• Education

Bay Area Science Festival Draws More Than 30,000 to AT&T Park with Interactive Exhibits

The World Series may be over, but AT&T Park was still buzzing over the weekend as thousands came to play and learn through interactive science exhibits.

The second annual Bay Area Science Festival, the region's largest educational event, culminated Saturday with Discovery Days at AT&T Park, after offering dozens of fun learning opportunities at various venues over the past two weeks. The festival was produced by the Science & Health Education Partnership (SEP) at UCSF and a core group of science institutions.

Accompanied by Giants mascot Lou Seal, UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, PhD, joined San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Chevron Vice President of Human Resources Joe Laymon to kick off Discovery Days with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting.

Then more than 30,000 people flooded the ball field to check out more than 150 booths enticing kids to make their own slime, or take their own DNA samples through cheek swabs and examine cells through a microscope. An entire gray whale skeleton was set up on the field that attendees could examine up close.

Chevron also teamed up with the Exploratorium to create “STEM Zone” stations that merged science and sports, including one that demonstrated the physics of throwing a curve ball. The sports theme inspired many of the kids, outfitted in their Giants gear, to toss around some balls and run around the bases where their baseball heroes claimed victory just days earlier.

Photos by Cindy Chew

Keane Easterly, 10, practices his baseball pitching on the field at AT&T Park.
Keane Easterly, 10, practices his baseball pitching on the field at AT&T Park, just days after the Giants captured the World Series.
Pathologist Oishee Bose shows Zoe Ghislain, 7, second from right, and brother Max, 6, a sheep's heart.
Pathologist Oishee Bose shows Zoe Ghislain, 7, second from right, and brother Max, 6, a sheep's heart.
Angel Saldidos, 7, far left, and Jade Pascual, 14, second from left, make their own slime.
Angel Saldidos, 7, far left, and Jade Pascual, 14, second from left, make their own slime.
Zoe Ghislain, 7, left, and brother Max, 6, look at a sheep's heart.
Zoe Ghislain, 7, left, and brother Max, 6, look at a sheep's heart.
Mayor Ed Lee and UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann visit one of the booths that allows people to swab their own DNA and view it through a microscope.
Mayor Ed Lee and UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann visit one of the booths that allows people to swab their own DNA and view it through a microscope.
Mitul Kapadia, left, speaks with Talia Haber, 10, about brain injury prevention.
Mitul Kapadia, left, speaks with Talia Haber, 10, about brain injury prevention.
Biochemist Margaret Elvekrag helps Hudson O'Neal, 5, in a carbon dioxide demonstration.
Biochemist Margaret Elvekrag helps Hudson O'Neal, 5, in a carbon dioxide demonstration.
Christie Duong, right, helps Megan Gofron, 10, as she experiments with DNA extraction at one of the UCSF booths at this year's Bay Area Science Festival.
Christie Duong, right, helps Megan Gofron, 10, as she experiments with DNA extraction at one of the UCSF booths at this year's Bay Area Science Festival.
Parents and children get up close to the bones of a gray whale on the field of AT&T Park.
Parents and children get up close to the bones of a gray whale on the field of AT&T Park.
UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann speaks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, calling the event a 'World Series of science.'
UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann speaks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, calling the event a "World Series of science."
From left, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, Chevron Vice President of Human Resources Joe Laymon, Giants mascot Lou Seal and UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann pose for a photo with 4-year-old Dashiell Thompson for the ceremonial ribbon-cutting to open this year's Bay Area Science Festival at AT&T Park.
From left, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, Chevron Vice President of Human Resources Joe Laymon, Giants mascot Lou Seal and UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann pose for a photo with 4-year-old Dashiell Thompson for the ceremonial ribbon-cutting to open this year's Bay Area Science Festival at AT&T Park on Saturday.

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