The fourth annual Nebraska Science Festival – presented by the University of Nebraska Medical Center and scheduled for April 15-23 – is around the corner. And, with a multitude of science- and technology-related activities in communities across the state, it’s not too early to plan your SciFest schedule.
You’ll find the entire schedule on www.nescifest.com, including activities at area libraries, Do Space, Fontenelle Forest, Lauritzen Gardens, Henry Doorly Zoo, KANEKO, The Slowdown and others. Here are a few activities of interest in the Omaha-metro area:
- High altitude balloon launch – April 15 – 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10 a.m.
Omaha educational partners will execute a coordinated and successive series of High Altitude Balloon (HAB) launches with K-12 and collegiate-level student experiments as payload. The partners include Omaha Public Schools’ Fontenelle Elementary and King Science & Technology Magnet and the University of Nebraska’s Peter Kiewit Institute (PKI). The public is invited to attend a launch at any of the three Omaha launch sites. Intended launch times are:
- King Science & Technology Magnet, 3720 Florence Blvd. – 8 a.m.
- Fontenelle Elementary, 3905 N. 52nd St. – 9:30 a.m.
- PKI, 1110 S. 67th St. – 10 a.m. (Students from Duchesne Academy and Marian High will participate – arrive at 9 a.m. if you want to see more of the preparation)
Strategic Air and Space Museum: Science of Music – April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Visualize sounds in exciting and engaging ways. The Science of Music will feature both live bands, including the USAF Heartland of America Band, and museum educators who will perform scientific demonstrations of how music can be created with everyday items. These demonstrations are performed using scientific effects of vibrations, waves and dancing flames on water. Younger visitors will get a chance to make their own mini-guitar to take home with them. Science of Music is sponsored by Midlands Community Foundation.
- Scriptown Brewing Company – April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m.
Join Scriptown Brewing Company for an intimate tour of their brewing operation in the Blackstone District. John Fahrer, brewer and co-owner, will guide you through the hands-on process and discuss each phase of the operation with Q & A as time allows. Tour participants will be able to sample beers in production and taste/smell examples of ingredients used in the making of their beers. Tours at 1, 2 and 3 p.m.
- Invent-a-thon – April 22
High school students from the Omaha-Council Bluffs area will compete in a 12-hour Invent-a-thon to design and 3D print a solution to a real-world health care problem. The final presentation and judging takes place April 22 from 4 to 5:15 p.m. Awards will be presented at 5:30 p.m. in the Sorrell Center on the UNMC campus.
- Metropolitan Community College – April 16 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Stop by MCC's South Omaha Campus, Mahoney Building for five rooms of hand-on fun. Activities encompass a variety of science disciplines including physics, chemistry and biology. Learn the scientific method and employ it during many great experiments. Activities will include rocket building and launching, making ice cream and slime, as well as bubble art and volcanoes, just to name a few.
- Little Scientists Expo – April 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Omaha Children’s Museum is hosting a special day for all the little scientists. Enjoy science shows and hands on experiments with microscopes, eyedroppers, test tubes and other scientific tools. Watch a show in the science dome, create dinosaur fossils, play with magnetic slime and more. For specific times of activities and shows, call the museum at 402-342-6164. Discounted admission with a NE SciFest ticket (available online).
- Women in Science panel discussion – April 21 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Panelists will share their life experiences, as well as lessons learned, as they inspire others to consider STEM careers. The discussion will take place at the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. RSVP to nescifest@gmail.com as space is limited.
- Lunch and Learn with Dr. Shoukhrat Mitalipov – April 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Born in Kazakhstan, Shoukhrat Mitalipov, Ph.D., is a biologist who heads the Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. He is known for discovering a controversial genetic therapy that may be a way to prevent mitochondrial disease, a disorder that occurs when structures that produce energy for a cell malfunction. In 2013, he described a new way of creating human stem cells from skin cells.
- Public Science Expo – April 23 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Participate in a variety of free, hands-on learning opportunities that promote science and its impact in our everyday lives. Attendees can step into the MEGA Heart™ – an inflatable, walk-through heart and learn more about heart disease, America’s No. 1 killer. The MEGA Heart is approximately 26 feet long by 15 feet wide by 13 feet high. Visitors enter the exhibit through the largest vein that feeds the heart, the superior vena cava, and exit through the largest artery that leaves the heart, the aorta.
- Science Night at Werner Park – April 23 – gates open at 6:05 p.m.
Watch the 7:05 p.m. game under the lights, explore hands-on science activities, and walk through the inflatable MEGA Heart™. Collect stickers as you complete activities and use them to enter for a chance to win a NE SciFest giveaway. Science-related activities will shut down at the end of the fourth inning.
The Nebraska Science Festival is a collaboration of organizations and individuals interested in the advancement of science literacy. The Science Festival is designed to make science accessible, interactive, relevant and fun for kids and adults alike.
In addition to UNMC, other sponsors include the Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, Nebraska Medicine, Metro Credit Union, West Corporation and media sponsors KETV and the Omaha World-Herald.
For the full schedule of SciFest activities and participating sites, visit us on the web: www.nescifest.com. For additional info and updates, visit us on Twitter (@NESciFest) or Facebook (NE SciFest).