Children with interests in robotics, aviation, biodiversity and all things STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) were in for a day of fun on Saturday at USC Aiken.
This was thanks to the university’s Science Education Enrichment Day (SEED), which is an annual STEM festival showcasing exhibits from a variety of contributors including the Aiken Gem, Mineral & Fossil, the Augusta Astronomy Club, Keep Aiken County Beautiful and Aiken’s Butterfly Monarch Club.
Families walked the campus where exhibits were stationed at the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center (SPSEC), the Science Building, the Quad, the Student Activities Center and the Educational Support Building.
Hands-on learning across campus
Saturday marked the event’s 39th run, and it beat its exhibitor record this year with a higher number of discovery stations. “We have expanded [by] probably seven more exhibits than we had last year,” said John Hutchens, event coordinator.
Over 65 exhibits were free to experience for families and children.
“It’s always a big day,” said Hutchens.
Guests weigh themselves on the moon, discover geodes
Shelley Lemmond said her son Boone was excited to take home a glittering geode fragment after watching it be extracted from a rock.
“It has been so cool,” she said about the festival. “We’ve learned about clean energy, and how to save energy in the home, making that electric bill go down. We learned about different geodes, different types of bubbles and all the things that [Boone is] interested in.”
Another guest, Heather Satoh, shared that she was able to find out how much she weighs on the moon.
This celestial experiment was part of a math game to determine the weight of a pumpkin which was on display: “We had to figure out the weight of the pumpkin based on knowing that it weighs four pounds on the moon,” Satoh explained. “So we weighed ourselves with a regular scale, and then we weighed ourselves with a moon scale, and did the math to determine how much the pumpkin weighs.”
With her was Jun Satoh, a student who said she enjoyed the mathematical aspects of the event. She recently attended RPSEC’s Camp Invention, and said she enjoyed it because “it was kind of like school but it was more math and science and inventing stuff.”
