Cool Science's Day of Science at your School

UCCS 2009 Chemistry SHow
photo by Cayton Photography

The Day of Science

This program makes math and science the focus of an entire day at your elementary school and involves every child and teacher at the school. We'll use your gym, cafeteria, and 3 or more other large spaces (or classrooms) for 5-7 different demonstrations, dozens of hands-on activities, guest presentors, engineering design projects or experiments, and other special activities. You'll get a sampling of all our various programs in one day! Parents are often recruited as volunteers for the activities to emphasize the nurturing of science exploration at home as well as in school. The day will be focused on creating a level of excitement and energy around science, as well as a sense that science both applies to each child’s every day life and is easily understandable. Students will rotate through each room, spending about an hour in each. We can sometimes involve guest presentors such as the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs Utilities and the Colorado Springs Astronomical Society, and we are always looking for other science-focused groups who would like to participate.

This event is very volunteer intensive. We try to bring as many Cool Science volunteers and students from CC and UCCS as possible, but we primarily rely on the parents/teachers from your school to get involved as volunteers for the day. We also love to work with local companies (and their employees) interested in sponsoring a Day of Science for a local school. A background in science is not necessary, and we will provide any necessary training of volunteers prior to the Day of Science.

Each September we offer one very special Day of Science where we work with the senior physics majors from Colorado College to present 5-6 different physics presentations. Our window of opportunity for this event is very short, so be sure to get on our list if you would like a chance to bring this unique program to your school.

Typical Day of Science Sample Schedule:

  8-9 AM 9-10 AM 10-11 AM 12-1 PM 1-2 PM 2-3 PM
Physics Demo Show
K
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
Chemistry Demo Show
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
K
Biology Demo Show
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
K
1st
Engineering Activity
3rd
4th
5th
K
1st
2nd
Hands-on Room 1
4th
5th
K
1st
2nd
3rd
Hands-on Room 2
5th
K
1st
2nd
3rd
4th


To help cover our operating expenses, we request a $2,500 fee for a Day of Science, but limited financial aid is available if your school or PTA cannot afford this fee.

* Because of the logistics involved, we can only do a couple of these events per year, so sign up early- or consider a Mini Day of Science instead (see below). For more information or to schedule or sponsor a Day of Science, call (719) 389-6431 or email our Programs Director.

 

The Mini Day of Science

Our mini-Day of Science is essentially one or two rotations of the full Day of Science described above, and is available to middle as well as elementary schools. We can involve as many students as you would like, right up to the entire school. We will present to individual classes or grade levels of students for 45-60 minutes, after which they will return to class. Grouping together the classes of a single grade and working with each grade separately allows us to vary the scientific content and complexity of our scientific explanations based on the student's age.

We will need access to your gym, cafeteria, or other large space for the duration of the day. If it is nice outside, we might even do an activity outdoors! We’ll also typically need a table or two and access to electricity and/or water.

We have set programs to explore topics ranging from chemical reactions and phase changes to air pressure and gyroscopic stability. See our Science Demonstrations page for a list of topics. A school can also request a general topic such as physics or chemistry or a demonstration tailored to their current topic of study. We are happy to develop new programs to fit these requests as possible. We can also add some related hands-on activities if you can provide us with a few parent or teacher volunteers (we'll train them).


To help cover our operating expenses, we request a $1,000 fee for a Mini Day of Science, but as always, limited financial aid is available if your school or PTA cannot afford this fee, so don't hesitate to contact us if you're interested.

For more information or to schedule a Mini Day of Science, call (719-389-6431) or email our Programs Director. We need at least 2 weeks advance notice to provide one of these programs for your school, and our schedule fills up fast.