WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A Science Festival, featuring fun, hands-on activities geared to elementary- and middle-school students and their families, is slated for Thursday, Feb 15, in the Pennsylvania College of Technology Field House.
The event, scheduled for 5-8 p.m., is offered free to the community by Penn College and the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.
The Field House will be filled with hands-on activities presented by local organizations that include businesses, high school students, college faculty and students, the Society of Plastics Engineers’ PlastiVan, and the Carnegie Science Center, of Pittsburgh. The event is intended to make learning fun and to stimulate children’s interest in math, science, and exciting careers in related fields.
The Carnegie Science Center will present “SolarQuest,” allowing children to blast into orbit with NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, the latest, greatest satellite for exploring the sun. They will learn how the sun works, how it is studied with the satellite, and how it interacts with Earth and makes life possible. Funding for “SolarQuest” was secured by the Chamber of Commerce.
The PlastiVan program travels to schools and companies throughout North America, teaching people of all ages about the chemistry, history, processing, manufacturing, sustainability and application of plastics, all through exciting hands-on experiences that spark scientific curiosity. The PlastiVan’s visit is sponsored by thermoplastics firm Sekisui SPI, of Bloomsburg.
One K-12 student who attends the evening science festival – and who registers to win – will receive an Xbox donated by UPMC Susquehanna, Chief Oil & Gas and L3 Technologies.
During the day, more than 1,500 fifth-graders from 12 area school districts are slated to visit the Science Festival.
On-campus coordination for the event is handled by Penn College’s College Transitions Office. The festival is paid for by the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce and Penn College, with additional underwriting from Chief Oil & Gas, UPMC Susquehanna and L3 Technologies.
The local Science Festival is a satellite event for the USA Science & Engineering Festival, the nation’s largest celebration of all things science and engineering.
To learn more about services available to school districts through the College Transitions Office, call 570-320-8003 or visit www.pct.edu/k12.
For information about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education and workforce development, visit www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call toll-free 800-367-9222.