The Nation's Largest Hands On Science Festival Returns to Washington DC


By: Gabrielle Levy, age 9, USA Science & Engineering Festival Volunteer and Ambassador, from Fairfax, Virginia.

Gabrielle Picture 1.jpgIt's time to learn about science! Let's visit the USA Science & Engineering Festival that returns to Washington DC on April 28 and 29. This year the USA Science & Engineering Festival will be held in the Washington Convention Center.

There will be everything from NASA, Universities, businesses, and famous television scientists. There will be many fun activities to learn about science in a fun way. Even if you think that you really do not like science, you will definitely find something that you will enjoy at this free festival!!

Larry Bock is the Festival Inspiration and Executive Director. I asked what he would like kids to get out of the festival, he said, "I believe that society gets what it celebrates. As a society, we celebrate professional athletes, rock stars and Hollywood actors but we do not celebrate science and engineering and as a result students do not go into these fields. My goal has been to put on the Nation's largest celebration of science and engineering where students will be exposed to more science than they would see at 4 years of Harvard but have more fun than a week at Disney World."

People will be there to talk about famous scientists and showing you some great experiments. Many of these experiments are hands on that you can learn to do yourself. There will even be some television scientists there, including Adam Savage of the television show MythBusters.

The following question was asked to Adam Savage, if there is one thing you would like kids to know about science and what they will get out of the festival what would it be? "The Festival gives us a great opportunity to bring our take on science into an arena where everyone can truly appreciate and enjoy it," said Mr. Savage. "To be able to bring our show in front of a live audience adds extra energy to what we do, which further convinces us that science is indeed cool and meaningful."

Gabrielle Picture 2.jpgLarry Bock said, "At the Expo, students will experience over 3,000 hands on activities from more than 750 leading science and engineering organizations. They will also get a chance to learn about great volunteer activities, plus scholarships, internships, mentorships and after school programs."

To demonstrate "You are never too young or too old to make a difference" and have fun, I started a program called Caring Kids Cards with my brother Aiden. We are glad that there will be opportunities at the USA Science & Engineering Festival to give back to the community and environment.

This is a great festival that you do not want to miss!! My favorite part at the first festival was learning everything about science. There is so much to learn there. I was also there volunteering as a festival ambassador with my family. We gave out maps and answered questions.

Larry Bock who helped create the festival, also volunteers with his family. He has "two girls Quincy and Tasha Bock. They are not young anymore. Quincy just graduated from Harvard and Tasha is a freshman at Dartmouth. They both work on the Festival as does my wife Diane. It is basically a family affair."

His daughter is really good at art and connects it to science. "I love to work on the Festival because it allows me to apply my expertise in art to make science more understandable to the general public" said Quincy Bock.

Come join everyone at the USA Science & Engineering Festival. You are guaranteed to have fun and your entire family will enjoy it!! Hope to see you there!

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Oh how I wish I could go to the Science Festival! Just wanted to let you know that the National Flight Academy (in Pensacola, FL) is on the same page and hopes to further inspire our studentsâ passion for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education with their new program, the Aviation In Residence (AIR). The week long program teaches students STEM principles in a hands-on environment using state of the art simulators and role play. You can go to www.nationalflightacademy.com for more information on how to enroll. Keep up the good work!

Thank you Ashley for your comment and you keep up the good work as well! Hopefully you will find a way to attend the Festival!

By Carly O'Brien (not verified) on 02 Mar 2012 #permalink