Cool Science kicks off 15th annual STEM fest in Colorado Springs

Aeronautics and astronomy, bubbles and bees, robots and rockets, and a host of other STEM-related activities were on colorful and engaging display at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus as a local nonprofit kicked off its 15th annual science blowout.

With Saturday's Carnival Day serving as its launch pad, the 2024 Cool Science Festival began in grand style with a friendly takeover of the UCCS campus. Nearly 90 different activities, shows and displays, both indoors and outdoors, drew about 8,000 kids, parents and grandparents, according to executive director Marc Straub.

"(Carnival Day) went great," said Straub, who has served Cool Science in a number of capacities since signing on as a volunteer in 2006. "It was our biggest attendance ever."

Historically, Carnival Day is the festival's biggest and most popular event, but according to Straub, it's just the beginning.

In the days to come, more than 80 STEM-related showcases will include some old favorites, like the space science shows at the Air Force Academy planetarium and the extended Cave of the Winds Tour, and new additions like a tour of Flying Pig Farm, Math Game Nights at the Rockrimmon Mathnasium, and Fly with Physics at iFly Colorado Springs.

Grown-ups can learn about chemistry's role in creating their favorite adult beverages at Evergood Adventure Wines or the Bristol Brewing Company.

"There's also, for whatever reason, a Tesla coil at the brewing company," Straub said. "This year, after the beer tasting, they're going to fire it up."

Most events are free, though some charge a small fee that's typically discounted from normal prices, officials said.

"It takes dozens of participating schools, companies, museums, clubs, nonprofits and other organizations from all over eastern Colorado to put this festival on," Straub said. "In a lot of cases, like with schools and museums, we're taking the kinds of STEAM events they do year-round, and making them a part of the festival."

Among the dozens of hands-on activities Saturday, a fully-equipped Colorado Springs Fire Department truck was hugely popular, with kids waiting in line for a few moments behind the wheel and peppering firefighters with questions about the truck's speed capabilities, water hoses, passenger capacity and more.

"There's a lot of science involved in firefighting," explained firefighter Adam Montelongo. "Understanding the way fire reacts with certain kinds of fuel, or what it does when oxygen is introduced into a space — that's science. In the truck, pump calculations have to be made in order to send the appropriate amount of water pressure. That's science, too."

At another station, kids and adults gathered around an observation beehive provided by the Pikes Peak Beekeepers Association, a nonprofit that supports commercial beekeepers as well as a growing number of hobbyists who like to cultivate a buzz in their own backyards.

"Bees are so important to our ecosystem," said a recreational beekeeper who declined to give her name. "The pollination is essential to fruits, vegetables, almonds, coffee – we would be totally lost without them."

A STEM festival wouldn't be the same without rockets, and they were flying all around the UCCS campus, bolstered by propellants ranging from air to Alka-Seltzer.

"Hands-on activities are the best, most fun way to get kids engaged in STEM," said Nylah Rampersad, who coordinates educational programming for the Space Foundation Discovery Center. "And what better way to get kids thinking about space, than letting them launch something into the sky?"

Showing kids how fascinating, fun and useful science can be is the overriding purpose of the Cool Science Festival, officials said.

Because they are curious by nature, most children already have an affinity for science, whether they know it or not, and the Cool Science Festival is designed to channel and encourage that fascination, Straub said.

"(The festival) is really about nurturing the excitement they already have about science and encouraging them to sign up for classes that will start them on a path to science and tech careers," he said.

"The activities are meant to be fun and engaging, but while they're having fun, they're also learning about the many job and recreational opportunities science has to offer, as well as all the ways science and STEAM impact our daily lives."

The annual STEM extravaganza is the nonprofit's signature event, but Cool Science runs outreach and engagement programs all year round, Straub said.