programs

Science Expo

Announcements

The 2008 MIT/Cambridge Science Expo took place on Tuesday, April 29. Thanks to all our volunteers!

The Science Expo is much more than a science fair. It is an opportunity for 7th and 8th grade students from Cambridge public schools to meet, talk to, and have fun with student volunteers from MIT. Each year, between 200-300 Cambridge middle school students visit the campus to showcase their science projects and explore some of MIT's laboratories, museums, and departments.

Over 250 MIT students volunteer at the Science Expo each year. These students motivate teenagers in their exploration of science and education by discussing their projects with them and acting as role models throughout the day. Through the Expo, teenagers discover that the study of science and technology can be interesting and that learning can be fun.

History

The Educational Studies Program organized the first Science Expo in the spring of 1993. Since then, it has been hosted annually by the Public Service Center. The Science Expo has been steadily increasing in size each year, attracting speakers such as the Mayor of Cambridge, the Superintendent of Schools and the Director of Government and Community Relations at MIT.

For the Cambridge Schools, the Expo is a motivation for teachers to encourage some of their brightest students (or in many cases, all of their students) to devote time outside of class to a science project. By completing a science project, students are introduced to the process of inquiry, that is to understand their world by formulating their own questions and finding their own ways to answer them. Most teachers will agree that the hardest part is not getting children to ask a question, but getting them to find a way to answer it through their own investigations, which is what a science fair project is all about!

To find out more about the MIT/Cambridge Science Expo, email expo-staff@mit.edu, stop by the PSC in 4-104, or phone us at 617-253-0742.