What do you know about the world around you and the laws of nature? USU’s Science Unwrapped Building on Basics series teaches people about basic scientific principles.
The lecture series kicked off on Sept. 22 with a presentation about climate change — explaining why seasons vary from year to year.
Climatologist and presenter Jon Meyer said climate science is incredibly hard to learn.
“It involves literally everything on the planet interacting together — the air, the oceans, the land and under the land. But that’s not how we need to talk about climate science to the general population,” Meyer said.
With the help of string players, Meyer compared the various climate cycles happening at the same time across the world to sound waves, using an oscilloscope to project a visual of the waves. They can make a grating sound or a lovely tune depending on whether or not they’re in harmony.
“Various climate cycles can work together or against each other affecting one region's weather and climate for a season or two,” Meyer said.
After the presentation, families went into the atrium where clubs set up tables with science activities.
“Watching the kids find interesting connections in the science world, with bugs, or brains, or sound waves, or chemistry, all the things after the fact are probably just as important as the talk,” Meyer said.
Kaeli Crook said the brains were her favorite part.
“We had human brains here, which is super cool — just for research purposes. I'm obsessed with how the nerves work and stuff in the body,” Crook said.
Crook said she enjoys going to Science Unwrapped with her nieces and nephews.
“It's just a good way to educate them. So we try to get them here as much as possible and getting them exposed to cool scientific stuff,” Crook said.
You can watch Meyer’s full presentation at USU’s College of Science Youtube Channel.
