Ohio University’s chapter of the professional fraternity Alpha Chi Sigma plans to host its annual Family Science Saturday in the Chemistry Building on April 1.
Alpha Chi Sigma is a professional chemistry fraternity at OU. They host Family Science Saturday to showcase science for kids and families within the Athens community.
For the event, the fraternity received about $1,200 in funds from the Senate Appropriations Committee. The majority of these funds will be spent on supplies used during experiments, but some will be spent to rent a parking lot and parking monitors.
Destini McCartney, a senior studying biochemistry, is the outreach chair for Alpha Chi Sigma and one of the main coordinators of Family Science Saturday.
“Family Science Saturday is about bringing science to the local community, whether that be students on campus or the surrounding community of Athens, and other counties nearby,” McCartney said.
Faculty within the physics department typically provide some of the experiments each year. This year, they will have an infrared camera for guests to see themselves on a TV in infrared lighting, McCartney said.
Mark Lucas, a professor of instruction of physics and astronomy, is a board member of the Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery and has been involved with Family Science Saturday for several years.
However, the infrared camera is only one of the several experiments that can be expected at Family Science Saturday.
“We have things like an infrared camera that we often bring, and little sound experiments,” Lucas said. “[There is] just a wide range of demonstrations and activities that the kids can interact with.”
Josie Franks, a fifth-year senior studying forensic chemistry, is the president of Alpha Chi Sigma and also contributes to the planning of Family Science Saturday.
According to Franks, other experiments for families include dry ice bubbles with fog inside; a forensic corner, where kids can look at tire tracks and shoe impressions; as well as take their fingerprints.
During the event, safety precautions will be taken such as not providing food near the hands-on science experiments.
“We typically try to avoid food and drinks because we are dealing with chemicals,” Franks said. “It's safe, hands-on science, but still it shouldn't be like, ‘I'm going to touch this slime and then I'm going to eat something.’”
Alpha Chi Sigma collaborates with organizations on and off campus to introduce different fields of science. Some on-campus partnerships are with other science departments including physics and astronomy.
There is also some involvement from off-campus organizations local to the Athens community such as the Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery.
“Alpha Chi Sigma organizes the event and invites other organizations to participate, and I have been one of those other organizations for a long time—i.e. Physics,” Lucas said.
While there is some concern that attendance may go down due to Family Science Saturday falling on Mom’s weekend at OU, McCartney said she believes attendance may increase due to more families visiting that weekend.
“We are thinking that (moms weekend) could potentially benefit (Family Science Saturday) if they have a student's little brother or little sister with them,” McCartney said. “It gives that child something to do or something to look forward to while also visiting their older sibling.”
Family Science Saturday is open to the entirety of the Athens community as well as OU students.
“I'm telling all my friends about it because if I had no idea what this event was, and I just walked in, I would have so much fun making slime and all of the other things that I would take home,” Franks said.
