Drexel Joins Philadelphia Science Festival's Weeklong Celebration of Science and Technology

The 2015 Philadelphia Science Festival will allow participants to experience science and technology through more than 100 events across the city.

Students, faculty and staff from Drexel University will help make the fifth anniversary of the Philadelphia Science Festival one of the biggest citywide celebrations to date. More than 200 regional partner organizations from museums to cultural centers and educational institutions will present over 100 events across the city during the nine-day celebration intended to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Representatives from Drexel and the Academy of Natural Sciences will host a number of events at the festival, including:

On Friday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m. the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships will be one of several sites for Astronomy Night. Local astronomers will lead stargazers on a tour of the night sky at each of the 25 locations. This event is free and open to the public.

On Saturday, April 25 at 10 a.m. at John Story Jenks Academy for the Arts and Sciences in Chestnut Hill, representatives from the College of Medicine will help lead hands-on demonstrations on topics ranging from the chemistry behind baking bread to the composition of your teeth. J.S. Jenks will also be hosting a funfest with games, face painting and other science-themed activities. The event is free and open to the public. 

At 7:05 p.m., experts from Drexel’s Center for Integrated Nutrition & Performance will take part in Science Night at the Ballpark. The Drexel participants will be presenting information about rethinking what you drink. To reserve tickets, click here.

On Sunday, April 26 at 10 a.m. students from Drexel’s chapter of the Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers will help host Robot Build Day at NextFab Studio. Participants will learn about circuitry, 3-D printing and robots of all shapes and sizes. The event is free and open to the public.

At 1 p.m. Drexel’s Expressive and Creative Interaction Technologies (ExCITe) Center will host an Explorer Sunday event called “Notes, Bits & Bytes.” Participants will get a close look at the intersection of music and technology from musical modular circuit components to dancing with a humanoid robot. The event is free and open to the public. 

At 2 p.m. experts from Drexel’s Center for Integrated Nutrition & Performance will participate in Fun with Kitchen Science demonstration at the Parkway Central Library’s Culinary Literacy Center. 

At 2:30 p.m. researchers from Drexel’s Department of Biology will be part of Murder at the Mutter: Preconceptions, an interactive murder/mystery-style forensic investigation at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Click here to reserve tickets.

On Monday, April 27 at 3:30 p.m. researchers from the Academy of Natural Sciences will present as part of the Neighborhood Science Afterschool at the Torresdale Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. The Science Afterschool programs at the Free Library branches are family friendly programs with hands-on experiments, animal encounters and demonstrations. They are are free and open to the public.

At 5 p.m. representatives from Drexel’s College of Engineering, who are part of its National Science Foundation-funded GK-12 program, will present an Educator Workshop on Inquiry Based Learning in the K-12 Classroom. The workshop is for middle and high-school science teachers to learn how to work inquiry-based STEM activities into their classrooms. The workshop is free and takes place in the Bossone Research Center’s Third Floor Atrium, click here to RSVP.

At 6 p.m. Science on Tap Quizzo, sponsored by the Academy of Natural Sciences, will put your popular culture and science knowledge to the test. The event will be held at National Mechanics. It is free and open to the public. 

At 7 p.m. Ken Lacovara, PhD, an associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Michel Barsoum, PhD, a distinguished professor in the College of Engineering, will be two of the seven featured speakers at Big Ideas For Busy People. The event, hosted at WHYY, will bring together some of the most dynamic local scientists to talk about their ground-breaking research. Click here to purchase tickets.

On Wednesday, April 29 at 4 p.m. faculty members form Drexel’s College of Engineering will lead an educator workshop called “Preparing For The AP Computer Science Principles Course and Exam.” It will give teachers some ideas about how to get high school students excited about computer science and some of the best ways to help them learn basic computational thinking practices. The event is free at Drexel’s MacAllister Hall Room 2109, click here to RSVP. 

At 7:30 p.m. Ned Gilmore, the collections manager at the Academy of Natural Sciences, will participate in Nerd Nite: Science Myths Busted! at Frankford Hall. The event will put some of today’s most intriguing scientific myths to the test, including cryptozoology, gluten-free diets and forensics. Click here to reserve tickets.

On Thursday, April 30 at 5 p.m. the Academy of Natural Sciences will host an educator workshop called “Paleontology in the Classroom.” Mariah Romaninsky, the Academy’s senior STEM manager, will go over some techniques for working paleontology experiences into elementary and middle-school classrooms. The event is free, click here to RSVP. 

At 6:30 p.m. representatives from the College of Engineering will present their mechanical engineering research involving robotic fish as part of the Inspired by Nature event, which will look at how the solutions to some of science’s most challenging problems are right under our eyes.  The event will be held at the Painted Bride Art Center on 230 Vine St. Click here to purchase tickets.

On Saturday, May 2 Drexel researchers and students will take part in several exhibitions at the Science Carnival on the Parkway starting at 10 a.m. on the Ben Franklin Parkway. Drexel participants on the parkway will include the IceCube Research group, TechServ, the Drexel Experiences in Materials Outreach group and faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Natural Sciences.

For information about all of the events taking place at the Philadelphia Science Festival visit www.philasciencefestival.org.