lacy veach day of discovery 2008

(cross posted from http://kagawaa.blogspot.com/)

if you think this is cool we are always looking for help with tech talks and presentations for different events. here is one that we are trying to plan right now for an event at Jarrett Middle School

this past weekend we participated in lacy veach day of discovery, which is a large scale science fair with exhibits and workshops. we had a great time with all the kids. i even learned a lot! science is cool. we presented programming from scratch and its becoming a yearly tradition for us a referentia systems inc.



at the event we taught kids how to program with scratch, an interactive programming language that creates animation, games, music, and art designed for kids to help develop 21 century skills. it was a huge success. the kids at the event were great. my friends did a great job of helping the kids. overall it was a huge success. we posted the kids' scratch creations on the scratch mit site. check it out!

here are some pics of my crew at the event:
my coworkers at referentia are awesome. without them our scratch display wouldn't be possible. they really step for this event. it must be something about teaching kids to program that gets them into it. so, thanks to those referentians that helped out, it really does make a huge difference. (i remember learning logo when i was a kid and its probably a huge reason why i ended up in computer science; read more about my strange academic journey)

here are some pics from the rest of the event:

this year seemed to be a lot bigger than last. there were many more exhibitors and it was pretty fun to walk around checking out the displays;

• Astronaut Onizuka (check out the Onizuka Day on Hilo)
• BAE Systems
• Bishop Museum - they had a a cool globe projector.
• FIRST robotics (Moanalua, ROC, Sacred Hearts, Waialua)
• HaSTA
• Hawaii Academy of Science - i talked to them about the Hawaii State Science Fair. this event seems really cool. i want to go check it out next year, i think around april.
• Hawaiian Astronomical Society
• HECO - heco was there in full force. they always do a great job of helping the kids
• Institute of Astronomy - these dudes are really smart. i talked with them last year and the stuff they are doing is really cool.
• NASA Pacific Regional Planetary Data Center
• Pearl City Elementary - there were a bunch of kids from pearl city.
• Referentia!!!!! - YAY!
• Robofest
• Starbase (couldn't find a link)
• UH College of Engineering

there were also presentations;

• keynote speaker Astronaut Stanley Love
• assembly with special 3D program, student interns at NASA
• science Magic--science demonstrations with a flair

and a bunch of workshops:

• The Incredible Mars Pathfinder Mission
• Dr. Gadget presents Gadgets that Float and Glide Through the Air
• Water Powered Bottle Rockets
• Meteorites: Rocks from Space
• Hydrogen Fuel Cells
• Gases in Space Living
• Polynesian Star Compass
• (see the full listing here)

it was an awesome day of learning. now that i've learned more about the different workshops and presentations, i actually want to be a kid and sneak in and learn. there are some many great exhibits, workshops, and presentations. WOW! anyway, i had a lot of fun talking with the kids and parents. i can't wait till next year.