New Programs Premiere at Pacer’s STEM Fest and Earth Day Festival at Military Park
In the first half of 2018, CEES provided fun, engaging, educational, environmental activities that were enjoyed by 1815 participants at 10 venues. Spring outreach included smaller events, such as STEM Night at Brooks Elementary School, visits with high school STEM Clubs in Lawrence, McCloud Park’s 15th anniversary, and Summer Weather Camps with Kevin Gregory of RTV6.
Big events of the season included the annual Earth Day Festival at Military Park and a brand new event – the Indiana Pacer’s STEM Fest 2018.
In addition entertaining while educating the public with the Energy of Storms program (with it’s ever-popular Tornado-in-a-Box and Design-a-Drone challenge), CEES premiered two new programs: Sustainable Agriculture for Urban Environments and Volcanoes 101.
Sustainable Agriculture for Urban Environments focuses on the challenges of growing fruits and vegetables in urban landscapes with minimal space. Displays included vermicomposting (turn your table scraps into nutrient-rich compost for your garden!), vertical gardening, and “re-planting” grocery produce (parts that are typically thrown away can sometimes be planted and regrown). Games and activities included Pollinator Plinko, Ecology Jenga, and Pollinator Bombs (participants mixed wildflower seeds with wet, shredded paper and pressed the concoction into molds, which were to taken home and planted in the yard – voila – flowers!).
Volcanoes 101 provides a look at deep Earth processes and the energy of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Participants created their own earthquake with the Seismotron. Even Freddy Fever, mascot for the Indiana Fever, stopped by to give it a try!
