The third annual Open Lab Night was held Thursday evening, bringing more than 600 children and adults to the Dana Mohler-Faria Science and Mathematics Center for the event.
“This program has proven to be enormously popular and we’re delighted with the turnout,” said Dr. Jennie Aizenman, director of BSU’s Center for the Advancement of STEM Education (CASE).
The first Open Lab Night in the spring of 2014 drew approximately 200 participants. The numbers have increased each year.
“Public interest is certainly high for this kind of activity,” Dr. Aizenman said.
While most of the young people and families in attendance were local, arrangements were also made this year to bus students in from the East Middle School in Brockton. The university has developed particularly close ties with the students and staff at that school, said Dr. Aizenman.
This year’s Open Lab Night featured 20 BSU faculty members and 75 students who were on had to lead more than 20 demonstrations, ranging from Virtual Reality Sandbox to Oozy, Goopy Homemade Science, and from Instant Cloud in a Bottle! to Let’s Make a Fossil.
“The point is to help people understand the value of scientific literacy while, at the same time, we have the opportunity to show them what a tremendous learning resource the Science and Mathematics Center is for this region and how accessible it is to them,” Dr. Aizenman said.
Further, she said Open Lab Night gives faculty and participating BSU students the chance to be leaders in making science accessible to the public. “It’s fascinating to watch how well our visitors, especially children, respond to these demonstrations,” she added.
Jessie Witcher, ’18, a chemistry major who transferred to BSU from Massasoit Community College and is the recipient of a Robert F. Noyes Foundation Fellowship, offered a demonstration on Kitchen Chemistry. He said his objective was to “help our visitors learn about the chemistry behind many common household products and food, such as cabbage.”
After graduation he will seek a career in teaching, and he said such experiences such as Open Lab Night give him a chance to work with young people and share his fascination with science.
“It’s important for us to show how science can be understood in our everyday lives and that it can be just as fun and enjoyable as it is challenging,”he said.
Open Lab Night is sponsored by BSU’s Center for the Advancement of STEM Education and receives support from the Office of University and Community Partnerships. (Story and photos by David K. Wilson, ’71, Office of University News & Media)
