Third Annual UW STEM Carnival Draws Record Attendance

More than 1,300 people attended the recent third annual University of Wyoming STEM Carnival to celebrate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

The UW STEM Carnival is hosted annually by the UW Top-Tier Science Initiative, in partnership with the Office of the President. The event rotates to a new facility each year, with an invitation for the public to join UW for a day to highlight STEM research and programs at the university.

A man with brown skin and black hair demonstrates an experiment to children. He has several large test tubes, one which is full of bubbles, a bowl of soapy water, and a large jug. Kids are wearing rubber gloves, some of which are covered in bubbles. — Zia Ur Rehman, a Ph.D. student and teaching assistant in the UW Department of Chemistry, performs an experiment with dry ice and detergent at the third annual UW STEM Carnival. (Erin Klauk Photo)

This year’s carnival took place at UW’s Cliff and Martha Hansen Teaching Arena and Laramie Research and Extension Center (LREC). The carnival featured the four UW statewide agricultural research and extension centers in Lingle, Powell, Sheridan, and Laramie.

Attendance at this year’s event reached 1,345, with 1,041 attendees being pre-K-12 students from 16 different schools across six Wyoming counties. Last year, 1,156 people attended; 650 were K-12 students.

This year, students represented Centennial, Harmony, Indian Paintbrush, Slade, and Spring Creek elementary schools, the UW Early Care and Education Center, and the UW Lab School, all in Albany County; Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow Junior/Senior High School in Carbon County; Douglas Middle School in Converse County; Southeast Schools in Goshen County; Arp, Fairview, and Pine Bluffs elementary schools and Poder Academy in Laramie County; Green River High School in Sweetwater County; and Wyoming Connections Academy.

“The UW STEM Carnival continues to shine and highlight the amazing STEM research and programs at UW and statewide,” says Karagh Brummond, one of the event’s organizers and co-director of the UW Science Initiative Roadshow and Community Engagement Program. “With record attendance this year, it is clear that this event is an exciting one for the community, including many K-12 schools across the southeastern Wyoming region.”

UW departments and programs as well as community organizations in STEM offered 53 STEM tables in the Hansen Arena. Each table had a hands-on activity or demonstration to engage attendees in a STEM topic.

In addition to the STEM tables, LREC facilities housed 10 agriculturally themed additional activities for attendees. Topics included the different parts and functions of seeds; precision agriculture; how bees live during the year; crop breeding; and research projects with cattle, sheep, and pigs. The activities were facilitated by the statewide research and extension centers; agricultural research laboratories at UW; the new Ranch Management and Agricultural Leadership Program; and the Science Initiative Roadshow/Department of Zoology and Physiology.

UW President Ed Seidel and Chip Kobulnicky, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, also hosted a hands-on activity on black holes.

“Thank you to all of our participating units this year who made the STEM Carnival possible,” Brummond says. “We look forward to watching this carnival grow in a meaningful way for years to come.”

For a list of the UW Stem Carnival participating units, go to www.uwyo.edu/science-initiative/stem-carnival.html.

Next year’s fourth annual UW STEM Carnival is planned Friday, Sept. 5.

This story was originally published on UW News.