Comments on: Who Do Science Festivals Reach?

By: Sunny

Sunny — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:06:44 +0000

Sorry forgot to add that its free to the world not just to Canada

By: Sunny

Sunny — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:06:06 +0000

Here’s a Canadian voice on how to reach those in between the coast. The upcoming science festival at Perimeter Institute – Quantum to Cosmos Festival is an onsite and live on-line festival. Even the school trips and exhibits will be offered online. I think that this will spread science education even further. All events are completely free.

By: Mastriani

Mastriani — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:11:19 +0000

Regardless these festivals, the facts in evidence stand against “science reach”.

The FT reported from a just released Harvard comparison study; American high school students rank 25th in math, 24th in science. The problem is, this wasn’t against the primary developed countries of the G20, it was against an unnamed “top 30″ … which sounds as though they had to skew the baseline just so American “students” could show up in relevant statistics.

America is the epitome of science fail. Pass the offering plate please, tithes are greater minds. (The primary cause ~ NCLB … laff)

By: Larry Bock

Larry Bock — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:36:03 +0000

Our goal for the San Diego Science Festival was to reinvigorate the interest of young people in the sciences. To accomplish this we felt we had to get the parents excited as well.

Our tactics were fourfold

Create a set of science role models/mentors in San Diego.
Highlight how science impacts people’s daily lives
Celebrate what is unique about science in San Diego
Unite the entire San Diego community through a grassroots collaborative showcase event.

Our finale event in Balboa Park attracted 100,000 people, far more than e expected for an inaugural event.

All 500 event except for trree were free to the public. The only events that had charges were to cover costs of food.

Larry Bock
Festival Organizer
San Diego Science Festival

By: Devil's Advocate

Devil's Advocate — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:06:16 +0000

That would only make sense if you expected so many people from NYC or LA to attend that you couldn’t get those numbers in, say, Chicago, St. Louis, or Dallas. But midwestern cities of that size would probably produce just as many attendees as NYC or LA.

By: Anthony O'Neal

Anthony O'Neal — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:17:00 +0000

Well the fairs are just trying to reach the largest audience. Having two fairs in the middle of the country in the same place would probably reach much less people totally, simply because they are limited by the “Too far to bother driving” factor. And you’d have them covering the same, less populated area instead of the two most densely populated areas in the nation.

By: Yuk

Yuk — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:46:36 +0000

I’m all for the idea of a family oriented science festival. I don’t think you can easily measure the effects of either festival. Certainly not immediately. I would think that the effect would be cumulative over years, with the end result being a higher interest in science and technologies in education and careers.

As for bringing the festivals to the middle of the country, I live in Minnesota and would love to see big science festivals like these show up around here. There is a huge arts base in the upper midwest and, we are a literary center. I’d love the opportunity to expose my family, specifically my kids, to a science festival like the SDSF and the WSF.

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:13:25 +0000

Interesting analysis. I expected you to discuss the question of what good it does to reach adults … but you went a completely different direction. Both festivals sound like positive experiences … but tell me, do these kinds of events have measurable results on scientific literacy or engagement of adults?