Playground of Science entices thousands

CEDAR RAPIDS - A catapult launching pumpkins across the quad.

Ice cream made from liquid nitrogen.

Rice Krispies exploding into the air with a little help from static electricity.

Flaming steel wool.

Demonstrations and experiments like these left children of all ages wide-eyed and grinning Thursday at the 14th annual Playground of Science on the campus of Coe College in Cedar Rapids.

Frances Lausen, 10, of Cedar Rapids, was among an estimated 1,300 people to attend the event, held at the Peterson Hall of Science.

'I really like finding stuff I already know,” Lausen said, adding learning new things is great too - like the fact a human brain can weigh as much as a small pumpkin.

Roughly 100 Coe students and faculty members - representing nursing, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, psychology and ROTC - ran stations in and around the building Thursday as the large crowds of attendees worked their way from one room to the next.

In the 'Glow Room,” children could make bracelets and necklaces using fluorescent-colored pasta.

In the 'Bone Room” they could see how the leg of a horse works.

Another station allowed kids to touch and hold giant bugs.

'It takes a lot of coordination, but I think it's pretty easy to get students to rally around this because it's our chance to show kids science is fun and interesting,” said Dahlia Baker, the physics club event coordinator and a junior at Coe majoring in physics and mathematics.

Baker said she hopes that seeing college-aged women conducting such demonstrations inspires young girls to take an interest in science or other STEM - science, technology, engineering and math - subjects.

Lausen said she isn't ruling out becoming a scientist when she grows up.

'It sure is a possibility,” she said.

Steve Feller, a professor of physics at Coe and coordinator for Playground of Science, said the event actually was started by a Coe student 14 years ago and the bulk of the activities have been done by students ever since.

'Almost 20,000 people have come (in the past),” Feller said.

He said it costs about $2,500 to put on Playground of Science and each year the college departments choose different demonstrations, although some of the more popular ones tend to be repeated.

'There's nothing like this (at Coe) where we have all of the sciences doing this together,” said Feller. 'It's free. We want this to be a gift to the community.”