SAN ANTONIO – The University of Texas at San Antonio transformed its campus into a hands-on science playground Saturday as Viva Science SA brought experiments and families together.
Children rolled up their sleeves and got their hands dirty — from mixing ingredients for sidewalk chalk to building a foaming volcano. UT San Antonio engineering students showed how common kitchen items can become chemistry right before their eyes.
One young attendee said she had even tried to recreate the experience at home.
“I tried to like use chalk to make chalk, but it didn’t really work,” the child said.
UT San Antonio student Janelly Vargas said she hopes the event leaves a lasting impression on the next generation.
“I think I see myself a lot in these kids, and I really hope that they are inspired to pursue any career in STEM like I did,” Vargas said. “I think it’s really fun to see because I know sometimes science can be intimidating, but if you see that it’s fun and it’s exciting, then I think that’s really cool.”
One of the most popular demonstrations was elephant toothpaste — a fast-rising foam reaction created using hydrogen peroxide, yeast, Dawn soap and food coloring.
Volunteer Latoya Lofton said the event helps address the gap in youth engagement with science.
“We don’t have enough kids that are interested in science, and so we want to show them that science can be fun, that you can do different things,” Lofton said.
The free event, hosted by the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UT San Antonio, encouraged more families to explore STEM and potentially inspired the next generation of local scientists and engineers.
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