High School

By exploring the building blocks of Bioengineering and how they can be applied to solve today's medical problems, you will experience how Bioengineering is intensely interdisciplinary and innovative.

Demos galore! We will have astronomers and physicists from UCSD on hand to describe their research to audiences accompanied by a number of physics and astronomy demonstrations. The demos will include, play-doh Solar Systems, exoplanet explanations, telescope optics, angular momentum, optical illusions, electrical phenomena, and more!

We plan to have activities for individuals of all ages to participate in. Since we are a neuroscience lab, we like to have some activities in which people can learn about the brain and brain functions. Some activities include a brain trivia game, stroop task (always a favorite!), as well as some brain mazes for the younger kids, and more! As we did last year, we will be bringing a brain model for the kids and adults to look at and we are there to answer any questions they may have.

UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy booth will provide an exposure to the health services that pharmacists provide to our society. Through a series of fun and interactive activities, visitors will learn about different diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and asthma. Furthermore, the booth will provide information about immunization, medication safety and pharmaceutical compounding. Examples of activities include learning how to use inhalers and ingredients necessary for pharmaceutical compounding

Since 2009 Castle Park High students, with Dr. Pomeroy of UCSD, have learned to produce biodiesel from vegetable oil. Students use a particle counter to determine how “clean” the fuel burns and discuss how particulate impacts our global climate. Students present this field data to support the benefits of biodiesel. Our booth, as in years past, will demonstrate the step-by-step process of biodiesel synthesis, discuss the advantages of biodiesel over petroleum and outline the ease of production.

Our activities will be hands-on and relates to the research conducted in our Center. Students will investigate the properties of white light and lasers using a spectrobox which each student will receive to further explore the fundamental nature of light at home. There will also be tablets for students to play our Bond Breaker game, a free puzzle game to introduce chemistry and physics concepts of how bonds in molecules are formed and broken (http://www.castl.uci.edu/games/bondbreaker).

Booth will consist of one display for community outreach for the San Diego River Park foundation, and one interactive display featuring the San Diego River Park Foundation Cool River Education Program. Live Macroinvertebtates will be on display to highlight stream health assessments.

Information on Nova and Super Nova Award program for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts Information on the Exploring Program (co-ed vocational program for middle school and high school age youth) Information on Maker Ed programs (robotics) Hands on activity for youth attending the festival

Our booth will demonstrate current research in renewable and solar energy. Participants will get to make their own dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) from blackberry juice and other common household materials. We will also have hands on demos of solar panels, fuel cells, and wind energy. Kids and adults alike have loved playing with and learning about this technology at the past 3 EXPOs and we're excited to share this again at the 10th anniversary!