always great to see schools, organizations, parents, and kids engaging in STEM activities.  I was able to participate and see such a great event this past week.  It was STEAM night organized by Laurel Park Elementary School.  I had fun engaging the kids, but there were  a lot of other great exhibitors!  I thought I would show a little information about the ones I able to see.

Here are a few details about some great folks and programs that are helping to educate our kids for the future.

Happy Little Circuits

I wish I knew more about robotics.  Well this group of kids not only knows about robotics, but they build them.   Happy Little Circuits is a robotics team from Apex High School.  They had some robots on display to interact with the kids.  There website is http://apexroboticsfirst.weebly.com/

Why is it important to teach our kids about robotics?  Here is an article from a local newspaper just the other day.

North Carolina Air Quality

The NC Air quality was available for questions.

The booth had a neat little craft to collect pollen from the air.

Space

One of my favorite subjects is SPACE!!   And there was some great information on constellations and observing the upcoming solar eclipse.

Did you know there will be a total solar eclipse for much of North America on August 21, 2017.   NASA even has a page dedicated to this event.  Check it out!

https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/

The booth also had handouts on how to look at the eclipse.

The Little Medical School

The little medical school is all about bringing medicine, science, and the importance of health to children in entertaining, exciting, and fun ways.   There is more information at their website:

www.littlemedicalschool.com

Treasure Quest Mining 

Treasure Quest Mining is a mobile gem mining and treasure hunting experience.  They were at STEAM night showing off all kinds of rocks to interested kids.

Academy of Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing

The Academy of Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing is a learning community within Apex Friendship High School.  The academy introduces students to career opportunities within STEM.

eMammal

This was one of my favorite booths.  There is a program called eMammal that can be used by anyone to collect pictures of animals for the Smithsonian

A local middle school had participated in the program.   After hearing about this program I really want to join in the fun.  If you are interested be sure to go check out the eMammal site.

https://emammal.si.edu/

BounceU

BounceU is a bounce house for kids.  However they run robotics camps as well for kids.    They had a robot on display.

NC Fossil Club

Did you know North Carolina had a fossil club?  I did not either.    Some representatives from the club were there to share and show off some fossils.   If you want to learn more you can visit their website:

http://www.ncfossilclub.org/

Laurel Park Elementary School

Laurel Park was getting in on the action by demonstrating how to make a battery from fruit.   I have an earlier blog post showing off how you could do this activity yourself.

Beekeeping

A local beekeeper was showing off what it means to have your own beehives.

RoboEagles Team

The RoboEagles Team is a fifth year robotics competition team that was showing off their robots.  They had a robot on display that threw a large ball.  The kids had a chance to try and catch a ball thrown by the robot. 

Their website is here where you can see exactly what their robots look like:

http://www.roboeagles.org/

NC State Entomology Department 

Do you like bugs?  Well there was an NC State entomologist on hand to show off some really cool bugs.    Here are a few of the ones on display.

Here are a few of the ones on display.

A Madagascar Hissing Cockroach and Vinegaroon.   The vinegaroon sprays acetic acid which smells like vinegar!!

A Thorny Devil

Tarantula

 Cave Cockroach

DNA Extraction

And finally I was around to extract DNA with kids and teach what DNA is all about.   We demonstrated that even plants have DNA!  In 2 hours we did over 50 DNA extractions!

I probably missed a few booths at STEAM night.  There was just so much to see and do in only 2 hours.  I really applaud Laurel Park Elementary and all the other schools and organizations that took to show off what they do.  Just as important are the parents that volunteer to help out or bring their kids to these type of events.   That time will translate in helping many kids better understand some of the opportunities available to them the STEAM area.  It was a great night and I look forward to the next one.