MANSFIELD — Ozeas Costa, an associate professor of earth sciences at The Ohio State University at Mansfield, said he’s been approached by students who said they’re no good at science.
“When in fact, everybody does science every day,” he said.
Costa was among several educators representing an array of fields, including astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, and geology, that conducted science experiments and activities at the March for Science event in the square downtown.
The variety of activities helped show that science is in many different facets of our everyday lives.
“We live the way that we live because of science,” Costa said. “Science is in food production, is in education, is in energy production, is in new technology, medicine — everything that we have is because of science, and people have to make those connections.”
Recognized across the globe, March for Science is a celebration of science, aiming to highlight the role that science plays in everyone’s life and the need to respect and encourage research that gives us insight into the world.
“We’re at a point in time where we are kind of putting science on hold when we need to make some important decisions,” said Jill Silva of March for Science. “For me, a lot of it is about climate change. We need to make some decisions in regard to our climate.”
While most of the events, like the one in Washington, D.C., included a march from one location to another, the Mansfield event did not. Instead there were about 15 different interactive displays that allowed people to gain a hands-on science lesson.
Steve Van Holde, an environmental politics professor at Kenyon College, demonstrated rising sea levels while donning a snorkel mask. He poured blue fruit juice into a basin containing what was meant to represent an island landform. He then placed a clear plastic cover on top of the basin and traced around the outside edge of the island landform using a marker. He repeated those steps, creating a topographic map.
“It’s so we can demonstrate sea level rise, so people can think about what they might want to do and where they might want to live in the event of oceans rising,” he said.
“It’s not going to be an issue here in Mansfield because we’re 1,300 feet above the ocean level, but if you live, say on the shore in North Carolina, this could be a very real issue for you.”
Another activity at the march taught attendees about shadows — how they are formed, how they move, and where they can be found. The activity was based on the book, “Moonbear’s Shadow.”
“The idea is to have people think about their shadows and where they’re coming from,” said Rachel Garcia, founder of the Science Play-Space Initiative (SPI) in Mt. Vernon.
Some telescopes were set up at Central Park by the Richland Astronomical Society.
Tim Jankowski, the group’s president, said the telescopes filter out 99.99 percent of light coming through, allowing users to see solar spots and eruptions along the edge of the sun.
The Richland Astronomical Society operates Warren Rupp Observatory. On public nights, which occur the first Saturday of every month from March to November, the observatory will draw over 100 people, Jankowski said.
Located at Hidden Hollow Camp, the observatory is home to “Big Blue,” a 36-inch Newtonian telescope — the third largest amateur telescope in the nation, according to Jankowski.
“We have some very dedicated people here that enjoy astronomy,” Jankowski said. “It’s a very good club to be involved with.”
