More than 500 students in grades K-12 along with their parents took part in the fourth annual Reign in Science Day at Old Dominion University on Sat., Sept. 28. ODU undergraduate and graduate students along with community partners helped the next generation of scientists discover Monarch science. The event was free, and students came from as far as Richmond and Yorktown as well as from all seven cities in the Hampton Roads region.

Students participated in a wide array of hands-on S.T.E.M.-related activities that were lined up outside between the Chemistry Building and the Oceanography and Physical Sciences building.  

ODU Chemistry Assistant Professor Trandon Bender, one of the co-organizers of the Reign in Science Day, said, “The big idea was to take our graduate student population at ODU (this includes all of the departments of science) and show that we’re doing a lot of really exciting research at ODU.” “The community maybe doesn’t realize what we’re doing here, and since we are a publicly funded institution, we wanted to show the surrounding area that there’s a lot of impactful, very interesting science happening at ODU.”

Parents were just as enthused as their children as they learned about different types of science together.

Mary Ellen, a mom to a 13-year-old who she said, ‘now wants to attend ODU’, commented on the event: “Many thanks for a wonderful day at ODU! We enjoyed ALL of it so very much. It was a real treat to be on campus and meet all the wonderful students. The experiments were terrific.”

Emma Wolbrueck, a mom who homeschools her two children, said, “Both of my kids are art kids so being able to do a task that they like to do and gather information like this today and learning about viruses is great for them.”

 

Nikia Pettes, a parent of three teenagers, said, “We learned about what to flush and what not to flush down the toilet and with having three teenagers in my house it’s important for them to know.” Also, Pettes teenage son mentioned that he learned that “roses are not grown but are bred.”

ODU Chemistry Assistant Professor Kyle Lambert, a co-organizer of Reign in Science Day, said: “This year we really broadened the areas of science that were showcased in 40 interactive science demonstrations through participation of faculty and student volunteers across ODU, local universities, and several community organizations.”

ODU students from the College of Sciences, Batten College of Engineering, MonarchTeach and ODU Environmental Engineering Student Association along with other students from Christopher Newport University, Norfolk State University and Virginia Wesleyan University ensured that the youngest to the oldest participants learned something about science in a fun and easily digestible way.

In addition, members from the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, Virginia Space Grant Consortium, Lynnhaven River Now, Back Bay Amateur Astronomers Club, Virginia Marine Debris Coalition, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, and Norfolk Public Libraries shared their excitement for science with students and their parents. Lambert said, “With all of the help from our volunteers we are excited to be building a strong science community within Norfolk and the greater Hampton Roads area!”

Some of the hands-on demonstrations dealt with climate change, coastal waterways, nanotechnology, forensic fingerprinting, germs, saltwater marshes, habitats and more.

ODU Chemistry Lecturer Emily Hardy and a co-organizer for Reign in Science said, “I really hope that the students who came here today were able to get a feel for what a scientist can look like. There are different age ranges, people from different backgrounds, and I think that our volunteers helped portray that today because they come from all different walks of life, and I believe any of the students who attended today can be a scientist too.”

All attendees took tours of the chemistry building and went into labs. Even more exciting, students and parents watched galactic shows in the Michael and Kimthanh Lê Planetarium with Justin Mason, director of Lê Planetarium guiding them through the galaxies.

The 112 volunteers ensured students and parents enjoyed science to the fullest. To see a full scope of science synergy from the Reign in Science Day click here to see our Flickr account.

Scientists from the following community and university partners listed below helped to make the day a memorable one for all who attended:

  • A Place to Call Home – Meghan Britton
  • Breaking Down Trash – Emily Lomauro & Lynnhaven River Now
  • Cookies, ZIF’s, and Planes, oh my! – Jeremy Schwingel
  • Deep-sea Research @ ODU – Dr. Alexander Bochdansky & Lab
  • Exploring Virginia's Salt Marsh Wonders – Zlatka Sanchez
  • Forensic Fingerprinting – Olivia Brown
  • Guess Who! Natural Products Edition – Shayne Weierbach
  • Hide and Squeak – Carrina Williams
  • Honey, I Shrunk the Polymer – Joe Calkins
  • Into the Woods – Norfolk Botanical Gardens
  • Let's Buckle Up! – Zhanna Mizgina!
  • Let’s Make a Rain Cloud – NOAA
  • Machine Learning – James Owens
  • Marine Debris Mural – VA Marine Debris Coalition
  • Medicine Match-Up – Dami Obatola
  • Molecule Limbo Race – Becca Sherman & Dr. Yuting Zhu
  • Oh, the Places Germs Will Go – Morgan Daniels
  • Porous Pavements – Zara Macaulay
  • Purifying our Water – Hadi Romero
  • Race to the Future – MonarchTeach
  • Rainbow Growing Orbs – Richard Chen & Logan Baker
  • See the Seashore – ODU Ocean & Earth Sciences graduate students
  • Scentsational Plants – Ray Volkin
  • Spud-tacular Science Station - Norfolk Public Libraries
  • Sound Waves & Sonar – Hampton Roads Naval Museum
  • STEM Challenge – Virginia Space Grant Consortium
  • That’s How I Roll – ODU undergraduates in the Department of Physics
  • The Chemistry of Tie-Dye – Hampton Roads Local ACS Section, VWU, CNU (AXS) & ODU Chem Club (SMACS)
  • The Microscopic World – Dr. David Courson
  • The Navy & Archaeology – Hampton Roads Naval Museum
  • The Oldest Science: Astronomy – Back Bay Amateur Astronomers Club
  • Unlocking the Code – Mariem Mohamed
  • Unveiling Hidden Colors – Sandra Abdellah
  • Water Treatment - Biomass Research Lab 
  • What Air Do Aliens Breathe? – Dylan English
  • What Happens When You Flush? – ODU Environmental Engineering Student Association
  • What is nanotechnology? – Dr. Lauren Vangelder & NSU students
  • What Makes Up Matter? – Darren Upton