Grade School

We will hand out information about our school as well as have a hands-on activity for the students to complete.

Make your own colorful lava lamps to take home. The test tubes from Steve Spangler Science can be used to do 15 more experiments at home.

The mission of the Bioinformatics booth is to introduce prospective students and parents to an emerging interdisciplinary field that is focused on handling large datasets and computational problem solving, in order to address complex biological problems. Such outreach is valuable to the scientific community as a whole, because it advertises the accomplishments in the field, and the dedication of the scientists and engineers involved.

Demos planned for this year’s festivities include DNA Extrac, Snap Circuits, Diaper Polymers, Silly Putty and Oobleck. All demos at the booth will be hands-on and are designed to maximize interaction with attendees. Through these activities we hope to engage with the children while introducing key science and engineering fundamentals. DNA Extrac allows attendees to extract DNA from strawberries.

Hands-on activities for families

We will have science activities aimed at elementary school and up.

The San Diego River is teeming with life, from 4 foot tall herons to microscopic algae. We invite you to learn from River Park Foundation scientists how the organisms that live in the river can unlock secrets about the San Diego River’s health! Look at real aquatic bugs, play games, and learn about places to explore nature along the San Diego River.

Two groups from University of California-Irvine will explore concepts of light using fun, take-home activities such as our popular Spectrobox, kaleidoscopes, and optical illusion demos! In addition, we will be exhibiting a newly developed game that explores atomic structure from the point of view of an atom!

Enrichment program for elementary and middle school

Get closer to science! Guests will be able to explore ocean and earth science through conversation and hands-on activities! Join Birch Aquarium to discover some of the amazing things that go on below the surface of the ocean, on the beach, and sometimes in your own backyard.