Getting our hands wet: AGU participates in 2012 USA Science and Engineering Festival

Abstract

At the 2nd USA Science & Engineering Festival, held in Washington, D. C., from 27 to 29 April, AGU's Education Division (http://education.agu.org/) joined the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE; http://www.cosee.net/) in presenting a series of hands-on activities for children. Titled “Get Your Hands Wet,” these activities were developed by COSEE and focused on chemical oceanography, climate change, ocean exploration/measurement, contaminants, physical oceanography, and marine biology. AGU education staff helped to run events such as making sand cards to illustrate the various stages of weathering of rocks and teaching a carbon cycle game, which allowed students to “become” carbon molecules and travel throughout the Earth system. AGU videographer Derek Sollosi captured some of the action at the COSEE/AGU booth on film, along with images of the rest of the festival (seehttp://youtu.be/oX8wPxYZj48). Other popular exhibits included models of NASA rovers, a jet from the U.S. Air Force, and remotely operated vehicles from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Celebrities from Mythbusters, The Big Bang Theory, NCIS, and other popular television shows made appearances on stage. For more about these and other exhibits and festival events, see http://www.usasciencefestival.org/.