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Last updated 27-Sep-2023 (be sure to refresh your browser)
For many of our most devoted young fans Cool Science Carnival Day for Kids IS the festival! Carnival Day at UCCS (even though it wasn't called that yet) actually began in 2009, and was such a huge hit that it was a no-brainer when we decided to expand it the following year to create the multi-day celebration of all things STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) that we all enjoy now. Cool Science Carnival Day for Kids at UCCS is truly STEAM on steroids! As always there will be several exciting demonstration shows, including our own USAFA Professor Emeritus and Cool Science co-founder Dr. Ron Furstenau present his popular Chemistry Magic show with lots of color changing "potions" and explosions! 
Chemistry Magic Show with Dr. Ron
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If You're Going
What: Cool Science Carnival Day for Kids When: Saturday, Sep. 30, 2023 10am-4pm Where: Univ of Colorado- Colo Spgs 1420 Austin Bluffs Pkwy., Colorado Springs (map) Who: Primarily for kids K-8th (fun for all!) Why: Because STEAM Rocks! How: With your help, please donate below |
And if that's not enough chemistry magic, Dr. Elise Naughton and her students from the UCCS Chemistry Dept. will set gummy bears on fire, electrocute a pickle and turn water into wine, milk and (butter?) beer. We also have amazing physics shows from the US Air Force Academy's "Physics is Phun" and a science play written by elementary students performed by Theatre Across Borders.
But there's a lot more than just shows on Carnival Day! We'll have over 80 hands-on STEAM activity stations featuring rockets, lots of robots, race cars and electric vehicles, virtual and augmented reality stations, a simulated cave to crawl through, telescopes, solar S'mores, catapults and mousetrap cars, giant bubbles, a real Air Force glider, mini light sabers, liquid nitrogen ice cream and much more!
But there's a lot more than just shows on Carnival Day! We'll have over 80 hands-on STEAM activity stations featuring rockets, lots of robots, race cars and electric vehicles, virtual and augmented reality stations, a simulated cave to crawl through, telescopes, solar S'mores, catapults and mousetrap cars, giant bubbles, a real Air Force glider, mini light sabers, liquid nitrogen ice cream and much more!
Exploring in CaveSim
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Live raptor (from Hogwarts?)
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MESO's Augmented Reality Sandbox
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Of course you can also meet plenty of live animals, including arthropods, raptors, Colorado native fish and macro-invertibrates in a "pond soup". If you prefer your animal encounters stuffed and mounted then check out the UCCS Natural History Museum. Examine tiny aquatic animals, fungi and bacteria through microscopes. You'll even learn how to train your own pets by playing a fun game.
All of this is presented by Cool Science and dozens of participating companies, schools, museums, clubs, nonprofits and other organizations from throughout eastern Colorado. Best of all, it's FREE (including parking) and fun for all ages!
Don't forget that Carnival Day is just one of dozens of great Colorado Springs Cool Science Festival events for all ages. Check out the full 16+ day schedule for more information.
You can also join our mailing list to keep updated on the festival and Carnival Day.
We still need lots of help to pull this off. Ask about volunteer opportunities for groups and individuals.
Help us promote Carnival Day
Carnival Day Poster/Flyer (265KB PDF)
Carnival Day Poster/Flyer (4 per page for handouts, 306KB PDF)
Carnival Day Poster/Flyer (4 per page for handouts, 306KB PDF)
Planning Your Visit
- Pre-Registration: Carnival Day is FREE, but please pre-register online to help us to know how many people are coming, kid's ages and how you found our about the event. It only takes a couple minutes.
- Pre-Arrival: If you like to prepare for big events in advance, you can download a copy of our Carnival Day Map/Flyer (639KB PDF) to plan your route through all the fun activities.
- Best Time to Come: We expect about 6,000 people to attend throughout the day, so it's always best to arrive earlier.
- Parking: All campus parking lots are FREE on Carnival Day, but fill up quickly, so check the campus parking map for more information.
- Arrival/Information: Our activities will be spread across much of the UCCS central main campus, inside and outside the University Center (UCTR), Centennial Hall (CENT), Gallogly Events Center (GEC) and Osborne Center (OCSE) (see campus map). We will have maps and volunteers to assist you at the main entrances to each of these buildings, but a good place to start is the University Center Lower Plaza Information Table (just to the right of "KFL" on this campus map).
- Food: We expect the University Center food court, Cafe 65, will be open until 2pm as well as the coffee shop, also in the University Center. The variety and quantity of food available may be limited, however, so you may want to bring your own snacks.
- Weather: We'll go rain or shine. If it is raining, snowing or extremely cold we will move most of the outside activities indoors, and of course the majority of our activity stations are already indoors.
- Social Media: Help us spread the word. Please share this page with your friends (Facebook "Like" and "Share" buttons above) and share your comments and photos with us on our Carnival Day Facebook event page (and be sure to like us on our Facebook page too). You can also tweet to us @CScoolscience, and we're on Instagram and TikTok. Use the hashtag #CSCSF.
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* Please help us keep this event admission FREE *
Suggested donation $2/child ($5/family)
Donate at Information Tables (cash only) or online through ColoradoGives
Suggested donation $2/child ($5/family)
Donate at Information Tables (cash only) or online through ColoradoGives
Demonstration Shows, Labs, Tours and Performances:
Cool Science and the U.S. Air Force Academy: Chemistry Magic Show
Show Times: 10:30 am and noon (~50 minutes)
Always a fan favorite, experience the wonders of chemistry with our own Dr. Ron Furstenau performing his signature magic show for all ages. "Potions" will change colors, explode and even freeze right before your eyes (all ages, Centennial 203).
Theatre Across Borders: Project 206: A Great Bones Adventure!
Show Times: 10:40 am; 1:30, 2:15 and 3:00 pm (~20 minutes)
There are 206 bones in the human body, and Gavin the Explorer will need every last one to complete a daring rescue mission. Can he outwit the shadowy agent who wants to steal the lab’s secrets for herself? Watch out for spies, giant X-rays, prosthetics and chases in low gravity (all ages, University Center Upper Plaza).
UCCS Chemistry: Chemical Illusions (A Chemistry Magic Show)
Performance Times: 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm
Dr. Elise Naughton from the UCCS Chemistry Dept. demonstrates her own take on the magic of chemistry with rainbow fire, flaming gummy bears, an electric pickle, a genie in a bottle and more! (all ages, Centennial 203).
UCCS Computer Science Bioinformatics Lab: When Artificial Intelligence Meets Biology
Presentation Times: 11:00 am; 12:00 and 1:00 pm (~40 minutes)
This enlightening presentation will delve into the dynamic fusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computational biology techniques. Learn how scientists harness the power of AI algorithms and leverage genomic data to address pertinent biological problems (best for high school students and adults, Osborne, OCSE - A210).
U.S. Air Force Academy: Pop-up Planetarium
Show Times: all day, sessions begin about every 30 minutes (~20 minutes)
Pop into our inflatable planetarium to watch "The Sun, Our Nearest Star." (all ages, Gallogly Events Center).
U.S. Air Force Academy Physics: Physics is Phun!
Show Times: 11:00 am; 12:30 and 2:00 pm (~45 minutes)
Watch- and experience- the amazing power of physics with a variety of angular momentum and magnetic forces demonstrations. Between shows you can try out some of the equipment yourself! (all ages, University Center UC 302).
UCCS Physics: Rock & Roll Band
Performance Times: 11:30 am and 12:30 pm (~40 minutes)
Enjoy a group of UCCS faculty (mainly physics faculty) performing classic rock and roll music from a range of decades. (all ages, outside University Center Upper Plaza stage).
UCCS Teach : The Wonders of Water!
Lab Times: 10:00 and 11:00 am, noon, 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00 pm (~30-45 minutes)
Come chill out with an ice balloon and explore the unique properties that make water essential for life on Earth. In this lab, you will engage in the scientific process by experimenting with your ice balloons. This activity will certainly intrigue your curiosity! (all ages, Osborne, OCSE - B310).
Show Times: 10:30 am and noon (~50 minutes)
Always a fan favorite, experience the wonders of chemistry with our own Dr. Ron Furstenau performing his signature magic show for all ages. "Potions" will change colors, explode and even freeze right before your eyes (all ages, Centennial 203).
Theatre Across Borders: Project 206: A Great Bones Adventure!
Show Times: 10:40 am; 1:30, 2:15 and 3:00 pm (~20 minutes)
There are 206 bones in the human body, and Gavin the Explorer will need every last one to complete a daring rescue mission. Can he outwit the shadowy agent who wants to steal the lab’s secrets for herself? Watch out for spies, giant X-rays, prosthetics and chases in low gravity (all ages, University Center Upper Plaza).
UCCS Chemistry: Chemical Illusions (A Chemistry Magic Show)
Performance Times: 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm
Dr. Elise Naughton from the UCCS Chemistry Dept. demonstrates her own take on the magic of chemistry with rainbow fire, flaming gummy bears, an electric pickle, a genie in a bottle and more! (all ages, Centennial 203).
UCCS Computer Science Bioinformatics Lab: When Artificial Intelligence Meets Biology
Presentation Times: 11:00 am; 12:00 and 1:00 pm (~40 minutes)
This enlightening presentation will delve into the dynamic fusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computational biology techniques. Learn how scientists harness the power of AI algorithms and leverage genomic data to address pertinent biological problems (best for high school students and adults, Osborne, OCSE - A210).
U.S. Air Force Academy: Pop-up Planetarium
Show Times: all day, sessions begin about every 30 minutes (~20 minutes)
Pop into our inflatable planetarium to watch "The Sun, Our Nearest Star." (all ages, Gallogly Events Center).
U.S. Air Force Academy Physics: Physics is Phun!
Show Times: 11:00 am; 12:30 and 2:00 pm (~45 minutes)
Watch- and experience- the amazing power of physics with a variety of angular momentum and magnetic forces demonstrations. Between shows you can try out some of the equipment yourself! (all ages, University Center UC 302).
UCCS Physics: Rock & Roll Band
Performance Times: 11:30 am and 12:30 pm (~40 minutes)
Enjoy a group of UCCS faculty (mainly physics faculty) performing classic rock and roll music from a range of decades. (all ages, outside University Center Upper Plaza stage).
UCCS Teach : The Wonders of Water!
Lab Times: 10:00 and 11:00 am, noon, 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00 pm (~30-45 minutes)
Come chill out with an ice balloon and explore the unique properties that make water essential for life on Earth. In this lab, you will engage in the scientific process by experimenting with your ice balloons. This activity will certainly intrigue your curiosity! (all ages, Osborne, OCSE - B310).
Hands-on Activity Stations:
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Aerospace Radio Club Colorado Springs:
Check out the club's emergency communications trailer and use the club's radios to talk to other 'hams' on several amateur radio bands. American Numismatic Association - The Money Museum: Learn about the elements have been used throughout history to make money and play "Guess Which Coin Weighs More?" to win a real coin prize. ARKA Group: Satellite Sleuths: Adventures in Space Communications. Learn how satellites send important information across space to people on the ground. Autoshop Vocational: Learn how the forced induction systems work in turbo and supercharged vehicles. AIAA Rocky Mountain Section: Learn about rocketry as engineers from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) help you experiment launching rockets using chemical reactions. Bearbotics Robotics Team: D-38's FIRST robotics team will show you how to drive some of their robots and demonstrate some of their projects, including small-scale battlebots, 3D-printed drones and AI Art. Blue Origin's Club for the Future: Write or draw a postcard that will be sent into space on Blue Origin's New Shepherd rocket. When it lands your postcard will be mailed to you as a space souvenir. Boys and Girls Club of the Pikes Peak Region: Several of our members will demonstrate flying drones that they built from scratch to play Drone Soccer. Cave of the Winds: Learn how some caves and rocks form with our Geology Lab, and some of the critters you might find in a cave. CaveSim: Put on a helmet with headlamps and crawl through 60 feet of artificial cave tunnels inside the CaveSim trailer, but explore carefully because this is a real-life video game and you'll lose points for touching stalactites and other cave objects! Also harness up and practice various climbing techniques with pulleys and mechanical ascenders on our12' tall vertical caving tower. Challenger Learning Center of Colorado: Design your own Artemis Moon Mission Medallion, then program a lunar rover to navigate to the mineral mine at Shackleton Crater without going off course! Cheyenne Mountain Zoo: [10am to 2pm only] Interact with live animals and touchable biofacts from the ZOOMobile. You might meet snakes, hedgehogs, lizards, or who knows what else. Civil Air Patrol - Colorado Springs Cadet Squadron: Cadets will help you build your own paper rocket and launch it with compressed air to fly 300 feet down range- or it may blow up on the launch pad! Civil Air Patrol - Pikes Peak Composite Squadron: How do airplanes fly? Learn about Bernoulli's Principle with paper airplanes, mask making and fun demonstrations (OCSE B216). Colorado Parks and Wildlife: Experience why the wildlife and fish native to Colorado are so important at this hands-on activity station with live fish. Colorado Springs Astronomical Society: Safely observe the sun's surface and its atmosphere using our special filtered telescopes. Members will also hand out free solar eclipse viewers and demonstrate how to safely observe the upcoming solar eclipses using common household items. Colorado Springs Fire Department: [11am to 1pm only] CSFD firefighters will be providing information on the equipment and capabilities of the fire engine. Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum: As a History Detective in training you will work with invisible ink, decoders, magnifying glasses, and puzzles to analyze artifacts, documents, and photographs from the Museum’s collection. Colorado Springs Rocket Society (COSROCS): Build a quality Estes Rocket Model that will take to the skies! Rocket Society members will be on stand-by to help with the construction and to answer any questions you may have on rockets (OCSE A327). The Colorado Springs School: Challenge your observation, modeling and experimental skills with several fun activities based on observing roly-poly (pill) bugs. Colorado Springs Utilities: Discover what your energy future may look like. Charge your phone on our Solar Charging Station, experience a heat pump and determine which metal is the best sacrificial anode to protect pipes from rusting. Cougars Gone Wired D11 FIRST Robotics Team: Play robot soccer with Vex IQ robots on an 8'x4' field while the team demonstrates their full-size 2023 FIRST Robotics Competition robot. Davidson Technologies: Make your own mini light saber using a straw, battery and a light emitting diode (LED). Denver Museum of Nature and Science: Explore loads of fun interactive science- and nature-based activities in the "Curiosity Cruiser" - DMNS's mobile museum on wheels. We'll also have a display about the research work at Corral Bluffs east of Colorado Springs. Donor Alliance: Play with Charlie, a life-size operation game, to learn about transplantable organs and talk with volunteers that have been personally touched by donation! Drive Electric Colorado: Ask our team of experts any EV question, from financial incentives to range and charging (Car Showcase Cancelled- sorry) El Paso County Nature Centers: Meet the tiny & big creatures of El Paso County with pelts, skulls, scats, and tracks of a few mammals, as well as fresh pond water with macro life swimming about. Emerge Aquaponics: Come see the amazing adventure of aquaponics- fish, plants and microorganisms working together to create sustainability in Colorado and around the world. Etio Chiropractic: What does skin temperature say about the function of your nervous system? Girl Scouts of Colorado: Build and decorate a paper rocket then use straws to launch it. Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region: Learn the science of clicker training animals by trying it yourself with a (human) partner. Are you smarter than a dog? iFLY Colorado Springs: Learn how forces and physics make indoor skydiving possible by flying miniature objects in our vertical wind tunnel. Kelly Bull Permaculture Design: Learn how worms can turn your trash into a treasure- high-quality nutritious compost. Hold a worm and see them in action! Keysight Technologies: Experience and build electrical engineering-based activities such as a circuit maze game, a Code & Go Robot mouse, an oscilloscope demonstration with musical instruments, an LED light show about digital signals and programming, hand-held microscopes, and more! (UC 303). League of Women Voters of the Pikes Peak Region: Rock the Vote! Learn about the importance of voting for STEAM education while you paint a rock. Lockheed Martin: Put on a special headset to explore STEM with virtual reality scenes then take a ride on a rocket sled powered by you! Macaroni KID Colorado Springs: Picture yourself as a real scientist and enjoy a super fun booth full of crafts, games, a spin wheel of prizes, bubbles, temporary tattoos and lots of give-aways! Missile Defense Agency: Learn how a ballistic missile operates while designing, building and launching your own inflatable missile. Minerals Education Coalition: Professionals from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) will explain how valuable mineral resources are discovered and mined as you pan for gold in sand. Mobile Earth + Space Observatory (MESO): Check out our cool space science RV with telescopes, an augmented reality sandbox, a gravity well and more hands-on activities. |
Nature & Wildlife Discovery Center:
Explore our skins and skulls touch table, learn about our resident raptors and even meet and greet with some live birds of prey (OCSE B213). National Museum of World War II Aviation: Build and test-fly a foam plane that showcases the physics of flight, then take it with you for more fun at home! National Weather Service (Pueblo): Create clouds in a bottle and demonstrate the fluid motions of one of southern Colorado's most interesting weather phenomena, the tornado. Also learn about weather safety in southern Colorado. Pikes Peak Children's Museum: Enjoy a Bird Beak Buffet - try to eat like a bird with different beak shapes. Pikes Peak Library District: Join Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) in our exploration of force, motion, and visual effects as you create a Penny Spinner. Pikes Peak Mycological Society: Examine several types of Colorado mushrooms and learn how to find them in the wild. We'll also demonstrate how fungi are farmed in our fungus habitat. Pikes Peak Permaculture: Learn about the importance of growing native plants as food for pollinators as you get dirty by making your own Seed Balls or Earth Dumplings with clay and compost. Pikes Peak Regional Science and Engineering Fair: Middle and high school science fair participants will present their projects and explain the difference between a science demonstration and an experiment. Pikes Peak Soap Box Derby: See the internal workings of a Soap Box Derby car cut in half then take a gravity-propelled ride in a real derby car to get the feel of racing. Pikes Peak State College Engineering: Play with ping pong launchers and mouse trap cars. Come by and try to launch the ball to hit the target! Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site: Learn about the history of Rock Ledge Ranch while making real butter. Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center: Learn about the Amazing Prehistoric Seas in our ocean themed interactive program. Rocky Mountain Robotics: Meet the students from ASD-20's robotics team as they demonstrate this year's FIRST Robotics competition robot and show you how they built it. Rocky Mountain Vibes Baseball: Learn the principles of flight and air resistance and how they apply to the trajectory of different baseball pitches. Royal Crest Dairy, Palmer HS Science and Cool Science: Learn about dairy products while making tasty ice cream in less than 2 minutes using liquid nitrogen at -320°F. Schriever Space Force Base: Hold a satellite in the palm of your hand and see what space looks like through our Delta 8 training virtual headset. Slim Rail Modular Model Railroad Club: Check out our amazing digital command controlled scale model of Colorado narrow gauge railroad technology. Southeast Colorado Renewable Energy Society (SECRES): Use the sun's energy to cook S'Mores, and learn about solar thermal, photovoltaic (PV) and other renewable energy technologies. Space Foundation Discovery Center: Build "puff rockets”, create an alien and make dry ice soap bubbles. Starbase Peterson: You're the detective using paper chromatography on various water soluble markers to determine what brand of marker was used for our sample. Sustainable Educational Experience: Learn how your taste buds work, how to identify herbs and how you can change the flavors of foods by combining different ingredients. Top Ladies of Distinction / Top Teens of America: Members of the Mountain West Chapter will show you how to make gigantic soap bubbles. U.S. Air Force Academy 94th Flying Training Squadron: Climb into a real glider just like the ones USAFA cadets use for training. We will also bring our portable simulator to give people the chance to experience a glider flight! U.S Air Force Academy Computer and Cyber Sciences: Learn how to crack codes and transmit secret messages; explore deep learning and help train an artificial intelligence (AI); and program Arduino robots to follow a digital scent or react to a light sensor and follow a line! (OCSE B215). U.S. Air Force Academy iGEM Team: Learn the importance of tick awareness and how to check for ticks. We will also have an interactive demo of our lyme-disease detection patch. U.S. Army 749th EOD Team: Soldiers from Ft. Carson will help you operate a real military Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) robot and try on a bomb suit. U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Play some fun games to learn about protecting our environment. UCCS American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics: Demonstration of astrodynamics and aerodynamics systems, including a cubesat (small satellite), a regeneratively cooled rocket engine, and pop rockets! (OCSE A304/306). UCCS Bug Club: Insectpalooza! Come experience insects, spiders & all things arthropod - live and preserved- housed in the UCCS Biology Dept ! We also have feeding demonstrations & interactions with select critters. (OCSE B314) UCCS Chemistry & Biochemistry: Experiment with the enzymes in your own saliva that help break down the food you eat. UCCS CK - Kiwanis and Cool Science: Make water dance, a bowl sing, and tap a spoon that will blow your mind! UCCS Cognitive Development Lab: Is it easier to remember pictures or words, and why do you think that? Play our fun memory game and win prizes to learn how you remember information. UCCS Cyber Security Programs Office: Learn about Cybersecurity through VR (Virtual Reality)! Put on a headset to experience a VR scavenger hunt and look for clues to solve a riddle. UCCS Electrical and Computer Engineering: We'll demonstrate UCCS student's Arduino Robot projects then you can play with our LEGO Robots in the robotics lab (ENGR 230). UCCS Engineering and Applied Science: Demonstrations of acoustics (sound waves) to create and trap microbubbles and make fire dance. (OCSE A214). Remission Possible Game Demo: Steer a ship down winding blood vessels to deliver life-saving medicine and fight cancer! (OCSE A218). UCCS GES Geomorphology Research Lab: Get wet and sandy building your own stream channel in running water. Students will also demonstrate a LiDAR 3D scanner (a cool green laser!) and other geoscience instruments (Cent 111). UCCS Latinx Student Union: Watch robots built by mechanical engineering students that dance, do sit-ups, push-ups, and other cool movements (OCSE A306). UCCS Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: Test various airplane wing shapes in a real wind tunnel (OCSE A302). UCCS Natural History Museum: See more than 800 skeletons, skulls, and preserved specimens ranging from hippos to a saber-toothed tiger, and hands-on activities including owl pellet dissections, track and skull identification games and more! (Osborne OCSE B402). UCCS PERCH Research Lab: Create your own model of a brain with colored clay while learning about the different parts and their functions. UCCS Physics and Energy Science: Learn what the giant Foucalt pendulum in the Osborne lobby shows and how it works, as well as demonstrations of electricity, magnetism, aerodynamics, and other spectacular physical effects. UCCS Teach: Chill out with an ice balloon to engage in the scientific process and explore the unique properties that make water essential for life on Earth (OCSE B310). |
Colorado Springs Cool Science Carnival Day Sponsors
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Colorado Springs Cool Science Carnival Day Partners
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Thanks to all of our Cool Science volunteers and the participating organizations that make Carnival Day possible!
Disclaimer: Please be aware that by attending this event, you consent to your likeness being used, without compensation, in photography for use in any and all media, whether known or subsequent. You release Cool Science, its successors, assigns and licensees from any liability whatsoever of any nature.
Disclaimer: Please be aware that by attending this event, you consent to your likeness being used, without compensation, in photography for use in any and all media, whether known or subsequent. You release Cool Science, its successors, assigns and licensees from any liability whatsoever of any nature.
