Science Saturdays schedule for Fall 2024 released

Science Saturdays are back and ready to turn on new scientific minds this school year.

These 90-minute educational enrichment sessions are a cornerstone piece of community outreach at Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). Topics in 2024 will include 3D printing, bottle rockets, secret codes, and more. The sessions are free to the families who attend, thanks to the support of community partners.

For more than 17 years now, Science Saturday has inspired students in grades 3-7 in both Pensacola and on the Institute’s Ocala campus. In the 2023-2024 school year, more than 300 students attended the series, said Dr. Ursula Schwuttke, director of educational outreach for IHMC.

“Science Saturdays is so close to IHMC’s heart,” Schwuttke said. “It is one of our original outreach efforts and reflects the commitment we all feel to giving students of all ages and backgrounds the chance to fall in love with science and technology. We cannot wait to get started.”

Save these dates and visit this site for the latest: https://www.ihmc.us/life/science_saturdays/

Pensacola dates:

Sept. 21: Ozobots Programming, Heath Parr, Brown-Barge Middle School.

Oct.  26: Robot Hands, Dr. Gwen Bryan, IHMC.

Nov. 23   3-D Printing, Nicole Esposito, IHMC.

Dec. 14   Bottle Rockets, Jared Li, IHMC.

Ocala

Sept. 21: Paper Airplanes, Dr. Ian Perera, IHMC.

Oct. 12: Secret Codes, Dr. Arash Mahyari, IHMC.

Nov. 16: Animla Skull Detectives, Dr. Verity Mathis, Florida Museum of Natural History.

Dec. 7: Candy Chromatography, Dr. Manal Fakhoury, Clinical Pharmacologist.

Sponsors for the series in Pensacola include NextEra Energy Foundation/Florida Power & Light, Florida Blue Foundation, Cox, Alera Group, and the Escambia County Sherriff’s Office (with Law Enforcement Trust Fund monies).

Ocala supporters also include Lockheed Martin, Florida Blue Foundation, Cox, Precision Sidewalk Safety and Ocala Electric Utility.

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry, and academia to conduct ground-breaking science and develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.