JORDAN GINDER
STAFF WRITER
On Friday, Oct. 26, Science Blowout brought about 150 elementary school kids to Alma’s campus. The kids visited stations hosted by various STEM clubs. The stations included animals, tin foil boats and chemistry demonstrations.
Chemistry Club Vice President Scylar Blaisdell (’19) was excited to share her love of science with the kids. “My number one goal is to get kids excited about science, and for them to hopefully take on science oriented careers in the future.”
“Science Blowout is really an event that gets kids excited about science. I really enjoy teaching and explaining science to them,” said Zach Lincoln (’19), President of Chemistry Club. “They should learn that science can be exciting and entertaining, but also that we need to be safe and responsible while doing so.”
Lincoln was responsible for The Big Show that opened Science Blowout. “I really enjoy having The Big Show and doing demonstrations, particularly when we light balloons on fire and watch them explode with a loud noise,” said Lincoln.
Blaisdell also commented on the popularity of the chemistry show. “The exploding balloons [are] one of our more popular demonstrations and their excitement is contagious.”
Though the Chemistry Club’s demo is a large draw, other clubs’ activities were also exciting. “[The Biology Club] put on an animal room where the kids come and it’s basically a reptile petting zoo. So we give them a small introduction to what reptiles are and what biology is,” said Biology Club President Savannah Warners (’19).
A wide variety of animals were introduced to the kids. “We have a bearded dragon, a crested gecko, a kolkata tortoise, a leopard tortoise, a few different species of turtles, a few corn snakes and a python. The python can be very temperamental,” said Warners.
Warners admitted that challenges came with running the event, including the number of kids and safety precautions.
“There are a lot of kids. A lot of the time they’re just so excited to be out on this field trip that they don’t handle themselves well,” said Warners. “It’s [mostly] ‘don’t stick your fingers in the eyes of these lizards,’ but most of the time it goes smoothly.”
The kids are not the only ones who have fun at Science Blowouts. “[Last year, I] chas[ed] a tortoise across a room. It was interesting because it decided it wanted to book it from one end of the room from the other. Kids were crowding around it too,” said Colin Stephens (’20).
Blaisdell stated that some of the best parts of Science Blowout are seeing the kids’ expressions when they try something new. “[The moment when you’re] getting them passionate about discovery [shows them] ultimately what science is all about.”
