McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
2 Institute Dr
Concord, NH 03301
United States
Registration opens October 26th and closes November 30th at 3pm.
New Hampshire 4-H is excited to bring 4-H Science Bonanza back to the McAuliff-Shepard Discovery Center for another year of science discovery and fun.
December 5th, from 9 a.m. to 1:00 pm, youth ages 5-12 will have the opportunity to explore a day filled with activities to fuel their interest in science, technology, engineering and math. Our educators will engage young science enthusiasts to safely learn about electricity, nutrition, robots, water, flight, a planetarium show and more! All participants will find fun science activities geared to their level. The STEM Expo will again be filled with displays from 4-H, McAuliff-Shepard Discovery Center and local STEM education organizations.
This is not a drop off event. Adults are required to stay at the Discovery Center during the event.
Cost: $15 per youth for the day and includes admission to the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, all programs, snack, and 1 raffle ticket. One parent or adult chaperone per family receives admission.
Scholarships are available upon request to Megan Glenn (megan.glenn@unh.edu). Credit Card payment is recommended but if paying by cash/check payment must be received by November 30 to hold your reservation.
Food Drive: We are collecting donations of food for the Friendly Kitchen Food Pantry. Donations of food or money will earn additional tickets for the Science Bonanza Raffle. One donated food item for one ticket, or $5 for one ticket. Prizes may include science games or puzzles, membership to the Mount Washington Observatory, passes for the Mt. Washington Cog Railway, the Squam Lake Science Center, Aviation Museum of NH, SEE Science Center and more.
Cloverbuds (ages 5-7) will experience all sessions in a pre-assigned group and will move to each session with their group.
Workshops for Juniors (ages 8-12) are arranged in tracks on a first-registered, first-confirmed basis. Some workshops have a limited number of participants. See descriptions below.
Megan Glenn
Megan.Glenn@unh.eduCarrie Finke
Carrie.A.Finke@unh.eduJanell George
Janell.George@unh.edu
This year the Science Bonanza is a co-hosted by UNH 4-H and the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center.
Workshop Descriptions (Juniors ages 8-12)
Mercury-Venus Track (Blue):
Minecraft Programming Using Raspberry Pi's
In this workshop, students will setup Raspberry Pi systems, run Minecraft and use Python programs to interact with the Minecraft world. Students will also be able to visit each others Minecraft world utilizing our own local network. This wil allow for cooperative building.
Biofabrication with the STEM-MoBILE
The STEM-MoBILE is a traveling science lab which teaches people of all ages about the science of biofabrication, or making body parts! Join us for a workshop to learn about how scientists are making organs, participate in a hands-on experiment, and explore our traveling lab!
Earth-Mars Track (Red):
Navigating Through Inner Space
This workshop will explore navigation techniques used in deep ocean exploration. We will compare our human abilities to navigate using hearing (amid ambient noise) and how well our internal accelerometers and balance allow us to use inertial navigation techniques and compare results to other animals and instrumented systems
Rovers on Mars!
Use your creativity to build a cardboard, all-terrain rover that can travel across a variety of surfaces. Simple motors and recycled materials will be provided. You bring the imagination!
Jupiter-Saturn Track (Green):
Feeling Electric
Hands on demonstrations explaining what electricity and electronics is, and how we use it in our everyday lives. I will be assisted by a student-built robot that will interact with the students.
Planet Protectors
Let’s use technology to help clean up pollution? We live in a beautiful world, but pollution can sometimes take the beauty away. The good news is that we can use technology to solve problems caused by pollution. You will learn about pollution in our world and then devise experiments to help clean up pollution and be a Planet Protector.
Uranus-Neptune Track (Yellow)
Looking into Space
Join John Gianforte, the Sky Guy, and Director of the UNH Observatory to learn how telescopes work by checking out the newly updated McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center's Monster, C-14 telescope. We'll learn how telescopes work and what the different kinds of telescopes look like. And, if the sky is clear, we'll do a little stargazing at our own star, the Sun. We will also see how to hook up a camera to a telescope so you can shoot photos through your own telescope if you have one.
4-H Flight Path
Build a Balsa wood glider and learn to trim it for optimal performance. Then practice your flight skills with glider games. Note, youth will be constructing wooden gliders and should have basic crafting skills of cutting, measuring and gluing.
Sun-Moon Track (Purple)
Blast Off with Good Bacteria: The Ultimate Space Diet
Launch into an interstellar adventure to discover the secret crew living inside every astronaut: the gut microbiome! In this hands-on workshop, you will become a Cosmic Nutritionist. You'll discover how microgravity changes digestion, how space travel impacts our gut bacteria, and how scientists pack the ultimate space menu. Learn why food is the ultimate rocket fuel and how to feed your inner alien microbes to stay strong in Zero-G!
The Water Guardian's Lab
Become a Water Guardiuan and protect our most precious resource! Put on your lab coat and learn what it's like to be a real scientist! Move from station to station to conduct important tests on a water sample to see if it is safe to drink. Discover what may contaminate water, even if it looks crystal clear. Your experiments will help us be protectors of public health!
If you need an accommodation to participate in our programming, please contact Megan Glenn, Megan.Glenn@unh.edu and 603-862-7135 prior to the event. Given ample time, we will make any reasonable effort to meet your needs, including language access services if requested, which will be provided free of charge.
