Santiago Canyon’s Community Science Night makes education fun for younger students

If the mere idea of learning about chemistry, biology or physics sends shivers down your spine, just imagine how exposure to these seemingly daunting subjects could affect young students. Santiago Canyon College will address this issue on Friday when it hosts Community Science Night.

Furnishing a vibrant assortment of interactive exhibits, live demonstrations and hands-on activities, the 19th annual event aims to make science fun for elementary and middle school students. The activities will be led by instructors from SCC and the Orange Unified School District, as well as those from a number of local organizations.

While young students benefit from Community Science Night, kids of all ages enjoy the fun.

“Sometimes the parents like the activities even more than their children,” said Rochelle Greenwald, a teacher on special assignment for Orange Unified specializing in Career Pathways and STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics). “For example, with the Lego stations, we have to remind them that this is for the kids.”

While Orange Unified is Santiago Canyon College’s primary Community Science Night partner, students and their families from throughout Orange County enjoy the annual evening.

“They come from a broader region of OC,” said Angela Daneshmand, SCC associate professor and chair of the Earth Sciences Department. “Last year we had students from the Irvine School District, in particular. And while the Placentia-Yorba Linda School District won’t be hosting any of the activities this year (the district has participated in that capacity in the past), they’ve been blasting out flyers, and we’ll hopefully get some students from those areas as well.”

The meticulous planning and promotion has paid off. Last year, Community Science Night hosted some 2,000 attendees, an increase of 10% to 15% from 2024, and even more are expected this year. The event’s many science experiments, demonstrations and interactive activities serve an important purpose.

“It exposes the community to science in a really fun and easily digestible way,” Daneshmand said. “We often lose our science audience in middle school. So we help to bring them back and realize that anybody can do science, and that science is fun and doesn’t have to be scary.”

Greenwald concurred. “Not every scientist wears a lab coat,” she said. “The kids may not realize that they enjoy a subject like chemistry until they get to play with it. And this evening offers so much science in one space.”

That space will be a bit different this year, due to ongoing construction on the SCC campus. While most of the activities will take place in SCC’s Science Center, Humanities Building and Gym, “This year we’re going to be using more of the Gym, as well as parking lot spaces, than we’ve used before,” Daneshmand said.

The names of the activities alone spell F-U-N. Liquid Levitators, Elephant Toothpaste Volcanoes, DNA – Genes in a Bottle, Shoot for the Moon, Spoon Catapults and the Earthquake Tower Challenge are but a few of the options that will be on tap Friday. Others will include:

• Paper Circuit Geometry Puzzles: Using copper tape, coin batteries and LEDS on cardstock, kids will design geometric shapes that form complete electrical circuits.
• Robotics with Sphero: Young students will code a Sphero Robot Car to control its movements and sounds, then steer it across the floor.
• Build the Coast: Sand, Shape and Science: This hands-on science lab will explore how landforms are shaped by weathering and erosion.
• Chemistry Magic Show: A comedic demonstration — featuring Dr. Solid, Dr. Liquid and Dr. Gas — will explore the three phases of matter.
• Let There Be Light: Kids will delve into the properties of light: how a light bulb contains a rainbow of colors, what happens when a beam of laser light is trapped in water, and more.

Along with SCC and Orange Unified, Community Science Night will include a variety of exhibitors, including the Environmental Nature Center, Bricks 4 Kidz, the Irvine Ranch Water District, Inside the Outdoors (administered by the OC Department of Education) and Bio-Rad Laboratories, among many others.

For example, two aforementioned activities, Robotics with Sphero and Build the Coast, will be run by Dreams for Schools and the Crystal Cove Conservancy, respectively. “And the Orange Public Library will be there, to sign people up for library cards,” Daneshmand said.

Live music and food will also be part of the festivities. “We’ll have one of our high school bands,” Greenwald said, “as well as our high school mariachi band.” Food trucks will dish out Mediterranean fare, burgers, pizza, fruit snacks and desserts.

Greenwald sang high praise for Santiago Canyon College for hosting this event. “They’re amazing, because they take on so much of the preparation, and they’re also funding most of it,” she said. “They make sure Community Science Night is indeed great for the community.”