2013 Science Exploration Day | College of Science and Technology

Saturday, April 20, 2013

The 2013 Science Exploration Day at Radford University, hosted by the College of Science and Technology, is open to all students in grades 6, 7, and 8.

Participation is free but registration is required and can be done online. NOTE: Participants must bring their packed lunch for this event, as well as paper and writing utensil.

Please read the following information carefully before completing registration.

Registration deadline is April 5, 2013.

Join Radford University professors and students for a day of science exploration in Radford University's laboratories and classrooms.

Schedule

Check in: 8:45 – 9:30 a.m. (McGuffey Hall, room 203)
Welcome: 9:30 a.m. (McGuffey Hall, room 203)
Morning class sessions: 9:45 a.m. – noon
Lunch (students bring packed lunch): Noon – 12:40 p.m.
Afternoon class sessions: 12:40 p.m. – 2: 40 p.m.
Closing session: 2:45 – 3 p.m. (McGuffey Hall, room 203)

During the registration process, participants will select their first choice from the morning and afternoon class, or choose one of the “all-day” classes.

All-day classes are four hours long and focused on one subject. The morning and afternoon classes are two hours each.

All-day classes

Electronics – Learn about basic electronics, how electric power is distributed and why everything is wired in “parallel.” Build your own series and parallel circuits on breadboards, wire up a transistor circuit, and then solder together a small flashing “robot” kit of your own.

Programming Animations with Snap! – Did you ever wonder how computer programmers create those computer animations in your favorite games? Find out in this class in which you will create your own animations. Starting with just a few building-block commands, learn how to combine them into programs that trace the path of spiraling computer-turtles. You will also learn how to steer a spaceship around the screen and even draw a fractal tree.

Half-day classes (during registration you will select your first choice from the morning and afternoon classes)

Morning classes

Forensic Chemistry – Forensic chemists analyze collected evidence to identify it as a part of solving crimes. In this workshop, you will learn how to identify mystery powders, soil samples, dyes and more just like forensic chemists who help catch criminals.

Cryptology: Making and Breaking Secret Codes – Do you and your friends have secret signs or hand signals that convey messages among you? Learn how to use numbers, symbols and patterns to make your own secret codes. Code-making and breaking has been used in secret communications for centuries. Learn how the experts do it!

Afternoon classes

Growing Up Insect: Exploring the Frontiers of Bug Biology – Have you ever wondered why bees have queens or what makes caterpillars turn into butterflies? If you have, then this may be the class for you. We will discuss the evolution and regulation of insect growth, talk about some of the different hormones that regulate insect life cycles, discuss how we already control them to our benefit, and explore what we still don’t understand about the way that bugs work. The class will involve interactive discussion, mini-experiments and a chance to hold giant cockroaches and really big moths.

Forensic Anthropology – In this class, students will learn how to gather information from a human skeleton about the deceased person’s age at death, sex estimation, how tall the person was, and the person’s overall health. Students will also learn about how to recognize if the person was killed by an injury or trauma to the body.