The College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Chemistry at Valdosta State University will present Science Saturday: Chemistry Rocks from 9 a.m. to noon on Oct. 21 in the Hugh C. Bailey Science Center.
 
Science Saturday: Chemistry Rocks is ideal for students in the middle grades. However, all ages are invited to take advantage of this fun-filled and educational opportunity, which will include such activities as finding what is inside geodes, testing the properties of materials, learning about chemical elements and compounds, and discovering chemistry in the everyday environment.
 
Science Saturday is supported by VSU’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Initiative and is part of an ongoing effort to inspire the next generation to want to learn more about these areas. Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences understand that the nation’s future economic prosperity is closely linked with student success in the STEM fields.
 
“All young people should be prepared to think deeply and to think well so that they have the chance to become the innovators, educators, researchers, and leaders who can solve the most pressing challenges facing our nation and our world, both today and tomorrow,” according to the United States Department of Education.

Educators across the nation and at VSU are committed to improving STEM instruction for students in preschool through 12th grade, increasing and sustaining public and youth engagement with STEM, improving the STEM experience for undergraduate students at the college level, better serving groups historically underrepresented in the STEM fields, and designing graduate education for tomorrow’s STEM workforce.
 
Science Saturday activities are free of charge and open to the public.
 
Contact the College of Arts and Sciences at (229) 333-5699 or Dr. Linda de la Garza, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry, at (229) 333-5340 or [email protected] to learn more.