After its successful launch last semester, UA’s Science is Fun club is returning for the Fall semester.
The club takes a unique approach to its goal of promoting inclusion in science fields, by presenting science experiments – like dry ice or glow-in-the-dark (phosphorescent) paper – to kids in a fun and accessible way.
“Our goal is to show that anyone can be a scientist,” Abigail Keyes, president of Science is Fun Club, said. “We try to have diverse groups who are presenting to these younger kids and we hope to break down any socioeconomic or educational barriers that exist for younger students in their pursuit of science and education.”
Keyes started the club at UA last semester, inspired by her experience of being a part of the original Science is Fun club at her high school.
“Seeing the joy and smiles on these kids’ faces is what really motivated me personally in continuing this club and bringing it to UA,” Keyes said. “I just love the fact that the kids love it.”
Club member Pranaya Gurrala, who was also a member of the original club, echoed similar sentiments, recalling handmade letters she received from kids after a presentation.
“In every note they were like ‘my favorite part was the Van de Graaf generator’ or ‘my favorite part was the liquid nitrogen,’” Gurrala said. “It’s one of my favorite memories and it meant a lot to read these heartfelt letters from these kids who enjoyed the experiments.”
But it’s not just kids that get pulled in by Science is Fun’s demonstrations and events.
“One of my favorite parts of the club is also seeing the adult interaction with our experiments,” club secretary Kaylee Ferreira said, recalling a Science is Fun event held during last year’s solar eclipse at the Flandrau Science Center. “There were so many adults that came up and they were so enthusiastic about it.”
“When the parents come up, I get to go more in-depth and talk about the actual scientific explanations involved, and I personally get a lot of enjoyment out of that because it’s a fun conversation on different levels,” Keyes added.
In addition to offering learning experiences for members of the Tucson community, the club also offers the chance for members to improve their collaboration and presentation skills.
Meetings include learning science experiments and practicing demonstrations or bonding activities like making bracelets for kids at the club’s events.
“Meeting people that join this club is great, because aside from just science, you do get to improve your presentation and communication skills,” Gurrala said. “Seeing people branch out of the shell they had when they first joined the club, and then blossoming into this great teaching mentor for the younger generations is one of my favorite parts.”
Looking toward the future, the club is interested in exploring collaborations with other clubs and organizations on campus.
“For example, with the Rugby team, we could do an exercise-themed or biology-themed walk-up or we could do a coding-themed walk-up with CS majors,” Keyes said.
The club also hopes to continue expanding its presence throughout the Tucson community.
“This past year, we’ve mainly focused on doing walk-ups, but my personal goal is to expand to classroom presentations starting with an elementary level and then maybe in the future we’ll expand to the high school level,” Keyes said.
“I’m also hoping to organize some more walk-ups that are off campus and go to different parts of Tucson, so that we can interact with more people in the community,” Ferreira added.
This semester, Science is Fun will be meeting every other Monday at 6 pm in room 318 of the Chemistry building. The club’s Instagram account, which frequently posts updates and announcements, is @uascienceisfun118. Their first meeting of the semester will be on September 9th.
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