Story By: Alicen Fowler
Photos By: Corey Myers
The words “science” and “fun” are synonymous on Super Science Saturday at Missouri Western State University. This event takes place every year on a Saturday in Remington and Agenstein Hall. Parents and children from all over the surrounding community gather to learn about the wonders of science. Throughout the day, kids are able to travel from classroom to classroom to learn about the sciences including: zoology, chemistry, biology and meteorology.
Presenters left students in awe during Super Science Saturday with their demonstrations and experiments. Children were able to learn through experience. Mike Bracciano, chief meteorologist at KQTV, taught kids about tornados while helping them make a tornado in a bottle. In the KQTV room, kids were also able to step in front of the camera and track the weather in front of a green screen. “Being able to see the kids interact with us, play weather person, to learn about tornados,” Bracciano said, “it’s just kind of a neat way for kids to see what we do on a normal day.”
The event required many teachers and volunteers from all over the community. Volunteers included Missouri Western students, high school teachers, and high school students. Volunteers play a huge role in this event by helping the kids with activities, experiments, and crafts. Robert Hernandez, a Benton High School student, is one of those volunteers. He helped kids with an experiment to teach them about circuits and electricity. He said that he was surprised by how interested kids are in science these days. “There is a lot more enthusiasm in kids to learn,” Hernandez noted. “Boys and girls have the same enthusiasm for science.”
Super Science Saturday’s main goal is to help kids learn about different aspects of science while having fun. Brielle Smith, a student attending the event, said that she enjoyed learning about all of the different sciences this year, especially when it came to learning about the weather. “We learn how the weather works,” Smith said. “We don’t get to do this kind of stuff in school.”
Kids were able to interact with the sciences in many ways from dissecting a pig, to presenting the weather forecast, to holding a boa constrictor. Giggles and the numerous excited “wow”’s heard throughout the hallways seemed to indicate that Super Science Saturday achieved its goal of bringing science to life and teaching kids that science can be fun.