For immediate release — Oct. 3, 2014
(DALLAS) — Avast, ye treasure seekers! Sail to Brookhaven College for a geocaching/high-tech treasure hunt (among many fun adventures) in October!
The high-tech treasure hunt is one of many activities scheduled on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 18 and 19, presented by the Brookhaven College Geotechnology Institute and the college’s mathematics and science division. Festivities will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days in Building H. Sponsors for the event are Brookhaven College, the BCGI and the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Dallas Section. More than 1,500 people attended the STEM Fair this spring.
“Our STEM Fair offers students, parents, teachers and community members a chance to see how science, technology, engineering and mathematics are part of our everyday life — and that they can be fun,” said Melanie Gamble, director of the institute. “Hands-on activities show us how to apply STEM areas to what we do, and students learn that they can build careers and jobs they will enjoy.”
The two-day program will explore broadcast meteorology by using a mobile planetarium to show visitors satellite data for hurricanes, weather patterns and other areas, such as the Icelandic volcano; shows are scheduled between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The Heard Museum will host several hands-on activities pertaining to rocks, minerals and the natural sciences, and the Dallas Paleo Society will help young guests identify fossils. Representatives from the Arlington Archosaur site will discuss what’s new at that archaeological location, and guests also will have a chance to look at robots and learn more about how they are constructed.
Some of the hands-on activities on Saturday and Sunday include: a fossil dig; the sandy truth about rocks and fossils; a recycle contest display from Brookhaven’s Geotechnology Institute; a hazard house presented by the Dallas Fire Department; getting struck by a lightning bug; a solar car; hurricanes and tornadoes; making a crater (Sunday only); geocaching; and more.
A variety of dealers, vendors and clubs will be on hand to talk to participants about their organizations and how they are involved in STEM areas, including Stoneham Minerals, the Dallas Paleo Society, Artifacts and Skulls, Fossils and Earth Things, Nature’s Gallery, Rocks and Fossils, the Arlington Archosaur Site, Gemeley Designs, the Dallas Amateur Radio Club and Pleasant Oaks Gem and Mineral Club. Vendors will sell minerals, rocks, fossils, jewelry and other items.
Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in uniform who attend will receive a free gift. Cub Scouts can earn their astronomy belt loop, while older scouts can earn a BCGI STEM patch or rocker.
Free paper shredding will be offered on Saturday by Balcones Recycling, an AAA NAID-certified company that will have a recycling truck on site for the fair. Free shredding is limited to three standard boxes per person.
The free STEM Fair lectures are offered to students of all ages; lectures will be held in room H104 of Building H.
On Saturday, Oct. 18, sessions are: “What Is Trash and What Happens When They Take It Away,” presented at 1 p.m. by Dr. Fred Busche, adjunct professor of geology at Brookhaven College; “The Arlington Archosaur Site,” presented at 2 p.m. by Ronnie Colvin, site manager and education and outreach director for the Arlington Archosaur site; and “Upper Jurassic Radiolaria of the Vaca Muerta Formation, Neuque’n Basin, Argentina” at 3 p.m. by Brenda Costello from the University of Texas at Dallas (specimens will be available for viewing under the microscope).
The Sunday, Oct. 19, lectures will include: “Second-Generation Biofuels: The Dawn of Burgeoning Technologies” at 1 p.m. by Dr. Gbenga Oyedepo, chemistry professor at Brookhaven College; “The Top Five Geologic Catastrophes of the Last 10,000 years” at 2 p.m. by Dr. Susan Reinke, Brookhaven geology professor; and “Storm Spotting: Weather Observations From on the Ground,” presented at 3 p.m. by John Hazelton from the Dallas Amateur Radio Club.
For more information, contact Melanie Gamble, director of the Brookhaven Geotechnology Institute, by phone at (972) 860-4269 or by email at
mgamble@dcccd.edu.
# # #