The Science of Fun, UC-Style

Eight-year-old Nicholas Pasqualetti picked up the geode, leaned back to give it a hard look and let out a happy "Yes."

A few minutes later, he and his 7-year-old brother, Richard, were off to take a simulated hovercraft ride.

The third-annual UC Science & Engineering Expo provided a wide array of activities for all involved, from families of participants to faculty, judges and yes, the 300 students from 32 area schools who entered projects.

Regina Pasqualetti said her younger sons – and her husband, Joseph – found plenty to do throughout TUC. Joseph Jr., age 12, a Fairfield Middle School student, proved his mettle with his project in the judging area upstairs. He took home a $150 Southwest Ohio Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education Award in Chemistry.

Geology student Jay Zambito explains geodes at the third annual Science & Engineering Expo.

"It's great – they were really fascinated with the dry ice, too," Regina Pasqualetti said. "I don't think they'll ever forget this."

Geology students Jay Zambito, Nick Bose, Devin Buick, Melissa Mendoza and Becky Reverman handled the geode-smashing end of things, facing an eager line of customers throughout the day.

Brothers Nicholas and Richard Pasqualetti examine freshly smashed geodes with their mother, Regina.

Reverman said that at least 200 quartz geodes from Mexico were ordered for the event. "Destruction goes over big," she said with a laugh as Zambito and Bose helped children choose samples."We even have parents asking, 'Can you break this?'"

In the biochemistry section, Ashley Glidewell, a seventh-grader from Horizon Science Academy, presented a project titled "Determination of the Amount of Magnesium in Herbal Teas and Milk."

Christian Rosnell looked at how and why coffee stays hot.

"It was great. The judges really help you if you don't know something," she said. "It's been very informative, just being here."

And Christian Rosnell, also a seventh-grader, said entering the fair encourages his interest in physics. His project was titled "A Study of What Keeps Coffee Hotter Longer," examining what type of material used as a mug kept coffee hottest for the longest period of time, and how lids affect coffee's cooling rate.

"The results indicated that my hypothesis was correct on both points," he said.

Read more about the Expo.