Luke's Science & Nature Conference at Gustavus

Grades 3-6 at Central Public Schools have the opportunity to attend a Science & Nature Conference every year at Gustavus Adolphus.  Luke said back in September that he really wanted to go and he wanted me to come with him.  So it was an easy decision, he'd go and I'd come with.  He got to choose three sessions that he would be attending...he started out by picking things that he thought I would like and we corrected that...this was his day...

We went to Gustavus last Tuesday and the day started out with a keynote speaker by Teddy Roosevelt (not really obviously) on his views of conservation and nature...

It lasted 45 minutes and Lukie said it was his second favorite part of the day...

His first session was about mini-catapults...they talked about how they worked and how you could change them to make them shoot at different angles...then they got to build them...

Lukie was pretty happy with his 'weapon of war' after it was done...

I was his first target and then they moved onto another father...

His second session was called Strange Creatures of Minnesota...the room was packed and I gave up my seat for a little boy, so I waited outside...Lukie says they got to see and touch all sorts of Minnesota animals like bats, opossums, etc...

His last session was Science of Sports, here the presenters talked about different equipment that sports require and how they have been designed to work the way they do.  The kids were split up into groups of three and tested how 4 different types of balls bounced off a particular surface.  Each group was using a different surface.

What was fun for me was that I don't get to see Lukie as a student very often...

He volunteered and was chosen to be one of three who would demonstrate the test they were about to run...

And worked pretty well with two girls he didn't know when they ran their tests...

It was a fun day for both of us...and of course he wanted a selfie on the way home...