On October 13th, 2018, a host of organizations joined us at UCCS to celebrate science, technology, engineering, art, and math at our massive Carnival Day for Kids. There were over 5,000 guests all eager to learn and explore the scientific world around us. Sometimes this scientific world can get very dark. CaveSim, a crawl-through electronic cave simulator where kids can get a taste of real caving while also learning about different scientific fields, was created by Dave Jackson, a man I had the pleasure of talking with at the carnival. Mr. Jackson obviously has a great passion for both caving and education…and making science cool for kids! The goal of CaveSim, as Dave told me, is to primarily teach kids about cave conservation. As the kids get geared up to enter the simulation with their helmets and headlamps, they are told to avoid touching any of the stalactites or stalagmites. Every time they touch one, the computer tracks this as one point against them. In this way, CaveSim becomes a fun, interactive challenge to see if you can get through the entire cave without disturbing the fragile underground world. CaveSim also offers kids the opportunity to learn about physics, geology, ecology, and more. One of the other demonstrations I got to see on Saturday was when Dave showed a group of kids the importance of rope pulleys to reduce friction while caving (pictured). CaveSim was widely popular at the carnival, with a great turnout. Cool Science would like to extend its thanks to Dave and the entire CaveSim crew for being a part of the Carnival Day for Kids, and we hope to see them again next year! To learn more about CaveSim, visit their website at www.cavesim.com, or check out their Facebook page @CaveSim.
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Have you ever wondered if math could be fun? At our Cool Science Carnival Day for Kids, the United States Air Force Academy came to answer that question with a resounding “yes”! Many of us think of math as an abstract, distant discipline, and while it can be, it also branches out into the physical, visible world. Mathematics surrounds us everywhere we look, and USAFA had a fun craft project to open kids’ eyes to the possibilities of math. The students made tetrahedrons out of colorful construction paper, where they got to learn about triangles and the relationship between the four faces of the object, the six straight edges, and the four vertex corners. Basic principles that can evolve into complicated mathematical properties. If the kids wanted to learn more, they would get further explanations for how math is used to measure shapes and objects. Everyone in the room was having an amazing time making their tetrahedrons and learning about math. This was just one of the activity tables at our Carnival that proves how it’s easy to make science cool for kids! The weather was perfect, and so was almost everything else about this year's Cool Science Carnival Day at UCCS. Many folks commented that it was the best ever, and we agree!
If you were there, please let us know what you liked, didn't like, and if you have any ideas about how we can make it even better next year by commenting below (you may need to click on the "# Comments" link first to open the blog post). You can also comment and share your photos (we love photos!) on our Carnival Day Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2051269988227340/ Thanks to everyone who made it a great day, especially our sponsors and all of the organizations who provided the shows, tours, workshops and hands-on activity stations! |