Youngsters were immersed in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math at the third annual Indian River STEAM Fest, hosted at the IG Center by Indian River Academy. To ensure everyone’s safety, all activities were held outdoors this year and families had been asked to sign up in advance for one of three time slots, to accommodate up to 325 people each at Mad Science Shows featuring scientist “Mad Rich.”
“Instead of doing hands-on activities and experiments here like we would normally do, we have really cool activity bags that the kids can pick up on their way out,” explained Stephanie Watson, director of Indian River Academy. “They have all types of hands-on fun experiments and activities for the kids to do at home this year. So, it’s a lot smaller than previous years, but that was intentional.”
Included in the bags were creative projects such as art kits from the Vero Beach Museum of Art and an owl pellet dissection kit from Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, free passes to the ELC, and a NASA Mars map with QR codes that children could scan to learn about Mars.
Several departments at Indian River State College gave them straw rocket experiments, a Fibonacci math experiment, a slime experiment and a catapult experiment.
Exhibits were scattered about the property, including one on astronomy by Patrick Mugan, who offered attendees a chance to safely view the sun through a large telescope. The Strick 9 Racing Team, brothers Lonnie and Donnie Strickland, gave agile youngsters a chance to scramble through the window into the driver’s seat of a NASCAR stock car.
The Sheriff’s Department brought a bike used by the C.O.P.E. (Community Oriented Policing Endeavor) unit they’re developing; the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at FAU showed off their marine ambulance; the UF/IFAS Florida 4-H Program offered seeds on sticks to cultivate butterfly gardens; and the Environmental Learning Center had attendees identifying the scat and skulls of various critters.
Gifford Middle School science teacher Melissa Sleeper, who is also a Solar System Ambassador at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, brought some of her robotic students who drove their LEGO robots across a large map of Mars, and some of the Martian regolith (soil simulant) she’s using to grow potatoes with her students.
In place of an in-person escape room, the program had a QR code to virtual escape rooms; it’s accessible on their website, indianriversteamfest.com.
“For each different grade level, it’s puzzles and things that the kids have to figure out using science, technology, engineering, art and math. They have to figure things out in order to break out of the escape room,” said Watson.
While there was a minimal charge at past events, admission was free this time.
“This year it’s truly just a gift to the community,” said Watson. “Just coming out of COVID we really felt that it was important that families could come together in a safe and fun way.”
The event was put on by volunteers from Vero Beach Academy, a home school co-op that combines formal education and home schooling.
“Kids come to school two days a week and then we provide parents with homeschool lesson plans that help them homeschool effectively. So it is truly the best of both worlds,” said Watson.
For more information, visit indianriversteamfest.com or ira.indianriverschools.org.
Photos by Brenda Ahearn
