Holiday Science Fest Returns with New Science Fun

Noon to 4 p.m., December 27, 28 and 29, Michigan Space & Science Center

            While the days leading up to Christmas are a flurry of activity and excitement, the period afterward can lead to boredom and restlessness for children, but it doesn't have to be!  Bring them out to the Michigan Space and Science Center for a fun day of hands-on learning at the Holiday Science Fest, December 27, 28 and 29.  From noon to 4 p.m. each day, the entire family can become "investigators" as they try out special experiments, hands-on demonstrations, science displays and more!

            The 2002 Holiday Science Fest marks the seventh time this annual event has been held, and it promises to be bigger and better than ever.  Many new experiments and activities have been added that will let scientists of all ages try their hand at making fun, scientific discoveries.  With the help of Lumen Christi High School Science students, who will demonstrate the scientific principles behind the fun, visitors will have a chance to try out some of these great activities:

• Make holiday slime!  Become an amateur chemist and learn about oozy, slippery, slimy polymers!
• Explore the delicate magic of soap bubbles. Can you make a bubble blimp? How about a square bubble?
• Fly on wonderful wings! Try making a Hoopster glider, a paper helicopter, or maybe even a ring wing.
• Learn about magnets, magnetic fields and even fire an electro-magnetic "gun."
• Build your own spaceship!  Powered by imagination and a lot of craft materials, you can make your own out-of-this-world transportation!

Plus:

• Model Rocketry demonstrations (weather permitting)
• A new balloon animal workshop with balloon artist Bill Moore
• A door prize drawing and much, much more!

All scheduled activities during the Holiday Science Fest take place from noon to 4 p.m. each day and are free with your admission to the museum.

In addition to all these special activities, there are many other things to see and do at the Michigan Space and Science Center.  The Center is home to over $30 million of space artifacts, including the Apollo 9 spacecraft, a 4.3-billion-year-old moon rock, and spacesuits from the American and Russian space programs. You can sit in a Mercury capsule simulator and pretend to be an astronaut, or launch an air-powered rocket to the ceiling with one of the Center's new hands-on exhibits. You can even drive a replica of the Mars Pathfinder rover like the one that NASA scientists drove by remote control on Mars! 

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The Michigan Space and Science Center is located on the campus of Jackson Community College, just minutes south of I-94.  The Center's regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  (It will be open Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., for Holiday Science Fest only).  Admission is $4 for adults, $2.75 for students and senior citizens.  Children 5 and under are free as are MS&SC members.

For more information, contact the Michigan Space and Science Center at (517) 787-4425.