Science Saturdays Series Concludes with Adventures in Mathematics and Computer Science

VALDOSTA -- Valdosta State University’s College of Arts and Sciences concludes its Science Saturdays with Adventures in Mathematics and Computer Science, to be held in Nevins Hall Saturday, March 24 from 9 a.m. to noon.

Science Saturday will be hosted by the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science and include activities for elementary, middle and high school students. Activities include working with motion detectors, animation programs and origami.

“Our goal is to provide children with some information about our campus and our department,” said Dr. Greg Harrell, math professor. “They will have an opportunity to enjoy math and computing and learn more about it in a fun way. Activities will also give them a taste of what they can expect if they participate in Camp Invention or Computing Summer Camps this summer.”

Harrell added that drawings for prizes will be held during the event.

The Science Saturday series is part of the College of Arts and Sciences STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering andMathematics) Initiative. The goal of the STEM initiative is to encourage students to major in STEM areas and help students succeed in those programs. The program puts science and math into a fun and entertaining context and allows students to see basic scientific principles in action.

“We held a Science Saturday last winter with the chemistry department and it turned out to be a huge success with approximately 200 students and their parents attending,” said Dr. Gary Wood, professor and coordinator for the Center of Applied Research. “Based on comments from the parents, we expanded the program to all of the sciences. The main goal for us is to excite kids about science, keep them excited and possibly influence them to make it a career choice.”

The first Science Saturday was held on Feb. 12, 2011 as an outreach event to commemorate the International Year of Chemistry. Wood said that the College of Arts and Sciences hopes to make the series an annual event.

For more information about the upcoming Science Saturday, contact Harrell at gharrell@valdosta.edu or Krishnendu Roy at kroy@valdosta.edu .