Annually, the Rockville Consortium for Science Inc. hosts the Rockville Science Day. For those in Rockville, it’s an easy call on whether or not to attend. Go. Arrive at the beginning and stay as long as your children can handle it. For those further away, including Arlington (where I drove from on Sunday), it’s also an easy call. Go. Arrive at the beginning and stay as long as your children can handle it.
This was my family’s first visit to Science Day, and I am so grateful to the parent who first mentioned it to me. She advised that the Chemistry and Biology sections were the most amazing, particularly since you get to see the labs – which are filled with equipment most of us just don’t have access to. But even if your child is somehow not into watching things explode, pennies turn from copper to gold, marshmallows expand and collapse with changing air pressure, and making slime – there’s still something they will love.
Outdoors, we took in the sun and watched a solar car race across a table. Except when the sun went behind a particularly large cloud. It was a while before the car was interesting again. But that’s OK, because we got to ask questions about “what do we need to do to make solar power more viable?” “why is the car stalled?” “why is the car moving very slowly”, etc., as we learned about the vulnerability of a very simple solar-powered mini car.
We also explored sun spots with ridiculously fancy telescopes, pretended to be archaeologists, and learned how to make a miniature comet.
This Science Day is the real deal. And since it happens every year, I highly recommend you bookmark the website and check it out next year! The fair is suitable for children from very young through high school.
————————–
Elaine is the author of Connor and Helen Grow Up, where she blogs about her elementary school children and her running. She can’t decide which she likes to talk about more these days.
