EUGENE, Ore. — (April 12, 2012) — Things may get a little crazy on the University of Oregon campus on Saturday, April 21. Young, budding scientists from kindergarten through high school, but mostly from grades 3-8 in the Eugene 4J School District, will be showing off their experiments and inventions.
The first UO Science and Invention Fair will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the atrium of Willamette Hall, 1371 E. 13th Ave. The public may attend free of charge and view the 60 some entries, which will be judged by a panel of UO scientists and graduate students.
The event is the brainchild of the Science Program to Inspire Creativity and Excellence (SPICE), which is the host. Symantec Corp. and MicroTech Instruments are the primary sponsors. Top finishers in each category will earn awards and receive feedback from the judges. Other honors include gift certificates and scholarships to send the creators of selected outstanding projects to larger science fairs.
The Science and Invention Fair is a follow-up event to SPICE's first Science Open House held Sept. 21 in the Willamette Hall atrium after the organization won a $5,000 grant from Symantec Corp., said SPICE Director Brandy Todd, a doctoral student in the UO College of Education. The open house attracted more than 400 people, who visited 24 activity tables set up by a dozen existing campus outreach programs. "It was loud, noisy, messy and fun," Todd said.
Since the open house, Todd said, UO undergraduate and graduate students majoring in science have done three presentations in four Eugene schools: Willagillespie, Howard and Edgewood Community elementary schools; and middle school grades at Ridgeline Montessori School. Willagillespie and Howard are Title 1 schools that get federal assistance for low-income students.
SPICE — formed in 2008 as an educational outreach effort of the Oregon Center for Optics — primarily targets girls, who are underrepresented in the sciences, but its programs, including three concurrent summer camps are open to boys. "Our goal is to bring kids to campus to give them a sense of ownership that communicates to them that they can go to college," Todd said.
Media Contact: Jim Barlow, director of science and research communications, 541-346-3481, jebarlow@uoregon.edu
Source: Brandy Todd, director, Science Program to Inspire Creativity and Excellence, 541-346-4313, btodd@uoregon.edu
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