Austin Science Fun Day
Bureau researchers Dr. Susan D. Hovorka, and David and Sylvia Jennette each sponsored fifth-grade science classes for Austin Science Fun Day held at the Texas Memorial Museum, Saturday, March 3, 2001.
Sue Hovorka, a veteran of several Science Fun Days, sponsored the fifth-grade class at Parkside Elementary school in a jointly developed project titled Dis&sterM&sters; Sue calls it Using GIS for upper elementary students. The students used GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technology to show what they discovered out about world disasters.
Dave and Sylvia Jennette sponsored students from the fifth-grade science classes at Spicewood Elementary in a demonstration titled Using stream tables to illustrate sediment deposition and erosion in a fluvial (river) environment. The students used sand, water, and a siphon to create water flow to demonstrate sediment deposition in a river environment, the effects of flooding and erosion, and the making of deltas.
Previous Bureau-sponsored Science Fun Day exhibits include:
Flood! A river in action. Stream-table experimentation with rain, floods, erosion, river processes, and dams. Bureau scientist Dr. Susan D. Hovorka with Ortega Elementary School students.
up and protecting our Earth and water. Simulation of a chemical
spill: contamination of soil and ground water, cleanup, and examining
the soil to see how it functions and how it can help clean up spills.
Bureau scientists Dr. Susan D. Hovorka and Sigrid Clift with Blanton Elementary
Austin Science Fun Day is an annual event designed to convince the general publicespecially childrenthat science is accessible, meaningful, important, and fun! It is a Saturday filled with interactive, hands-on learning and experimentation as children from all over Austin demonstrate their science projects. The event is sponsored by the College of Natural Sciences, UT Austin, and the Texas Memorial Museum. Visit the Austin Science Fun Day Web site at http://www.utexas.edu/depts/tmm/events/asfd/