On March 26th approximately over 20,000 San Diego youngsters all had one thing in common… the children and their parents were having fun at the largest science festival on the west coast at Petco Park. The National Science Foundation sponsored the event.

    The grand finale event was a spectacular way of learning a combination of many elements including science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The event started on March 19th and ran through the 26th at locations such as Balboa Park; San Diego State University; University of California, San Diego; K-12 schools and many others.

    One child with multiple descents of Latina, Chinese, German and Filipina American was the nine-year-old Angie Garcia enthusiastically said, “I enjoyed seeing volcanoes erupt and watch all manner of materials burst into flames. It even disappeared with a flash.”

    The Science Festival not only had the kinds of fantastic displays that got “oohs” and “aahs” from the kids and adults alike but it topped it off with over a hundred hands-on exhibits to dip, dabble and learn at will for all that were interested in science.

    Promising young scientists were able to create their very own non-Newtonian fluids. The attendees even had the opportunity to feel the hearts of different animals, hold snakes, lizards and giant cockroaches. They also built earthquake proof structures, created a model rocket and controlled robots exploring a maze. 

    The expo made many young minds think for a day especially a six-year-old child, Natalie Ong-Garcia was inquisitive and asked, “What do you need to grow algae?” Then her 4th grade sister who speaks like a rocket scientist said, “Sunlight, water and carbon-dioxide.”   

    The creativity kicked-in and inspiration at the Sapphire booth got children to finger paint with algae, and afterwards they learned how algae can be turned into jet fuel or gasoline.

    The day was full of questions and innovative answers. One parent said, “The best part of this full day event is that the kids were able to participate in real experiments and discover the wonders of science. It also gave hands-on opportunity for many excited volunteers. It was an enlightening experience for myself and for everyone who attended.”

    The expo reflected the cool ideas for kids to learn and how it may have a huge impact on the future. For more information on the upcoming science festival, check out the website at .