STEM Day is back!
Explore a campus filled with fun for the whole family
STEM Day returns to Virginia Western! This event will feature free food and over 20 booths and interactive exhibits that will provide education and excitement for kids of any age. Experience pendulum painting, electric cars and motorcycles, glow in the dark bacteria, medical simulations with real clinical tools, robots and slime, and a variety of other exhibits showcasing the many practical and engaging applications of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in our community.
Date: Saturday, April 11
Time: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Free admission!
Questions?
Leah Thomas
Biotechnology Outreach Specialist
lthomas@virginiawestern.edu
Exhibits and Activities
STEM Building
Information Technology
ST112
This exhibit will show you how real smart home systems work by combining sensors, networking, software, and automation to solve problems the same way modern IT and engineering jobs do.
VPT Booth
ST112
This booth features a STEM electricity activity as well as materials from VPT including DC to DC converters.
Astronomy
ST212
This exhibit lets you color your own planet on Styrofoam balls for small children and figure out the phases of the Moon for adolescents and older learners.
Disease Detectives
ST214
In this exhibit, you will embark on a mission to eliminate bacteria on surgical instruments! Learn more about microbiology and engineering through this hands-on challenge where you will become a decontamination technician.
Robotics
ST314
This exhibit features an exciting, hands-on robot demo where engineering and programming come to life. Come see robots that can react to light, follow paths, and respond to remote controls.
Clean Valley Council
ST216
Clean Valley Council is a local nonprofit organization committed to environmental education and stewardship. Take part in an educational activity focused on water pollution and its implications for aquatic ecosystems like those found in the Roanoke River.
Chemistry
ST311 & ST315
The Chemistry exhibit features exciting demonstrations of shattering racquetballs with liquid nitrogen, fluffy slime, disintegration of Styrofoam with acetone, and many other engaging hands-on activities.
Virginia Museum of Transportation
ST312
The Virginia Museum of Transportation booth features an interactive STEM activity that showcases force and motion, a prize wheel with prizes, and models of various types of transportation.
Virginia Tech Roanoke Center
ST312
Learn about electricity and circuits by becoming part of the circuit! This booth gives you a chance to explore conductors and insulators in a fun, interactive way.
Bricks 4 Kidz
ST316
The Bricks 4 Kids® exhibit lets you take part in their popular spin art activity, featuring a motorized Lego spin art machine as well as a creative building station for model building.
Biotech – Strawberry DNA
ST414
This exhibit features a hands-on activity where you’ll collect DNA from strawberries. Participants will smash, filter, and collect visible strands of DNA while learning how genetic information directs the activities of living organisms.
Kids Square – STEAM
ST415
Information TBA
Novonesis – Biology
ST416
Glow to Grow! Come see glow in the dark bacteria and learn how to change the world around you!
Math
ST417
Activity: Fibonacci Sequence
This exhibit will teach you how the Fibonacci Sequence is formed, how it appears in art, architecture and the natural world, and lets you create a Fibonacci Spiral to take home.
Fralin Center for Science and Health Professions
HP Second Floor Lobby: Girl Scout Information Booth, Virginia Western Enrollment Booth
RBIA Innovation Studio
HP208
Learn about the Roanoke Blacksburg Innovation Alliance’s (RBIA) new Innovation Studio and programming designed to support our region’s life sciences startups, with a primary focus on medical devices, therapeutics, and digital health.
Carilion Clinic Innovations – Engineering Health
HP208
This exhibit showcases the engineering designs and products used inside Carilion Hospitals and how they help care teams better treat their patients.
Carilion Clinic Center for Simulation, Research, and Patient Safety
HP208
Take part in a walkthrough of a simple simulation exam with a child mannequin and learn how these exams are used as a vital part of patient care.
Virginia Tech Health Sciences and Technology Campus
HP210
The Virginia Tech Health Sciences and Technology Campus presents an interactive medical STEM exhibit that will introduce you to core concepts of human biology and health through hands-on exploration and real clinical tools, showcasing how science, creativity, and problem-solving come together in medicine.
Biology
HP417
The Biology exhibit lets you look through microscopes and see the bacteria that cause strep throat, tuberculosis and other diseases. You can also use microscopes to get a closer look at your fingerprints, jewelry, coins and any other object you’d like to see magnified!
Science Museum of Western Virginia
HP418
Come meet some scaly sweethearts, give her a pet, feed her a bug, and learn about some of her favorite treasures from the SMWV museum collections including fossils, bugs, and more!
Anatomy and Physiology
HP421
This exhibit features anatomical models and a dissection
The Art of Seeing and Sensing Nature
HP422
This exhibit features seed bombs, tree identification processes, plant scents, effects of light pollution on plants and animals and migrations, and other uses of Environmental science.
Virginia Department of Forensic Science
HP425
Come find out how biochemistry helps us identify drugs!
Outdoor Exhibits
Girl Scouts Mobile STEM Center
TThe Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline Council’s Mobile STEM Center is bringing a fun, hands-on STEM experience designed to spark curiosity and creativity while exploring science and engineering concepts in an engaging way. Take part in pendulum painting, allowing you to experiment with motion and physics in creating colorful, unique artwork you can take home.
Virginia Agriculture Mobile Education Unit
The Virginia Agriculture Mobile Unit is an interactive educational tool that showcases the Commonwealth’s largest private industry, agriculture and forestry, while demonstrating the valuable role it plays in our daily lives.
Virginia Tech Baja Team
This student-led organization is dedicated to designing, building, testing, and racing high performance off-road vehicles. The Baja Team competes against universities worldwide in a challenging series of competitions that push the limits of our vehicle’s capabilities.
Virginia Tech Formula SAE
Learn more about Virginia Tech Motorsports, their winning history with their Formula SAE team, and how their engineers push the limits of motorsport technology.
BOLT at Virginia Tech
BOLT is a team of Virginia Tech undergraduate students that works together to design, build, and race electric motorcycles. BOLT will be showcasing their current electric superbike, the BOLT VI.