Release: Jan. 6, 2020
GAMBIER, Ohio — This spring brings a chance for middle school students (grades 6-8) to have an extraordinary, sensory, hands-on science experience on Kenyon College’s campus. BLAST (for boys) and ATHENAS (for girls) provide students with the opportunity to associate fun with science, be introduced to a community of scientists from all levels (including college and postgraduate), and gain exposure to fields of science and experiments not often taught at the middle or high school level.
Both programs are free for students and include lunch and snacks. Each program includes two hour-long sessions where participants will play and explore with different experiments related to the day’s theme; these sessions are broken up by a snack break. After lunch, students participate in a larger group demonstration session, an activity, and/or an “Ask-a-Scientist” Q&A with a professional scientist.
The ATHENAS program for girls (which Aims To Heighten her Experience Near and Around Science) takes place on Saturday, Feb. 22, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Kenyon’s Science Quad, 201 N. College Road. In this session, called “Light Bulbs, Lasers and 'Lectricity,” participants will explore seemingly everyday phenomena in a brand-new way while having fun building a sound visualizer, playing with circuits and exploring the fascinating properties of light. Registration and additional information can be found at www.kenyon.edu/athenas.
The BLAST program (where Boys Learn About Science Together) takes place on Saturday, Feb. 1, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Kenyon’s Science Quad. In this session, called “It's a Small World After All,” participants will explore the unseen, microscopic world full of DNA, bacteria, cells and sediments, and they will build their own microscope and filtering systems to discover the wonders of small things. Registration and additional information can be found at www.kenyon.edu/blast.
Registration is first-come, first-served. For information about either program, contact Kenyon’s Office for Community Partnerships at communityinfo@kenyon.edu or 740-427-5419.