Grade School

The UCSD Bioengineering graduate society will host a hands-on activity for K-12 students about stem cell differentiation. A groundbreaking UCSD study has shown that stem cells differentiate based on the material properties of the surface that they are on. Students will blindly feel into many boxes to feel the material properties of different materials and guess what a stem cell would differentiate into if on that material. There is then an arts and crafts section where students can make their o

We will be bringing a 3d printed heart model with blue and red LEDs lighting up tubes to show the flow of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood through the heart and how the body is supplied with oxygenated blood. Students will also have the opportunity to put on real scientist gloves and feel a real preserved porcine heart. We will also be hanging out informational pamphlets/brochures and 3D printed stents that emphasize the importance of bioengineering.

Hands-on reptile and invertebrate encounters.

We'll have a Plinko game board on site where kids can learn water facts and answer quiz questions to win prizes.

The Children’s Museum of Discovery will be bringing our Mobile Children’s Museum, a hands-on, play-based experience that inspires curiosity and creativity through STEM and art exploration. Our setup includes several interactive exhibits designed for kids of all ages to learn through play, including: Wind Tunnel – experiment with flight and watch creations soar. Blue Blocks – design and build large-scale structures. Rigamajig – engineer imaginative creations with oversized wooden pieces.

We will explore how the body develops immunity with antibodies. Visitors will cut out paper antibodies to connect them to COVID-19 and vaccines and build a virus model to learn about virus structure. They can take home their crafts. We will also show a sealed petri dish with GFP-expressing bacteria. Using a UV flashlight, visitors will see it glow and learn how GFP is used in immunology research.

We will demonstrate psychological principles (primarily perception and cognition) through activities. Some of the activities will include a memory box (to demonstrate the limits of short term memory), visual illusions (checkerboard, Ponzo, Muller-Lyer, etc.), and inversion goggles (that turn vision upside down).