{"id":19008,"date":"2016-11-02T14:22:59","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T18:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.cos.ucf.edu\/?p=19008"},"modified":"2017-01-25T13:01:35","modified_gmt":"2017-01-25T18:01:35","slug":"ucf-hosts-fourth-stem-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-hosts-fourth-stem-day\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Hosts Fourth STEM Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Julia Anderson<\/em><\/p>\n

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On Friday, October 28, the University of Central Florida hosted 1,200 K-12 students on campus for its bi-annual STEM Day event.<\/p>\n

Students from 33 schools across Orange, Seminole, Volusia, Hernando, Brevard and Sumter counties participated in the event coordinated by the Center for Initiatives in STEM<\/a> (iSTEM). Several home school groups attended as well.<\/p>\n

This fall 2016 event marked the fourth STEM Day hosted at the university. STEM Day is an outreach event for K-12 students interested in learning more about the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The day featured a wide variety of activities and demonstrations focused on STEM disciplines, led and designed by UCF faculty and students.<\/p>\n

In addition to the demonstrations and activities hosted throughout campus, retired astronaut Mike McCulley spoke to all of the attendees, sharing his story and answering students\u2019 questions.<\/p>\n

The College of Sciences<\/a> was well represented throughout campus, with faculty and students hosting several demonstrations and activities at the event.<\/p>\n

UCF Arboretum<\/a> staff led students through a tour of its organic community garden. Students learned about urban organic gardening and participated in seeding future crops. The arboretum also hosted several activities on its site throughout the day.\"img_5831\"<\/p>\n

The Department of Chemistry<\/a> hosted multiple activities and demonstrations. \u2018Soda Eruption!\u2019 <\/em>showed students how adding mentos candies to various carbonated beverages causes an eruption of soda. \u2018Elephant Toothpaste\u2019 <\/em>demonstrated chemical reactivity through an eruption of colored foaming bubbles. Additional activities hosted by the department included crime scene chemistry, liquid nitrogen, and the creation of dry ice bubbles, slime, and chemical clocks.<\/p>\n

The Department of Mathematics<\/a> hosted \u2018The Party Problem and Pigeonhole Principle,\u2019 <\/em>where participants solved a problem using the pigeonhole principle.<\/p>\n

The Nicholson School of Communication<\/a> hosted the panel \u2018Growing Your Roots in STEM at UCF\u2019<\/em> where UCF STEM Honors Program students shared advice and their separate journeys into medical research, engineering, and the Medical Scholars Program.<\/p>\n

The Department of Physics<\/a> hosted several demonstrations throughout the day including interactive activities that taught different fields of physics in \u2018The Fun in Physics<\/em>\u2019 and \u2018The Physics Wonder<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n

UCF physics students also conducted the \u2018Bed of Nails and Broken Glass<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0demonstration, sandwiching physics students between two beds of nails while a concrete block was placed on top and broken by the use of a sledgehammer. \u2018Comet Activity<\/em>\u2019 and \u2018Understanding the Math and Physics behind Soap Bubbles<\/em>\u2019 were also led by the department.\u00a0STEM Day participants learned the physics behind these diverse demonstrations.<\/p>\n

The National Center for Forensic Science at UCF<\/a> hosted \u2018Forensic Investigation: Observation vs. Inference.\u2019 <\/em>Students were presented with a scenario and asked to determine what happened through observation and inference.<\/p>\n

The Department of Political Science<\/a> hosted \u2018The Balance of Power: International Relations and Tug-of-War\u2019 <\/em>to demonstrate the theory of realism.<\/p>\n

The Department of Psychology<\/a> hosted \u2018Trick Your Brain and Explore Video Games\u2019<\/em> where participants learned the science behind optical illusions by looking at how strange pictures are able to trick your brain. Participants also examined video games through the ages, and discussed how design changes have helped make games more inviting and fun to play.<\/p>\n

Other contributors at STEM Day included:<\/p>\n