Festivals that Celebrate Science and Spark Discussion

I’m a big fan of any public sharing or education of science. Science is great, right? Right! I love when we can, as a field, encourage others to appreciate what scientists do and engage in meaningful discussion.

There are public science festivals all over the country, but the longest-running annual event is in my neighborhood: Bay Area Wonderfest. Founder Tucker Hiatt was inspired by the great science popularizer Carl Sagan, and Sagan is featured prominently in the literature and throughout the website, including my favorite quote of his: “I hold that the popularization of science is successful if, at first, it does no more than spark a sense of wonder.”

This year was my first visit to Wonderfest, and I’m so glad I went! I attended lectures on astronomy and human behavior, topics about which I am thoroughly ignorant, and even got to browse science-related art and projects.

By far my favorite part of the afternoon, though, was Bay area physics teacher Zeke Kossover, who put on the kind of demonstration that makes you wonder why you didn’t major in physics. After taking onlookers for rides on his homemade hovercraft, he blew smokerings across the room with a huge fan, a garbage can, and covering plastic. His 2-inch PVC-pipe blowgun was kind of cool, but it was overshadowed by the 6-inch version that blew a ping pong ball straight through a Coke can. Zeke ended with every physics nerd’s favorite science demonstration: he laid on a bed of nails while someone smashed a cinderblock on his chest. Don’t worry, he wasn’t hurt! Physics!

Have you even been to a science festival? What did you like best about it?

Related posts:

1. The White House Science Fair: Wish you were young again?
2. Computer Science Education Act of 2010
3. Science Contest – Girls Shatter the Glass Ceiling
4. Congressional Visit Day 2010 – opportunity for scientists & engineers to impact science policy issues
5. Celebrating Young Women in Computing