Cool Science Carnival Day to bring 6,000 on campus Oct. 13

More than 6,000 students and families will take part in more than 60 interactive exhibits at UCCS for the annual Colorado Springs Cool Science Festival Carnival Day Oct. 13. The event is scheduled to run between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The free event features demonstration shows, talks, laboratory tours and demos, rockets, drones, animals, bugs, solar energy, telescopes and microscopes, rocks, fossils, a simulated cave, robots, electronics, virtual reality computers, a pop-up planetarium, ambulance and fire engine, slime, electric race car and liquid nitrogen ice cream. The activities are geared for children in kindergarten through eighth grade and is presented by dozens of participating companies, museums, clubs, nonprofits and schools, including UCCS.

UCCS faculty and students will present a number of activities:

• Electric Race Car – all day: Mountain Lion Motorsports, UCCS’ own Formula Society of Automotive Engineers Electric team, will demonstrate some of the basic functionality of their prototype race car, talk about creating an electric race car and discuss the future of electric cars (all ages, Osborne A301).
• Biofrontiers Lab Tour, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: UCCS Physics and Biofrontiers professors will demonstrate cutting edge biotechnology research (all ages, meet at Biofrontiers Activity Station inside Osborne main entrance near pendulum).
• DNA Extraction – Starts every hour on the hour from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Help scientists extract real DNA from strawberries and learn about the genetic building blocks that make up all life (grades 1-12, Osborne B314).
• Computer Aided Design with Solidworks – all day: Watch a short demonstration of how computer software is used to create simulation models, then stay longer to learn more and make your own model (grades 6-12, Osborne A216).
• TrueFood for True Sport – Build Your Own Active Plate – all day: Stop by the UCCS Farm House for a “SWELL” time fueling your body like an Olympic athlete. There will be fun activities throughout the day, starting with farm and greenhouse tours, cultural food integration with Swiss muesli and Japanese miso soup and TrueFood Athletes Plate from 10 a.m. – noon. There will be recovery smoothies from pedaling blender bikes. Starting at noon, you can make your own mini grain bowls, with local and ethical ingredients. Stop by later in the afternoon to learn about milling and flaking grains and make your own energy bites from 2-4 p.m. (all ages, UCCS Farm House, take shuttle from University Center lower plaza main entrance). Note: the farm is home to a hive of very peaceful bees, but if anyone has any allergies please be sure to have your EpiPen on hand.

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  Activity Stations

  • HyperFalcos Hyperloop Team: Watch our little “puppy pods” race around a mini hyperloop hi-tech transportation track.
  • Biofrontiers: See cells under microscopes and giant insects in the Scanning Electron Microscope.
  • College of Business: Walk into the Global Portal to see and communicate with people in San Pedro Sula, Honduras from 10 a.m. – noon, and Mexico City from noon – 2 p.m.
  • Chemistry and Biochemistry Club: See how ammonia and dry ice create a rainbow of colors. Use liquid nitrogen to freeze various items then smash them to pieces!
  • CSTEME: Have fun learning about polymers by making slime, then turning soda pop into little spheres to eat.
  • Phi Kappa Phi and AIAA: The student chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics will have Vex robots and other cool aerospace activities.
  • Physics and Energy Science: Learn what the large Foucalt pendulum in the Osborne lobby shows and how it works.
  • Simulation Center: Meet a robotic child manikin from the Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences Simulation Learning Center. It breathes, talks and participants can even take its pulse and listen to its heartbeat with a stethoscope. You can
    also “drive” a telepresence robot located across campus.

The Carnival Day is the start of nine days of Cool Science activities throughout Colorado Springs. Other events on campus includes a Science Trivia Night Oct. 18 at Clyde’s and a talk sponsored by the MacLaren Society Oct. 21 in Berger Hall. For a complete listing of festival and carnival activities, visit the Cool Science website.

CAMPUS IMPACTS

PARKING
Parking in the 200 series lots between Cragmor Hall and Columbine Hall, and the Gateway Garage, are expected to start filling up at 9 a.m. Anyone coming to campus before that time should not have issues finding parking, but between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., give extra time to find parking. Lot 103 near the Campus Farm will likely have open spots throughout the day.

TRANSIT OPTIONS
Students can ride the City of Colorado Springs’ Mountain Metro Transit for free with their student ID. The College Pass Program is available on all city buses and routes, with multiple stops on the UCCS campus on four bus routes.

FOOD
Cafe 65 will be open for special hours Saturday between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Clyde’s Gastropub and the University Center Sanatorium Grounds coffee shop will be open during their regular hours.

WELCOMING OUR GUESTS
Members of the UCCS community are encouraged to help individuals who may be struggling to find their way across campus. Most often, it may be how to find specific buildings, rooms or offices. A mobile friendly map is available at map.uccs.edu or print off a copy to carry. Physical copies of the maps are also available at the University Center Information Desk.

If a child becomes separated from their parents, the designated unification point is the University Center Information Desk.

–Photos courtesy of Cool Science.