Belton, TX – On Saturday, October 6, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor will host Science Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to noon in the York Science Center and Wells Science Hall on the UMHB campus. This event, which is designed to let young people and their families engage with science in fun and exciting ways, is open the public. The price of admission is one non-perishable food item per family.
“I love this event,” said Dr. Cathleen Early, a professor of Biology, who helped found the Science Saturday event more than a decade ago. “We basically take the entire York and Wells building and convert it into a children’s science museum for the day.”
Science Saturday is designed primarily for elementary school-aged kids between pre-kindergarten and fifth grade. Some of the high lights planned include: fun with robotics led by the university’s Engineering Department, a life-sized game of operation offered by representatives of the Biology Department, and a hands-on rocket building exercise directed by the Chemistry Department.
“What I love most about this event is, at the elementary age, these kids don’t know yet that science and math is supposedly hard or boring,” Early said. “I want to show them how fun science is before their brains get polluted against it. I’m inoculating them against the boredom they may experience in middle school.”
This event is sponsored by the university’s College of Humanities & Science. Many of the activities are have been planned and organized by student groups, including: Beta Beta Beta, the biological honor society; Delta Psi Theta, the UMHB Math Club; and the Sigma Pi Chemistry Club.
“One of the unexpected positives of this event has been the opportunity for leadership and service that it gives our students,” Early said. “A lot of them, after their first year of working Science Saturday, they feed off the energy of the kids and say ‘That was amazing, I want to do that next year.’”
The food brought in for admission will be donated to the Helping Hand Ministry of Belton.
For more information about Science Saturday, contact Dr. Early or call the College of Humanities & Science at 254-295-4880.
