Kids and Parents Share the Thrill of Discovery at AAAS Family Science Days

Carly Joseph, a precocious 9-year-old, steps out of the US Geological Survey booth and invites a couple of children to join her as she makes fossils and fossil rubbings. The activity, designed to aid children in the identification of minerals, is one of many taking place this weekend during the 2005 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Families, children and teachers, many of them from Washington, enjoyed an array of hands-on workshops and interactive science demonstrations in the Exhibit Hall of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. Ongoing activities range from the L'Oreal "Hair Affair" show and the rolling rainforest to the Sally Ride science booth. The dynamic atmosphere on the exhibition floor offered something for everybody.

Eager children crowded into the popular earthquake exhibit and ask demonstrators what makes an earthquake and whether one could occur in D.C.

Kamryn Conttee leaped off a platform and watched as a rotating drum record her seismic pattern. A line forms behind her, but Kamryn decides to create another little earthquake to test her new understanding of the concept.

Parents stood by and cheered teams experimenting with gases such as hydrogen, carbon dioxide and liquid nitrogen. Obtaining the correct result is often not enough as demonstrators urge team members to question their results and take note of observations.

Sunday's activities will feature Jane Servais and her partner-an Australian shepherd named Glory-—from 11:00a.m.-2:00 p.m. Glory is skilled at searching for lost humans in the wilderness and disaster areas, and they will demonstrate how canines are used in forensic investigations.

— Monica Amarelo

20 February 2005