(bright music) - Few scientific demonstrations in modern history have been more enjoyable, or more effective, than the watermelon drop from high altitude.

We've just prepared to see that happen here at the first UW STEM Conference in conjunction with the opening of the Science Initiative Building.

I'm Steve Peck of WyomingPBS.

And this... (watermelon splats) (crowd cheers) is "Wyoming Chronicle."

(bright music) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is made possible in part by the Wyoming Humanities Council.

Helping Wyoming take a closer look at life through the humanities.

Thinkwy.org.

And by the members of the WyomingPBS Foundation.

Thank you for your support.

- [Steve] When the University of Wyoming dedicated its Science Initiative Building, leaders laid out three core missions for the dazzling new facility, education, research, and service.

Six months later, with the new SIB up and fully running, the third of those key objectives, service, was on active, engaging display at the first UW STEM Conference.

More than three dozen full-participation exhibits occupied the site both inside and out, as students of all ages came to Laramie to see the new building and what UW science programs could offer.

What grade are you in?

- Fourth grade.

- [Steve] Fourth grade.

At what school?

- UW Lab School.

- UW Lab School, in Laramie?

- Yes.

- [Steve] What have you seen here today that's been fun so far?

- I really liked when we went to the smoothie station.

- [Steve] The smoothie station Nora liked was more than a refreshment stop.

Ingredients were put in a blender operated not by electricity, but by pedal power.

- [Staff] Do you wanna try our blender bike and make a smoothie?

(bike whirs) - [Speaker 1] That's so fun, that was so fun.

- Love you.

- Good job.

Anyone else wanna ride?

(all speaking indisticntly) All right, you guys wanna try?

- Yeah.

- It does have milk and orange juice concentrate.

And vanilla, and yogurt, and ice.

So no added sugar.

(upbeat music) - What is your name?

- Brooks.

- Brooks.

What grade, Brooks?

- Fourth.

- [Steve] Fourth grade, same school.

UW Lab?

- Yeah.

- Good.

What have you seen today that you like?

- I really like learning about bees.

- What's your name?

- Olivia.

- [Steve] Olivia.

I love that name.

What grade are you in, Olivia?

- Third grade.

- Third grade.

You're here at the STEM Conference.

What have you seen that's fun so far?

- I saw the bee theme, same as Cody.

- [Steve] Mm-hmm, anything else?

- No, I've also seen this theme where you try and match, like, everything that elk do, and like where you normally see 'em, but the same for a deer, and front horns, and all of that stuff.

- Sounds good.

What's your name?

- Zaden.

- Zaden.

What school do you go to?

- Hanna Elementary.

What grade are you in, Zaden?

- Sixth grade.

- So you're here for the STEM Conference at the University of Wyoming, what do you think about this big building?

- It's cool.

- Fantastic.

- It's fascinating too.

- What have you done so far that's been interesting?

- I've got a plant.

I've gotten food for free?

Yeah.

- Okay.

Well, what's the plant all about?

- I don't remember its name, but I guess I just got it to take care of something.

- You like science?

- Yeah.

- You're good at it?

What are your favorite parts of science at school?

- Matter.

- Matter.

What is matter?

How did you define that?

- So matter is air, solid, and liquid.

- Yeah.

That's why I always heard, but it has... Takes up space, it has weight, no matter what it is... Is that what matter is?

- Mm-hmm.

All our clothes are made out of matter and things made out matter.

- What's your name?

- Tally.

- Tally.

What grade are you in?

- I'm in sixth grade.

- Where?

- At Hanna Elementary.

- So how did you get over here today to Laramie?

- A big yellow bus.

- A big yellow bus.

That's what I imagine.

Now, a lot of kids from Hanna came today, right?

- Yes.

- Like your whole school, maybe?

- Half our school, the little kids didn't come.

- Okay.

So you're in sixth grade?

- Yes.

- What subjects in science at school do you like?

- Really anything.

- Yeah.

What have you seen here today that's been fun?

- There was a habitat for... Well, it was fun to watch, my friends do the ski thing.

Kind of funny.

- What was that?

- It's basically where...

It's an advertisement for Cross-country ski.

So you pull down on these ropes, and then it has this little thing and you try to get your score as high as you can.

- Depending on how hard you push.

Interesting.

Do you ski?

- I do, but not Cross-country.

- Not Cross-country ski, did you try it?

- No.

- Yo didn't.

Who did well at it?

- Zaden, actually.

- Zaden, we've talked to him already.

He looks like he's pretty strong.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

(students laughs) - Let's see how long he can get that.

Ready?

Go.

- Oh, yeah.

That's it, boy.

- Go, Jeff?

- Up.

Up.

- Let's do it.

- Up, up, yeah.

Go, go, now.

Hustle, hustle, hustle.

Let's go, 100.

110, he's trying to beat 151.

Let's go.

Up, up, up, up, up.

126, nice one.

(crowd chattering) Yeah, 120.

(trainers cheering) - [Kid] I know.

- All right, who's next?

- Oh, you want to be easy- (Zaden laughs) All right, let get this done.

- I won.

(crowd chattering) - [Trainer] Just leave your backpack.

Leave your backpack.

All right, so to crunch the abs, (indistinct) leaning with the head, use your back, and bend your knees as coming down together.

Hold it forward.

- Watch your face for keeping that out.

- As far as you can go.

- Sprint, sprint, sprint.

Oh, Jesus.

Go, go, go, go.

(crowd cheering) (crowd clamoring) - 150, 150.

- Oh, 150.

- Oh, it's so close again.

(crowd laughing) (participant grunts) (crowd cheering) (crowd clapping) - Zaden, I'm gonna beat you, man.

- You already beat me.

- One mile away.

- But you already beat me.

- Just go all the way up, all the way down, all the way up, all the way down.

You're so close.

- Don't let it fall.

- [Trainer] Yeah, 150, 155, 156.

(participant grunts) (trainer grunts) - [Participant] Beat that, baby.

- Wait, you already beat me.

- Yes.

- Zaden.

- Zaden, do it.

- Zaden, do it.

(crowd cheering) - Get your bag and head down there.

- [Trainer 2] All right, Gareth.

Here we go, buddy.

- All right, Crunch with the abs, bend with the hip and bend with the knees.

All the way up, all the way up, and all the way down.

All the way up, all the way down.

- [Trainer 2] All right, there you go, buddy.

- As far as you can go.

- Go, Gareth.

- All the way down.

- Go all way up, yeah, up.

Up, up, up.

Sprint and finish, go, go, go.

62, 65, let's go, let's go.

70, let's get over 100.

77, 79.

So close, so close.

80 - 80.

- 82... Oh, come on, you're losing it, keep it up, up, up.

(participant grunts) - Ah, until 80.

- Anything this afternoon that you've been looking forward to that you've seen on the schedule that looks fun.

- No.

- Just whatever comes.

- Yeah.

Well, my mom mentioned something about x-ray and that stuff.

- Good idea.

I've seen that table there.

It does look interesting.

- Oh.

- [Steve] Throughout the all day field trip, visitors got hands on up-close demonstrations conducted both by university faculty, students and some private firms.

We're here with Jessica Kern.

Jessica, what's your job with University of Wyoming?

- I am a manager of the Ecology and Biogeochemistry Core Laboratory.

- Biogeochemistry, that's a big word.

What is it?

- (chuckles) I do a lot with studying soil, water, plant health and the environmental effects.

- We're here in the SI Building today for the student statewide STEM Conference, what's your role in that?

- My role here is to have a demonstration of what our lab does for some different education outreach and diversity projects so... - Have you been doing that yet today?

- I have been doing it and we've had had quite a few students stop by and take the activities home.

- What are they taking home?

- Today, they're taking home from me how to make a Winogradsky column.

So if you don't know what that is, you'll have to do a Google search on that.

And they're taking home the activity and jars, so that they can do that at home in their community and see what the microbes are doing in their soil.

- When we were here for the dedication of the building in March, both Dr. Lyford, and Dr. Brown talked about the role of service that the whole Science Initiative is playing around the state.

So that's partly what we're doing here, I presume.

- Yeah, that's what we're doing here.

And just showing the community that science can be fun.

It can engage a lot of different people in different interests in the community.

- How long have you been with UW?

- I've been in my current position for four years but often and on at the university I got both of my degrees from here.

So I've been here for longer than I'll admit.

(laughs) - [Staff 2] Yeah, there we go.

Yeah, just, yep...

It's like, you know, one of those old timey cameras.

(person laughs) - Very powerful solvents that are essentially molten salts that melt at very, very low temperatures.

Okay, and that allows you to go through and just directly dissolve with tough bio powders into solutions that you can then process.

Using much more scalable... - So here's just a little membrane we made.

We dissolved an ionic liquid.

We dissolved some cellulose in an ionic liquid and I just put some dye in there 'cause it's fun to make it different colors.

And all we do is wash it with water and the water washes all of the ionic liquid out.

And then what you're left with is a membrane.

A new material.

So you can make membranes, you can make beads, you can make fibers.

And you can functionalize them for different purposes.

And so this is kind of one of the examples of making materials out of things like waste and natural fibers.

- What is an ungulate pod?

Well, but I mean, yeah.

(both laughing) It's like, any- - Anything with hoofs.

- Yeah, okay.

- Yeah, yeah.

- My field is in meteorology.

I did not deal with any of this.

(person laughs) - Yeah.

- Yeah, any critter with hoofs.

So things like deer, elf, moose, cows, horses.

- So what's your name?

- Benjamin Miller.

- Benjamin, where are you from?

- I'm from Colorado.

- But you're a student at the University of Wyoming?

- Yes, I am.

- What year are you?

- I'm a senior.

- In what field?

- I'm with the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

- Mechanical... You're here today to observe the STEM Conference, right?

- I am, yes.

- What's your impression of it so far?

- Well, it's definitely geared toward the younger audiences.

But I'm not gonna say that's a bad thing because I always appreciate just engaging children in science 'cause that's really how we progress, right?

We need to have people interested in learning more about the world and how to make it better.

All that stuff.

- What led you to look to UW for your own college degree?

- Well, price for one.

But more specifically, when I was looking into it, it had just become a top tier engineering university.

So it was a great place to pursue what I wanted to pursue.

- With some remarkable investment in new education infrastructure here.

- Seems they get one every couple of years.

They had the engineering research building just across the street put up when I was a freshman.

- And right before you're finished with your senior year, here we are standing.

Standing here.

- Yeah, it's the second new building.

- What's your idea for post UW plan?

Graduate school possibly or?

- Probably not.

I'm considering going into aircraft design.

- I see.

- Yeah.

It's my senior design project's focusing a lot around the atmospheric science department and putting instrumentation onto their aircraft.

So I'm hoping I can pursue a career in that.

(spinning wheel tapping) (crowd chattering) - Ooh, what is the Wyoming State Fossil?

- [Speaker 2] Oh, that's just how the skulls... - Oh, yeah- - Come apart.

See, your lower jaw.

- Yeah.

- It connects.

- It's a fish.

- [Kid] It's in a rock.

- So it's called Knightia eocaena, and it's named after Wyoming's first geologist, and the first Wyoming (indistinct) geologist.

- Oh, now you get to test your knowledge at Wyoming Trivia.

- [Guardian] All right, slide down a little.

- Okay.

What is Wyoming's top mineral export?

Coal, petroleum, fossils or poop?

- I watch (babbles) (people chattering) - Is it, coal or trona?

- Coal?

- No, it is trona.

It's a sodium...

It's a baking soda, it's for you to keep.

But that is our number one export or money maker in Wyoming.

- Why is this cape getting stuck on my feet.

- What is Wyoming's gemstone?

Diamonds or Jade?

- Jade?

- Yeah.

So this is what Wyoming Jade looks like.

This is what it looks like on the surface.

- Why is this so smooth?

- And then we polished it, 'cause that's what people make jewelry and earrings out of.

- Hold on, these are all bears, over here.

This is a tiger.

This is a early cat relative from Wyoming.

Here's a hyena.

This is a modern hyena.

And then that's the fossil hyena next to it.

- Ew.

- Yeah.

(laughs) - Is that one real?

- That was real.

- It is a cast, but it is a real skull.

There are skulls at that elk, yeah.

- What's your name?

- Hannah.

- Hannah.

Where are you from?

- I was born in Texas.

I stayed there for a year.

And then we moved here.

- And you live in Laramie now?

What school do you go to?

- Yeah, we live... We go to UW Lab school.

- Lab school.

- We live out of town with a farm.

We have five horses ago, three cats, and a dog.

- No kidding.

- Wait, two dogs.

(chuckles) - What grade are you, Hannah?

- Fourth.

- Are you having fun?

- Yes.

- What's this thing you have in your hand here?

- So outside I did a tie dye.

And I'm surprised with how it looked.

- You like it in a good way or a bad way?

- A very good way.

- You like it?

- Yes.

- Good.

- I love it.

- Hold it up again, let me look at that tie-dye.

Had you ever done that before?

- No.

- So you must have been able to do it quickly, and have a way to show you the people there, say, "Here's how to make a quick one."

- Yeah, you kind of just like squirted some dye on it and wrapped it up and then squirted dye on it, and it was pretty easy.

- Now, I noticed you're wearing some ears.

Tell me about those.

- Yeah.

I wear them every day because... Well, I love animals probably more than people.

(giggles) - Do you like science at school?

- Yes.

- What's something about science that you're really good at that you think?

Or you like a lot?

- Probably, learning about microvertebrates.

- So that's good to look through a microscope to do that?

- Uh-huh.

- Have you seen anything here today that the STEM Conference so far that you really like?

- Probably the...

Looking at the salt.

- Was that a microscope too?

- Yeah.

- And you say it's salt twitching.

So you saw... What does it look like under a microscope?

- It kind of looks like... Like a grain of salt, but it shows like itsy bitsy pieces in it.

- Crystals almost.

- Yeah.

- Thank you, you did very well.

- You as well.

- That's cool.

- So you're gonna gently pour this into the edge of the track, - I try not to.

- so that it seeps over there, so it doesn't disturb the track.

And make sure that it's all touching each other.

- [Speaker 3] Make sure that it's all in there.

- [Speaker 4] (indistinct) the same color.

- [Steve] An outdoor table set up with materials and helpers for making plastered casts of various wildlife footprints was one of the most popular of all the stopping points for students.

Virtually, every visitor we spoke to at the carnival mentioned it as a favorite activity.

And what were the most popular footprints to make at the busy table?

Deer, bear and elk.

- [Kid] I think we're mixing up some more.

(people laughing) - Okay, I think I'm done.

- Yeah, here we go.

- I got most of my... - Okay.

- Okay, we're ready.

- All right, we're gonna top yours off here.

That way we'll have a nice round... - Is mine good?

- Yeah, yours looks really good.

It's all the way to the edges of the paper, which doesn't really matter if it's touching the edges but It'll make a nice disc and it'll be stable.

Oh, that looks really good.

- Mine needs a little bit- - Yeah, around the edges there.

- So, yeah- - No, that was a good job.

- It's a (indistinct).

- Perfect.

All right.

- 30 minutes.

- 30 minutes and you can come back, and your cast will be hardened.

- Mark Lyford is the program director for UWs Tier one Science Initiative.

In 2022, with the new SI building still standing empty.

He talked about involving pre-college students in the effort.

R1, PhD students, researchers, graduate students, visiting researchers.

All a big part of what this is.

But I'm doing some reading about it before we came today, there's a K-12 element for the littlest kids in Wyoming schools.

Tell us about that, Dr. Lyford.

- Oh, thanks for bringing that up.

So one of the other programs we have beyond our, you know, training faculty to use active learning, our Wyoming Research Scholars program, is what we call our K through Community roadshow.

And one of the things we realize is if we wait till the college experience to try influence kids, students to be in STEM, we're way too late.

And so we have a program that gets out and works with K through 12, teachers and students.

Brings in fact active learning, engaging opportunities across all the disciplines out to the schools.

We focused on student success.

And I would say that this space right here and the conversation we had about student success particularly in these classrooms is really what helps sell the idea of the Science Initiative as people get it, right?

And the impact of thousands of students each year that will come through this space, that we can help be successful will just be huge.

What's great, it wasn't an add-on.

You know, this building was based on largely how are we gonna serve the whole...

Frankly, how do we serve the mission of the university?

And I think this building is a great example.

It's all about research, it's all about teaching, and it's all about service and outreach.

And so I think, you know, we try to think about all those things as we put this plan together.

Greg and I have a saying that is, if we can't do this in Wyoming, it can't be done anywhere.

That is, we can touch K through 12, community college, UDub, truly the K through community, and have a lasting impact.

And that's our goal.

So we've got a director of our K through community roadshow, that is actively working with students here on campus.

So we have students that are our assistants, that go out and bring these engaging opportunities to the school systems.

- [Steve] Six months later, with the SI building and grounds now packed with elementary school students, Dr. Lyford fired up the kids in preparation for a watermelon drop from the rooftop.

But first a test run with a tennis ball - Test run.

Everybody ready?

- [All] Yeah.

- Drop.

- [Staff 3] We're ready.

- [All] Drop it, drop it, drop it, drop it - [Staff 3] On zero.

- [All] Two, one, zero.

(all screaming) (tennis ball thuds) (all screaming) - What's your name?

- Porter.

- Porter.

Where do you go to school?

- Here at the UW Lab School.

- UW Lab School.

What grade are you, Porter?

- Fourth grade.

- And you've got something in your hand.

Did you get that today at the STEM Conference?

- Yes.

- What is it?

- It's a plant that has like, a fake piece of a plant in it to make it look like a plant.

- Tip it forward like you're- - Tilt it, yeah.

- Let's see, there's a little tiny little nub of a plant in there.

We saw another one that was a little bigger.

But that'll get big.

You like science in school?

- Yes.

- Plants, is that something that interests you?

- Mm-hmm.

- What's interesting about it too, why do you like it?

- They give us air.

They're really beautiful and they smell really good.

- Smell good too.

What other things have you done here today that you've enjoyed or looking forward to?

- I've controlled a mini robot ball thing with a little iPad thing.

- Really?

- And I'm looking forward to going back outside and doing some more stuff.

- They've told me that they're gonna have a watermelon drop.

Dropping the watermelon from a high place.

I want to be sure, we see that.

That sounds like real science.

- Yeah.

- [Steve] Back outside, only the main gravitational event remains.

- For those of you have a timer, chief's gonna count out three, two, one, and then on zero, you start your timer.

Now on zero, chief's going to masterfully drop the watermelon.

- [Chief] Yep.

Are you ready?

Get ready with your timers.

Countdown chip and toss.

- [All] Three, two, one.

Drop it.

(all cheering) (watermelon splat) (all screaming) - From test tubes and microscopes, to wildlife and flying fruit.

The man in charge of the SI Building says there's something for everyone in science.

- I was involved from day one in the Science Initiative, and the first executive director of the facility.

- The facility.

And that's the big SI building that we're in now?

- Yes.

- Dedicated in March.

At the time we interviewed you, and you made specific mention that service in addition to education and research was part of what the Science Initiative was about and what this building was intended to be used for.

I'm assuming seeing all these elementary school students here, we're beginning to see some of the fruits of that service effort.

- Yes, that's correct.

One of the key goals of the Initiative is to, have the University of Wyoming use the Science Initiative building but other buildings and programs as well in the future, as we start to energize these facilities, like an enzyme for increase the reaction speed of getting school children in particular, interested in science, but also, taking our programs out into the state and into the community where there's a science question or problem that's really community based, that makes science more relevant to their life.

- So you're giving tours and discussions today.

Other people are as well.

We talked to some of your students as well.

So some of the people that they're meeting here today, they might meet then, in their own school districts in the future.

- Exactly, yes.

Also, to help develop good avenues of communication between science people, faculty, grad students, postdocs, and members out in the community, in the state.

So that they understand the university's here to serve the state.

- When we were here in for the march dedication, for a little while that morning there were quite a few people here listening to speeches and ribbon cuttings, but then it was empty.

Now it's buzzing with people.

You must be pleased about that.

- It's really fun to be in the lobby when 200 students come out of the active learning classroom at the end of lecture.

And then another 200 are waiting to go back in for a new class.

- And that, I suppose itself is a great unintended sort of demonstration for the littler kids who are here watching, seeing these college students.

- The purpose of the carnival is to make science fun.

Make it...

It's not shouldn't be scary.

- Science is fun.

- Yep.

Yes, it is.

Science is fun.

(bright music) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is made possible in part by the Wyoming Humanities Council.

Helping Wyoming take a closer look at life through the humanities.

Thinkwy.org.

And by the members of the WyomingPBS Foundation.

Thank you for your support.