This month, we used the Scratch programming language to implement a simple computer game. Third and fourth graders learned simple programming, including variables, loops, and conditional statements. They customized their games by choosing their own sprites and backgrounds, and they experimented with ways to change the difficulty of the game. Fifth and sixth graders were able to make more advanced customizations, such as obstacles and projectiles. All of the students came away with the ability to tinker and explore in code — setting them up for success as programming skills become more ingrained in education and everyday life.

IHMC’s September Science Saturday was about electric circuits. We experimented with series and parallel circuits using a variety of circuit elements, including batteries, lights, switches, and fans. Students worked in pairs to build their circuits and try different things while learning.

The last Science Saturday of this school year was about erosion. The presentation was led by civil engineers Scott Weeks and K.C. Foskey of the Florida Engineering Society. Hands-on activities centered around working in groups to build structures on various soils and to then gently pour water on them to observe the impact of erosion. Next the teams were given additional materials to build erosion control features, which they tested with a little “rainfall", more “rainfall”, and concentrated flow of water. Each team used their imaginations to create their own designs and to guide their construction efforts. Home Depot generously donated the orange buckets and plastic tubs that were used by each team during the activities.

Our March Science Saturday was about Optics and Jello Lenses, and was led by ophthalmologist Peter Polack, assisted by Cheryl Polack. Students learned about the evolution of the eye. They did experiments related to blind spots, optical illusions, and lenses. They observed the dissection of a pig’s eye and were able to look through the lens of the dissected eye. Seventh grade students were able to dissect an eye on their own- if they wished.

The February Saturdays topic was “Secret Codes,” presented by Arash Mahyari, Research Scientist. Students learned about the field of cryptography, and encrypted and decrypted secret messages using codes of increasing complexity. Third- and fourth-graders performed hands-on activities related to mirror writing, the substitution cypher, and the book cypher. Students in grades five, six, and seven learned about the Caesar Cipher and the Enigma Cipher, and they also learned how both of these codes were eventually broken.

The new year started with the presentation of “Mathemagic”, presented by Isaak Ishak, who is a math teacher and teacher of the year at Vanguard High School. Students engaged in a variety of fun activities based on the wonders of math, including logic games involving string and a variety of card tricks.

Our December topic was “Candy Chromatography”. Students did several hands-on experiments with paper chromatography, a laboratory technique for separating elements of a mixture. One experiment involved identifying differences in various kinds of black ink to detect a forgery, in another we saw the differences in the dyes of various colors of M&M’s or Skittles.

Dr. Mathis is the Mammal Collections Manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History. She brought a variety of mammal skulls from the museum and taught us what could be learned about each animal by looking at the characteristics of a skull – eye placement, teeth, auditory bullae, nasal passages, etc. Students filled out worksheets based on their observations. Then they tried to guess, based on their worksheets, what kind of animal skulls they were looking at.

The fall season of Science Saturdays began with Paper Airplanes. Participants learned about basic principles of flight and discussed how they apply to flying animals and flying machines. Hands-on activities centered around folding and testing several different paper airplane designs.

In April we offered the last Science Saturday for the current school year. Students learned about Photo Editing from Graham Young, who teaches digital media at the College of Central Florida. In a fully hands-on lesson, students learned basic techniques and principles for improving photos using a free, on-line program call Photopea that attendees can continue to work with from home.

Our March Science Saturday was about optical illusions. Dr. Peter Polack, assisted by Cheryl Polack, led this fun event. Hands-on activities featured numerous optical illusions, along with explanations of how they each trick our brains. A highlight of this Saturday was a sidewalk-art illusion painted in front of the IHMC main entrance, commissioned by the Polack’s from a local street artist.

Due to the popularity of the most recent Science Saturday about Computer Game Design, we offered a repeat of this topic with design of a different game. Students learned to program or increase their skills with the Scratch Programming Language. They incorporated the use of variables, conditional statements, and loops into their games, and they were able to customize various elements of their designs by choosing their own sprites and backgrounds.

January Science Saturday was about “Bridges”. The presentation was led by civil engineer Scott Weeks. Students designed bridges, first using paper and tissues boxes and then with straws and string. In designing their bridges, students had to follow a set of design rules. They then tested the bridges by seeing how many pennies each bridge could support. The results of their tests were used to improve their bridges.

December Science Saturday provided students with the opportunity to discover more about local wetlands, such as those found at the Ocala Wetland Recharge Park. Students learned about the services wetlands provide, like water quality improvement and flood control, the macro-invertebrates (bugs) found in water bodies, and how macroinvertebrates can be used to determine water quality and environmental health. They observed living macro-invertebrates and used keys to identify the species. They also took samples from three different streams and used the macro-invertebrates present in their samples to conduct a bio-assessment and determine the water quality of their selected stream.

In November we used the Scratch programming language to implement a simple computer game. Third and fourth graders learned simple programming, including variables, loops, and conditional statements. They customized their games by choosing their own sprites and backgrounds, and they experimented with ways to change the difficulty of the game. Fifth and sixth graders were able to make more advanced customizations, including obstacles, projectiles, and two-player functionality. All of the students came away with the ability to tinker and explore in code — setting them up for success as programming skills become more ingrained in education and everyday life.

October Science Saturday was about electric circuits. We experimented with series and parallel circuits using a variety of circuit elements, including batteries, lights, switches, and fans. Students worked in pairs to build their circuits and try different things while learning.

The fall season began with Dr. Andrei Sourakov of the McGuire Center at the Florida Museum, Affiliate Professor of Entomology at the University of Florida, and author of the book "The Lives of Moths: A Natural History of Our Planet's Moth Life “ (available on Amazon). We drew moths, copying museum samples to sharpen our naturalist observational skills. We looked at moth wings and scales using microscopes. Finally, we observed a wide variety of living moth caterpillars on their preferred food sources.

April’s session was about “Optics and Jello Lenses,” led by ophthalmologist Peter Polack, assisted by Cheryl Polack. Students learned about the evolution of the eye. They did experiments related to blind spots, optical illusions, and lenses. They observed the dissection of a pig’s eye and were able to look through the lens of the dissected eye.

In March, students learned about Photo Editing from Graham Young, who teaches digital media at the College of Central Florida. In a fully hands-on lesson, students learned basic techniques and principles for improving photos using a program call Pixlr that attendees can continue to work with from home. Student volunteers from Vanguard, North Marion, and Forest High Schools assisted. Photos by Brooke Heller.

February's Science Saturdays session was about Animal Adaptations. Students learned various ways in which insects adapt to their roles in the environment. Hands-on activities included collecting bugs outdoors, examining them under digital microscopes, and observing their physical characteristics as adaptations, and more. Photos by Mallory Fryns.

Science Saturdays in Ocala began in January 2023 with a session about “Building Roller Coasters”. The presentation was led by civil engineer Scott Weeks and his colleagues from the Forest Chapter of the Florida Engineering Society (FES). Students designed, built and tested roller coasters in small groups. They also learned about principles of potential and kinetic energy that dictate how high a roller coaster must climb to complete of a successful loop.

December's Science Saturdays focused on Python Programming with students learning basic concepts of the Python language. Hands-on examples from the Harry Potter books were based on the Sorting Hat. By the end of the lesson, participants were able to modify the sorting hat program and add additional criteria for sorting Hogwarts students into their appropriate houses. Photos by Mallory Fryns.

The November Science Saturdays topic was “Secret Codes,” presented by Arash Mahyari. Students learned about the field of cryptography, and encrypted and decrypted secret messages using codes of increasing complexity. Third- and fourth-graders performed hands-on activities related to mirror writing, the substitution cypher, and the book cypher. Students in grades five and six learned about the Enigma code and built their own Enigma machines from Pringles potato chip cans. Volunteers from three Marion County high schools assisted.

October Science Saturday was about “Reaction Time”. The presentation was led by clinical pharmacologist, Dr. Manal Fakhoury. Students participated in a variety of hands-on and physical activities to understand and measure their reaction times under different circumstances. High school student volunteers assisted.

Photos by Brooke Heller.

The fall season of Science Saturdays began with Paper Airplanes by Dr. Ian Perera. Participants learned about basic principles of flight and discussed how they apply to flying animals and flying machines. Hands-on activities centered around folding and testing several paper airplane designs.

March Science Saturday was a hands-on science event presented by the Florida Museum of Natural History. Dr. Verity Mathis, the Mammal Collections Manager at the museum, led activities about determining mammal intelligence from the ratio of cranial volume to body mass. The Silver River Museum in Ocala lent us a variety of mammal skulls, and Dr. Mathis brought a dolphin skull from the museum collection. We conducted experiments that let us conclude that dolphins are truly brainiacs among mammals, both on land and in the sea.

The topic of IHMC's February Science Saturday was computer game design. This event was taught by Ian Perera, a computer scientist who works in the filed of natural language processing. Students learned basics of the scratch programming language, including loops and if-then statements. They used these and other constructs to implement a computer game which they were able to customize with some of their own design choices. Parents were sent a link to allow participants to continue to work on and play their game at home.

January Science Saturday was about “Engineering for Extreme Winds”. The presentation was led by Scott Weeks of Kimley-Horn, for the Florida Engineering Society. Participants built a variety of structures with several sets of materials to understand engineering principals that apply to the design of buildings. Designs were tested with fans and leaf blowers. Student volunteers from Marion County high-schools assisted, as did Scott’s colleague Alex Compano. Photography by Brooke Heller.

IHMC's December Science Saturday was about “Optics and Jello Lenses”. This session was led by ophthalmologist Peter Polack, assisted by Cheryl Polack. Students learned about the evolution of the eye. They did experiments related to blind spots, optical illusions, and lenses. They observed the dissection of a pig’s eye, and were able to look through the lens of the dissected eye. High school student volunteers from several Marion County high schools assisted. Photos by Brooke Heller.

The Science Saturday topic for November was “Candy Chromatography”. The presentation was led by clinical pharmacologist Manal Fakhoury. Students did several hands-on experiments related to chromatography, a laboratory technique for separating a mixture. We appreciate the participation and help from student volunteers from Marion County high-schools. Photography by Brooke Heller

October Science Saturday was about electric circuits. We experimented with series and parallel circuits using a variety of circuit elements, including batteries, lights, switches, and fans. We substituted solar cells for the batteries, and took them outside to see how sunlight can provide energy to power our circuits. Photos by Brooke Heller.

September Science Saturday was “Investigating Florida’s Springs.” Students learned that the diversity of macro-organisms found in our rivers and springs is an indicator of water quality and ecosystem health. Student teams tested waster samples and identified living macro-organisms from water collected near the boardwalk by the river. They used their new knowledge and observations to reach conclusions about the health of the water. The younger students also made clay macro-invertebrates based on having learned about the body parts of these important environmental indicator species. Photos by Brooke Heller.

December Science Saturday was Paper Airplanes, presented by Dr. Ian Perera of IHMC. During this event, participants learned about basic principles of flight and discussed how they apply to flying animals and flying machines. Hands-on activities included folded and testing several different paper airplane designs. Photos by Brooke Heller.

The November Science Saturday topic was Python Programming. We learned beginning concepts of the Python language. Hands-on examples from the Harry Potter books were based on the Sorting Hat, well known to Harry Potter fans everywhere. By the end of the lesson, participants were able to modify the sorting hat program and add additional criteria for sorting Hogwarts students into their appropriate houses. Photos by Brooke Heller.

The fall season of Ocala Science Saturdays started in October, with Monarch Butterflies. Rob Wood joined us virtually from San Diego to lead the session. Hands-on activities included observing monarch caterpillars and planting seeds for participants to take home to start butterfly gardens. Two types of native milkweed seeds were donated by St. Marks National Wildlife Preserve near Tallahassee - butterfly milkweed and swamp milkweed. Milkweed is the only plant on which monarchs lay eggs, so it's critical for habitat restoration. We also planted seeds for nectar plants favored by monarch butterflies, including zinnia, goldenrod, and coreopsis. Starbucks and Publix donated supplies. An exciting surprise was getting to see one of the caterpillars make it’s chrysalis. Photos by Brooke Heller.

The April topic was changed in response to the social distancing requirements of COVID-19. Families received instructions for an experiment at home, in which they monitored the growth of bacteria on bread. The bacteria was from their unwashed hands, cell phones, hands cleaned with hand sanitizer, and hands washed with warm water and soap. Participants were surprised to discover that unwashed hands spread bacteria than cell phones, and that washing hands with warm water and soap transferred much less bacteria than using hand-sanitizer. A few families sent photos.

In March our Science Saturday topic was “Electric Circuits”. The presentation was led by Arash Mahyari. Hands-on activities involved serial circuits and a variety of circuit elements - batteries, lights, fans, buzzers, switches, etc. The 5th and 6th graders also experimented with parallel circuits. One group displayed their inventive nature and made a simple electric vehicle. Student volunteers from North Marion and Vanguard High Schools assisted. Special sponsor Ocala Electric Utility provided gift bags with informative materials and cool swag. Electric circuits was fun!

February Science Saturday was about “Reaction Time”. The presentation was led by clinical pharmacologist, Dr. Manal Fakhoury. Students participated in a variety of hands-on and physical activities to understand and measure their reaction times under different circumstances. We appreciate the assistance of high-school student volunteers from North Marion and Vanguard High Schools.

January Science Saturday was about “Bridges”. The presentation was led by civil engineer Scott Weeks and his colleagues from the Forest Chapter of the Florida Engineering Society (FES). Students designed bridges, first using paper and tissues boxes and then with straws and string. In designing their bridges, students had to follow a set of design rules - they then tested their bridges by seeing how many pennies each bridge could support. The results of their tests were used to improve their bridges. We appreciate the volunteers from FES (each of whom had been involved in the design of at least one real bridge) and the participation of high-school student volunteers from Forest, North Marion, and Vanguard High Schools.

The December Science Saturdays was presented by Archna Bhatia. During Brain Games, students learned about the brain and the senses with a variety of activities. They experienced how the senses can be fooled in a variety of ways, such as by optical illusions, sensory focus, multi-tasking, or distraction. High School volunteers assisted. Contributions from our generous sponsors, Lockheed Martin, Ocala Electric Utility, Ron and Phyllis Ewers, and Eleanor and Gary Simons, have made it possible to offer the Fall 2019 season of Science Saturdays free of charge for all attendees. (Photography by Brooke Heller.)

In November, Adam Dalton presented “Hacking for Good Guys”. Students learned about physical and cyber security in the context of safety and hacking. High School volunteers from Vanguard, Forest, and North Marion High Schools assisted. Contributions from our generous sponsors make it possible to offer this season of Science Saturdays free of charge for all attendees. (Photography by Brooke Heller.)

Erin Benavides presented “Investigating Florida’s Springs”. Students learned how pollutants move through the aquifer and how scientists test for and identify points-of-origin of contamination. Intriguing hands-on activities brought focus to the concepts in the lesson. Our special guest, Christian Compton, is a 7th grader at Howard Middle school. He was inspired by this topic after attending a Science Saturday on this same topic 3 years ago, and he did a science fair project about the health of local springs. He told us about his experience winning at the local level and competing in the state-level science fair. (Photography by Brooke Heller and Logan Byrd.)

Science Saturdays for the new school year started in September, with “Paper Helicopters”, presented by Ian Perera. Students learned how helicopters fly, and they made and tested their own paper helicopters. They also varied elements of the basic design to see how flight would be affected. Student volunteers from Marion County high schools assisted. Contributions from Lockheed Martin, Ron and Phyllis Ewers, and Ocala Electric Utility made it possible to offer this season of Science Saturdays free of charge for all attendees. (Photography by Logan Byrd and Brooke Heller.)

The last Science Saturday of the 2018-2019 school year was about “Solar Energy” and was led by Tammy Hoff. Students used volt meters to measure the output of solar cells under varying conditions. They also made solar bracelets, on which the beads turn color in response to sunlight. They applied sunscreen to the beads to see how long different SPF-factor sunscreens protected their beads from solar radiation. Student volunteers from Marion County high schools help to make Science Saturdays fun. The generous contributions from Lockheed Martin, Ron and Phyllis Ewers, and Ocala Electric Utility made it possible to offer this season of Science Saturdays free of charge for all attendees. (Photography by Brooke Heller.)

In March, the presentation of “Big Data” was led by Kristy Hollingshead Seitz, Research Scientist at IHMC. Third and fourth graders learned about how computers efficiently handle a lot of data. Fifth and sixth graders learned to use data analysis tools provided by the company Rapid Insight. Both groups used fictional data sets about werewolves to perform hands-on activities related to the analysis of existing data, and to use that analysis to make predictions. We appreciate the participation of student volunteers from Marion County high schools. (Photography by Brooke Heller.)

The Science Saturday topic for February was “Candy Chromatography”. The presentation was led by clinical pharmacologist Manal Fakhoury. Students did several hands-on experiments related to chromatography, a laboratory technique for separating a mixture. We appreciate the participation and help from student volunteers from Marion County high-schools. Photography by Logan Byrd and Brooke Heller.

We began the new year with January Science Saturday, which was all about “Building Roller Coasters”. The presentation was led by civil engineer Scott Weeks and his colleagues from the Forest Chapter of the Florida Engineering Society (FES). Students designed, built and tested roller coasters in small groups. They also learned about principles of potential and kinetic energy that dictate how high a roller coaster must climb to complete of a successful loop or other course feature. We appreciate the volunteers from FES and the participation of high-school student volunteers from Marion County high schools.

December Science Saturday was about the food we eat. The session was presented by Dr. Sunny Ferrero, Professor of Biology at Valencia College. Hands-on activities focussed on understanding more about food labels, tasting the differences in similar but not identical foods, and understanding how the differences are related to the ingredients. The Fall 2018 Science Saturdays were generously sponsored by Lockheed Martin, Ocala Electric Utility, and Ron and Phyllis Ewers. Marion County high school students volunteered as assistants to the presenters.

The topic of November Science Saturday was Secret Codes, presented by Dr. Jena Hwang, Research Scientist at IHMC. Third and fourth graders performed hands-on activities related to mirror writing, the substitution cypher, and the book cypher. Students in grades 5 and 6 learned about the enigma code and built their own enigma machines from Pringles potato chip cans. Sponsorships by Ocala Electric Utility, Ron and Phyllis Ewers, and Lockheed Martin make it possible to offer this and other Science Saturdays free of charge to all attendees.

The October Science Saturday topic was was NEEMO Mission Science, presented by Dr. Dom D'Agostino, Research Scientist at IHMC. Dr. D'Agostino is also a faculty member at University of South Florida. Students learned about and conducted experiments related to human performance in extreme environments - experiments from a real NASA mission. This event was sponsored by Lockheed Martin, Ocala Electric Utility and Ron and Phyllis Ewers. Volunteers from Marion County high schools assisted.

The first Science Saturday of the fall 2018 season took place in September. The topic was Paper Airplanes, led by Dr. Ian Perera, Research Scientist at IHMC. Students learned about how things fly, and they made and evaluated several different styles of paper airplanes. This hands-on science event was sponsored by Ron and Phyllis Ewers, Lockheed Martin, and Ocala Electric Utility. Volunteers from several Marion County high schools assisted.

The final Science Saturday for this school year was about Roller Coasters, presented by Micah Clark, Research Scientist at IHMC. Students learned about potential and kinetic energy and how these concepts are related to roller coaster physics. Students designed their own roller coasters, and measured and recorded performance data related to their designs. Big thanks are due to the Spring 2018 season sponsors, Cox (premier sponsor), Ron and Phyllis Ewers, and Lockheed Martin, and also to the high school student volunteers who helped to make hands-on science fun.

March Science Saturday featured “Coding is Cool”, presented by Kristy Seitz. Students learned to use the programming language Python, which is used in real-world applications like Air Traffic Control, graphic-intensive movies like the new Star Wars, and NASA workflow automation. The 9 am session was for 3rd and 4th graders, and 11 am was for 5th and 6th graders. Separating students by aged allowed Kristy to present more advanced programming in the second session. Volunteers from Vanguard, Westport and Forest High Schools assisted.

February Science Saturday was about “Reaction Time”, presented by Dr. Manal Fakhoury. Students learned about factors that affect their reaction time. Working in pairs, they performed experiments to measure each group member’s reaction under different circumstances (with distraction, with motivation, with alerts, etc.) They collected data and calculated results. Thank you, Manal for five years of commitment to IHMC’s hands-on science events for Marion County youth! Volunteers from Vanguard, Westport and Forest High Schools assisted.

January Science Saturday was about “Bridges”. The presentation was led by civil engineer Scott Weeks and his colleagues from the Forest Chapter of the Florida Engineering Society (FES). Students designed bridges using paper and tissues boxes in the first activities and then straws and string in the final activity. They followed a set of design rules and then tested their bridges by seeing how many pennies each bridge could support. They used the results of their tests to improve their bridges. We appreciate the volunteers from FES (each of whom had been involved in the design of at least one real bridge) and the participation of high-school student volunteers from Forest, Vanguard, and Westport High Schools.

The December Science Saturday, Hacking for Good Guys, was presented by Adam Dalton, Research Associate at IHMC. For the first time, IHMC included 6th graders in a Science Saturday event. Students learned the difference between illegal hacking and hacking for legitimate reasons - for example, discovering vulnerabilities in critical network infrastructure. They played a computer game called Hacknet that walked them through concepts used in the real world, like using a scanner to map a network and creating proxies to avoid detection. We appreciate the participation of high-school student volunteers from Forest, Vanguard, and West Port High Schools. We also are grateful for the generosity of the Fall 2017 premier sponsor, Cox, and the Fall 2017 season sponsors, Lockheed Martin and Ron and Phylis Ewers.

The November Science Saturday topic was “Fun With Polymers”, presented by David Fries, Senior Research Scientist at IHMC in Pensacola. Students learned that polymers are everywhere. Hands-on experiments included making a hard polymer and a soft polymer. The soft polymer, oobleck (from "Bartholomew and the Oobleck” by Dr. Seuss), was especially was especially messy, fun, and hands-on. Students also performed physical activities related to the structure of polymers - including the most well known of the biopolymers, DNA. We appreciate the generosity of the sponsors and participation of high-school student volunteers from Forest, Vanguard, and Westport High Schools.

October Science Saturday was about “Lemon Batteries and Solar Panels”. Hands-on activities for this topic were led by Dr. Ursula Schwuttke, Director of Educational Outreach. Students learned to use a multi-meter to measure the voltage of AA batteries. They then made batteries from lemons and other fruits and they used two of their fruit batteries, connected in series, to power a digital clock. In the final activity, they experimented with solar panels to see how much voltage would be produced with different amounts of light. IHMC appreciates the generosity of the sponsors and participation of high-school student volunteers from Forest and Vanguard High Schools.

The fall 2016 Science Saturdays started in September with “The Science of Food”. This fun, hands-on chemistry topic was led by Dr. Jena Hwang, Research Scientist at IHMC. Students did an experiment related to the chemical reaction inherent in yeast to understand what causes bread to rise. They compared how honey, egg, mustard, and vinegar interact with oil and water as emulsifiers and then they made butter, as an example of a de-emulsification process. The generosity of the season sponsors makes it possible for all students to participate in these events free of charge.

The final Science Saturday for the 2016-17 academic year took place in April. The topic was “Paper Helicopters”, presented by Dr. Ian Perera, Research Scientist at IHMC. Students built paper helicopters and tested them using vertical wind tunnels. They also learned how helicopters fly. The Spring 2017 Science Saturdays were sponsored by Lockheed Martin and by Ron & Phyllis Ewers. The February, March, and April sessions were additionally sponsored by Publix Super Markets Charities. A big thanks is due to these sponsors and to student volunteers from Vanguard, Westport, and Forest High Schools for another fun season of Science Saturdays!

In March, faculty and students from the College of Central Florida presented “3D Printing”. James (Budd) Dees and Julee McCammon led the presentation on behalf of the college. Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 worked with 3-D design software and 3-D pens, and they had the opportunity to see a 3-D printer in action. The Spring 2017 season of Science Saturdays is sponsored by Lockheed Martin and by Ron & Phyllis Ewers. The March session was additionally sponsored by Publix Super Markets Charities and the College of Central Florida. The generosity of these sponsors makes it possible for all attendees to participate in Science Saturdays free of charge.

February's Science Saturday topic was “The Gravity of It All”. Dr. Row Rogacki, Associate Director of IHMC, presented. Students conducted a hands-on experiment, collected data calculated averages, and graphed their results. Students also watched cool videos about gravity in space and on the space station and participated in discussions. The Spring 2017 season of Science Saturdays is sponsored by Lockheed Martin and by Ron & Phyllis Ewers. The February session was additionally sponsored by Publix Super Markets Charities. These generous sponsors enable IHMC to offer Science Saturdays free of charge to all students.

January Science Saturday was “Candy Chromatography", presented by Dr. Manal Fahkoury, Clinical Pharmacologist in Ocala. About 60 Marion County elementary school students participated, learning the principles of chromatography and applying them to two different hands-on experiments. The importance of careful and precise experimental technique was emphasized in both activities - one of which involved solving a fictional crime related to “sweets” and the other used chromatography to study the food coloring in M&Ms candy. The Spring 2017 season of Science Saturdays is sponsored by Lockheed Martin and by Ron & Phyllis Ewers, whose generosity makes it possible for all students to attend Science Saturdays free of charge.

The final Science Saturday of 2016 was “Secret Codes,” presented by Dr. Jena Hwang, Research Associate at IHMC. Activities focussed on decoding a variety of secret messages using codes such as the scytale, the shift cipher, and the book cypher. This season of Science Saturdays was made possible by Lockheed Martin and by Ron & Phyllis Ewers. Volunteers from Marion County High Schools assisted at each session.

November Science Saturday was “Food- What’s In It?, ” by Dr. Sunny Ferrero, Biology Professor at Rasmussen College. Hands-on activities included analyzing ingredient labels, tasting chocolate (white, milk, semi-sweet and cocoa beans) for actual chocolate content, examining and and tasting filtered vs. unfiltered apple juice, and rating similar foods for nutritional content using visual clues. The current season of Science Saturdays is made possible by Ron and Phyllis Ewers and by Lockheed Martin, and is enhanced by participation from Marion County High School volunteers.

October Science Saturday was "Computer Game Design", presented by Dr. Kristy Hollingshead, Research Scientist at IHMC. About 60 Marion County elementary school students participated, learning to design and program a simple computer game. Almost two thirds of the students had never programmed before - but working at their own pace, all experienced success. The photos show the intensity of engagement that characterized this hands-on experience. The current season of Science Saturdays is sponsored by Lockheed Martin and by Ron and Phyllis Ewers. The October event was additionally sponsored by the College of Central Florida.

The first Science Saturday of the fall season was about Balloon Cars - designing them, building them, and racing them. Students learned to think about design considerations for various types of cars. They built their cars with empty plastic bottles, straws, and balloons. They evaluated performance on a race track set up in IHMC’s lobby. Mr. Adam Dalton, Research Associate at IHMC was the presenter. The current season of Science Saturdays is made possible by contributions from Ron and Phyllis Ewers and Lockheed Martin.

The April Science Saturday, “Investigating Florida’s Springs,” was led by Mr. Scott Mitchell, Director of the Silver River Museum and Environmental Education Center. Students learned that the diversity of macro-organisms in our rivers and springs is an indicator of water quality and ecosystem health. Student teams identified living macro-organisms from Silver River water samples. They used their new knowledge and observations to reach conclusions about the river. This was the last Science Saturday of the season, and we said goodbye and good luck to six regular student volunteers who are graduating, and to all of our fifth graders. This season was sponsored by Lockheed Martin and by Ron and Phyllis Ewers. This event was also sponsored by Publix Supermarket Charities.

Ocala’s March Science Saturday was about “Reaction Time”. It was presented by Dr. Manal Fakhoury, a clinical pharmacologist in Ocala. Thank you, Manal for four years of commitment to IHMC’s science outreach for Marion County youth. During this event, students learned about factors that affect their reaction time. Working in groups, they performed several experiments to measure each group member’s reaction under varying circumstances. They used their data to calculate results. Volunteers from Vanguard and Forest High Schools assisted. This Science Saturday was generously sponsored by Lockheed Martin, Ron and Phyllis Ewers, and Publix Supermarket Charities.

Mr. Ian Perera, Research Associate at IHMC in Ocala, presented ‘Paper Airplanes in Flight’ for February Science Saturday. Students learned basic principles about the physics of flight. They folded three different paper airplane designs, and launched their planes to see how each of the designs influenced flight. Volunteers from Vanguard, Forest, and West Port High Schools assisted. This Science Saturday season was generously sponsored by Lockheed Martin and by Ron and Phyllis Ewers.

The topic for Science Saturday in January 2016 was “Lemon Batteries and Solar Cells”, presented by Dr. Ursula Schwuttke, Director of Educational Outreach, IHMC. Students learned how to use a volt meter to measure the voltage of a battery. They then learned how to make a battery out of lemons (and other fruits) and how to use their lemon batteries to power a digital clock. The final activity was about solar cells. This Science Saturday season is sponsored by Lockheed Martin and by Ron and Phyllis Ewers.

December Science Saturday was about The Water Cycle. It was presented by members of the local chapter of the Florida Engineering Society. Students learned about the importance of water in central Florida, with its extensive aquifers formed in limestone karst. They made a "water cycle in a bowl" and observed the cycle of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. They also made their own aquifers, using sand, rock, and other materials. Elementary school teachers ( in the last photo) from Marion County participated and took supplies, materials, and knowledge back to their classrooms. We also thank our season sponsors, Ron and Phyllis Ewers and Lockheed Martin, and our high school volunteers for another successful season of hands-on science.

November Science Saturday was about Roller Coasters. This topic was presented by Dr. Kristy Hollingshead, Research Scientist at IHMC. Students learned about potential and kinetic energy and how these concepts are important to the physics of roller coasters. Students also designed their own roller coasters, and measured and recorded performance data related to their designs. This session was sponsored by Eleanor and Gary Simons. The Fall 2015 Science Saturday season, including the Roller Coasters session, was sponsored by Lockheed Martin and by Ron and Phyllis Ewers. The contributions of these generous sponsors help to make fun, hands-on science events at IHMC possible.

Oceanography was the hands-on science topic of September's Science Saturday. It was presented by Ms. Deidre Boodoo of Rasmussen College. Students learned that ocean waves are formed by wind. In small groups, they were able to experiment with making waves. Students also learned about the depth zones of the ocean biome and various types of marine life that are found in the various zones. Volunteers from Vanguard, Forest, and Westport High Schools are assisting at Science Saturdays this academic year. The Fall 2015 Science Saturday season is made possible by the generosity of Ron and Phyllis Ewers and Lockheed Martin.

The final Ocala Science Saturday for Spring took place in May. The topic was Running Robots. Dr. Sebastien Cotton of Robotics Unlimited, Inc. led this event, which focussed on several kinds of running robots. This is our final opportunity to recognize season sponsors Oak Lane Farm, Lockheed Martin, and Ron and Phyllis Ewers, as well as May sponsor, Pine Acres Ranch. A big thanks to all for helping to make Spring 2015 another great Science Saturday season.

Ocala's April Science Saturday was "Food. What's In It?". This event was presented by Dr. Sunny Ferrero, biology professor at Rasmussen College. This topic included hands-on activities about food and food science. Thanks to the season sponsors, Lockheed Martin, Oak Lane Farm, and Ron and Phyllis Ewers for making this and other Science Saturdays possible.

Science Saturday at IHMC is all about igniting the imagination of 3rd - 5th graders with hands-on science. In March, Dr. Lori Marino, an internationally recognized expert in dolphin and whale evolution and intelligence, presented "Dolphins: Brainiacs of the Sea." A total of 82 Marion County students learned about animal intelligence and how to quantify it.

The topic of the February 2015 Science Saturday was "Bridges", presented by Adam Dalton. Students from 21 different elementary schools attended for a session of hands-on science related to engineering design principles. Students were challenged by three sets of materials and design rules. Students worked in groups to experiment and make the strongest bridges possible for each of several challenges.

January Science Saturday in Ocala was "Paper Helicopters", led by Dr. David Atkinson, a Senior Research Scientist at IHMC. Ninety students from Marion County elementary schools attended. They learned to design helicopters and test them in specially designed wind tubes.

January Science Saturday was about Balloon Cars - designing them, building them, and racing them. IHMC's lobby area was transformed into a race track, and the scene was set. Mr. Adam Dalton, Research Associate at IHMC in Ocala, led this exciting session.