Cool Science comes to campus

Making science cool is the goal of a street fair scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at the University Center.

Cool Science promises more than 40 hands-on activities and activities for children from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Special chemistry magic shows are scheduled at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. A planetarium and space simulator will be on site as well as 15 organizations dedicated to improving science, technology, engineering and math education. All events are free and open to the public. Children of all ages are welcome but most exhibits are designed for children in grades 2-8.

“We want to provide intimidation-free opportunities for kids to explore the joy of science and engineering,” Marc Straub, president, Cool Science, said.

“We are proud to be a sponsor of this event which is designed to get young people excited about science, technology, engineering and math,” Kathleen Fitzpatrick, events coordinator, Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education, said. “We hope that enthusiasm leads them to consider careers in these important and high-demand fields. We want them to see that nerd is the new cool.”

CSTEME joined forces with a locally-based non-profit group, Cool Science, with the goal of getting K-12 students, parents and teachers to see science as “cool.” Since 2001, the group of scientists, engineers and educators, has worked with children throughout the Pikes Peak region.

For more information, visit http://www.coolscience.org/CoolScience/Teachers/UCCS2009.htm or call (719) 389-6431.

-- Tom Hutton