The Big Cool Science Festival at Colorado College - Saturday, April 6, 2013

A FREE, fun filled day of hands-on science for the entire family

Sponsored by Cool Science, the Colorado College Cool Science Club
and the CC Collaborative for Community Engagement

and now the kick-off for Pikes Peak Earth Month!

you may also like to visit our partner event "Box City" first, at Eagleview Middle School (10am-1pm).
Sponsored by the Colorado Chapter of the American Institute of Architects

Download our CoOL festival poster/flyer and help us promote the event

Lo-Res (328 kB PDF)Hi-Res (3.5 MB PDF)

It's Cool Science time at Colorado College! Come find out how much fun science, math and engineering really is with live science demonstratiion shows, tours and dozens of fun and engaging hands-on science activities (11am-3pm) presented by Cool Science, the Colorado College Cool Science Club and over 25 local companies, schools, clubs, nonprofits, museums and other organizations. Most activities are intended for students ages 8-15, but there will be fun for all ages.

There will also be two special presentations on Antarctic research by Donna Patterson Fraser (of "Fraser's Penguins" fame and Robert Farrell, Palmer Research Station Manager) at 3pm (for kids)and 7pm (for adults).

** Check back often - new activities added every day! **

Date & Time: Saturday, April 6th, 11 am to 3 pm (plus special presentations on Antarctic research at 3 pm and 7pm)

Location: Colorado College (Barnes Science Center and Olin Hall of Science), 1040 North Nevada Ave. (Google Map)

click image for a larger map, or use the interactive campus map

Parking: The parking lots indicated on the map are free on Saturday, but will likely fill up, so we encourage you to park on the local neighborhood streets and walk or bike to campus. Tejon St. and the side streets along Tejon north of campus are ideal for this (cross Uintah at Nevada or Cascade). There will be free bicycle valet parking on the north side of Palmer Hall (provided by UpaDowna).

Food: Unfortunately there will not be any food available at the festival, but you are welcome to eat like a college student in the campus dining hall (in Worner Center, 11-1:30)) and coffee shop, or try the restaurants along Tejon St. south of campus (Wooglin's Deli and La'Au''s Taco Shop are just a block south of campus). We also encourage you to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the campus. There are no vending machines for drinks either, but bring a water bottle- we'll have stations where you can fill it.

Target Audience: Primarily for 2nd-8th grade students, but plenty of activities for all ages!

***

Help us keep this event FREE and growing! Please consider a $10/family donation (using the Paypal button below).

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We'd especially love your comments and feedback after the festival!

Live Science Demonstration Shows, Tours and Special Presentations (11 am - 4 pm):

11:00 -11:45 am — CC Cool Science Club — "Fire Science." Colorado College students will amaze you with several hot science demonstrations! (in Olin 1 "Fishbowl" Lecture Hall).

11:30 am, 12:30 & 1:30 pm — KRCC — Tour a real radio broadcasting station and experiment with some Cool Science Sound & Waves activities (meet at Barnes Science Center registration desk).

11:45 am, 12:45 & 1:45 pm — Tour the exotic plants in the CC Biology Department's greenhouse (meet at Barnes Science Center registration desk).

1:00 - 1:45 pm — Cool Science — "Amazing Water Science." You'll never look at ordinary water the same way again once you see it start a fire, launch a rocket, boil when iced, burn a cloth without damaging it, freeze on command, break a glass bottle, crush an aluminum can, and more! (in Olin 1 "Fishbowl" Lecture Hall)

3:00 - 4:00 pm — Donna Patterson-Fraser — “Life on the Edge: Seabirds in a Changing Environment." A presentation on her work with Adele Penguins and Giant Petrels in the Antarctic, geared especially for kids- of all ages! (in Olin 1 "Fishbowl" Lecture Hall)

* Just added * A special evening presentation for adults (kids welcome):

7:00 - 8:30 pm — Donna Patterson-Fraser & Robert Farrell — "Ecology of Southern Giant Petrels... Boom, Bust and Working With a Difficult Customer", followed by "Conducting Research in Antarctica" Donna will talk about her years of studying the Giant Petrels and their local ecology, touching on the global issues involved (climate change, fishing, etc.) After her talk, Bob will give a brief overview of research and working at Palmer Station (a US research facility in Antarctica), particularly addressing how interested students can apply to work and research in Antarctica. Q&A will follow. (Gaylord Hall in the Worner Student Center)

Hands-on Science Carnival Activity Stations (11 am - 3 pm only):

Bear Creek and Fountain Creek Nature Centers — "Discover the Wild Side of Colorado Wildlife" Children 2-92 will discover Colorado wildlife by handling animal pelts, scat, tracks and skulls.

Bestway Disposal — Learn how we sort the various recyclable materials you use every day, and find out about "up-cycling".

Blue Skies Exploration Academy — What colors are in black? Try some cool experiments to separate the colors which make up black.

Buell Children's Museum (Pueblo) — Explore and build with the giant blocks in our "Imagination Playground".

Catamount Institute — "Raft" down our Colorado River model as it makes its way to the ocean and learn why we must conserve water.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo — Learn about our "Quarters for Conservation" projects - and meet some of our live animals!

Colorado Mountain Club — Learn about our conservation projects, and get your face painted!

Colorado Springs Astronomical Society — View astronomical objects from the roof with our cool telescopes.

Colorado Springs Rocket Society (COSROCS) — Meet the student members of the first Team America Rocket Challenge (TARC) team from Colorado, examine the rocket they built themselves from scratch (no kit)!

Colorado Springs Utilities Water Education — Learn where your water comes from - and make instant snow!

Cool Science and the CC Cool Science Club — Several of our all time favorite activities and a brand new one you'll love:

1. Experience light and color like never before in our eerie "Wizard of Oz" room. *NEW*
2. Make your own cup of sizzling, spitting and foggy ice cream using liquid nitrogen at 320 degrees below zero.
3. Help color our giant sidewalk chalk mural - then view it in 3D.
4. Experiment with chemical reactions to make your own slime and silly putty.
5. Use shaving cream and food colors to create a one-of-a-kind work of art.
6. Turn an ordinary paper plate into a super-hydrophobic surface and watch ball-up and roll around like marbles.
7. Shish-ka-bob a balloonPoke a sharp stick right through an ordinary balloon - without popping it!
8. Did you know that the universal symbol for recycling (triangle arrows) is actually a very special topological surface called a Mobius Strip? Make your own and use it to perform some surprising mathematical "recycling"!
9. Make water dance, a bowl sing and plastic talk while learning about sound and waves (at KRCC).
10. Burn different elements to produce firework-like colors.

Energy Resource Center — Learn energy saving tips.

Heuser Chiropractic — Check your neurological functions with our Interactive Metronome or "Brain Trainer.".

Lockheed Martin Antarctic Support Contract — Try on the clothing it takes to keep warm if you're working in Antarctica.

Mobile Music Project (an initiative of the Pikes Peak Community Foundation) — We need your pedal power to provide electricity for our music!

Penrose St. Francis Medical Center-Centura — Learn how safety helmets protect your brain in a crash.

Pikes Peak Farm to School — "Veggies and You." Can you guess all the vegetables on your plate?

Pikes Peak Library District (Children's Department) — Build creative crafts using recycled materials.

Pikes Peak Library District (Green Team) — "PPLD – Resources for a Greener Planet." Learn about PPLD resources that can educate and inspire all of us to help make our community, and our planet, a healthier place.

Pikes Peak Soaring Society — Radio-controlled model airplanes and flight simulators you can try yourself.

Pikes Peak Earth Day Committee — Visit our Pikes Peak Earth Day Pledge Table and meet our Science Fair winners.

Play-Well TEKnologies — Engineering with LEGO: Build a conveyor belt that will transfer special LEGO pieces from one place to another while learning engineering principles.

Rocky Mountain Field Institute — Experiment with our soil erosion model and learn what you can do to help prevent damage from the Waldo Canyon burn scar.

School Crossing — Experiment with electricity and magnets - and play our electric circuit game.

Science Matters in America — Build your own flying Hoopster airplane.

Simply Kids Dental — Fun with dental science:

1. "The Importance of Flossing." Just how much gunk is there between your teeth?
2. "Count Your Teeth" and build a smile with beans.

UpaDowna — Fun outdoor educational adventures:

1. "Nature Detective" Borrow our recycled game pieces to search for the items in nature!
2. "Go Fish" Cast a fishing pole into the "pond" to "catch" a prize!
3. "Got Dirt?" A truckload of dirt is the same price as a video game! Engage your mind and imagination instead of just your thumbs in our bucket'o'dirt!
4. "Nature Photo Scavenger Hunt" Borrow our cameras to search for items in nature. Take a photo and see it displayed on our slideshow!

Western Museum of Mining & Industry — Learn about simple machines, rocks and minerals, and offerings of the museum.

YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region — Create your own work of art- and learn about air pressure- by painting with a straw.

YoungBotBuilders — Build cows and pigs out of LEGOs. Also, help program lions to roar and alligators to bite.

And thanks to all our wonderful volunteers, especially T. Rowe Price employees and UCCS AFROTC students.

We would also like to thank Sean Cayton (Cayton Photography) for photographing this event!

Learn how you can volunteer at this event or other Cool Science Programs

If your organization would like to participate, or you know of another group we should invite, contact marc@coolscience.org

Disclaimer: By attending this free public event you are accepting that your family's images may be used on our website and promotional materials. If you would prefer that we do not use your image in any way, you may sign an "opt-out" form available during the event at the main registration desk in Barnes Science Center, or email us.