Public Science Day

For more than 15 years Public Science Day has been an integral part of the AAAS Annual Meeting. Through collaborations with local science centers and schools, Public Science Day is shaped by the needs of the community where the AAAS Annual Meeting is held, engaging the area’s school children in science through interactive and hands-on experiences.

• Public Science Day 2004, held at the Pacific Science Center, connected over 1,200 Seattle Area students with engineering students from the University of Washington's Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Program. Students also met with scientists in order to learn more about what they do and about careers in science.
• Public Science Day 2005, held at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., engaged 1,000 students in science, mathematics, and technology activities. At the AAAS headquarters University of Maryland John S. Toll Professor of Physics Dr. James Gates spoke to 175 high school students about pursing careers in science.
• Public Science Day 2006 took place at the Saint Louis Science Center, where over 1,200 students from the St. Louis Public and Parochial school systems took a close look at the science involved in everyday living.
• Public Science Day 2007 took place at the California Academy of Sciences. 1,000 San Francisco school children interacted with Academy staff, learning about the diversity of animals inhabiting our Earth.

With Public Science Day, AAAS shows students, teachers, and parents how to access their local scientific community. By taking science outside of formal education settings, Public Science Day helps turn learning science into a lifelong pursuit.

Public Science Day 2008 will be held in Boston, MA.

Public Science Day 2007: Animals Around Us

By BART and by bus, San Francisco Unified District students grades kindergarten thru eighth came to the California Academy of Sciences in order to learn more about the natural world. Academy staff and volunteers presented demonstrations to the students and guided them through the exhibits and displays. A Live Specimens Show taught the students some of the characteristics which would help them distinguish between reptiles and amphibians. Students also interacted with the Academy’s animals through Penguin Talk, a presentation of the Academy’s African penguins, and the hands-on Discovery Tide Pool where students could touch hermit crabs, starfish, and more. Students were encouraged to explore and learn on their own through scavenger hunts tailored for each grade.