MAES

Science Extravaganza is a hands-on academic enrichment experience for middle and high school students from low income; academically low performing schools with a high percentage of Hispanic enrollment. This one-day endeavor gives MAES professional and student members an opportunity to peak the interest of younger students in technical fields and reinforces the benefits of higher education. Science Extravaganza consists of workshops presented by volunteer professionals, professors, and college students across a spectrum of technical and scientific fields. Depending on the workshops, students are provided the opportunity to conduct hands-on experiments or attend informative presentations on various technical or scientific subjects. Hands-on projects can range from building structures to observing chemical reactions to learning how to program digital displays. Students are briefed on the particular project in which they will have to apply their problem solving skills, logical reasoning, and mathematics applications. Then, working in teams, students are challenged to work with a variety of personalities and explore one another’s creativity. They learn to combine an assortment of ideas into one, which demonstrates the importance of working as a team versus as an individual. Group work also encourages and develops communication skills between team members.