Kids can get down and dirty in Quicksand Goo, or shatter flowers and balloons soaked in liquid nitrogen. If they’re artsy, there are pots to turn at a pottery wheel.
Those are just a few of the fun activities awaiting visitors of the Leeward Discovery Fair, where the primary focus is education through science-related exhibits Saturday at Leeward Community College.
Nearly 300 of the college’s faculty and students will help run some 40 interactive exhibits, according to Kathleen Cabral, the school’s director of marketing. Nearly 75% of the activities involve science.
“The faculty works for months getting supplies together and doing new experiments,” Cabral said.
The most popular exhibit, Quicksand Goo, is rather messy. The concoction of corn starch and water is a non-Newtonian fluid, meaning it transforms from a liquid to a solid and back again depending on how it is handled.
Kids will be able to play in the goo, and parents will be relieved to know they can hose off nearby afterward.
Other activities include international bingo, which helps teach foreign languages, and a fossil scavenger hunt.
Plenty of food will be available as well, for families to fuel up.
The fair is in its 29th year, and 5,000 to 7,000 people attend annually, Cabral said.
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SCIENCE
Leeward Discovery Fair
When:
9 a.m.- 3 p.m. Saturday
Where:
Leeward Community College, 96-045 Ala ‘Ike St.
Cost:
Free
Info:
leeward.hawaii.edu/Fair
