Idaho State University hosts science and ice cream event

Kids at the Pine Ridge Mall on Saturday got to experience learning with ice cream.

Idaho State University’s physics department put on a special science demonstration for kids.

The kids got to learn about electricity and magnets through lots of hands-on exhibits. The exhibits showed kids how different aspects of science worked.

Kids also got to learn to make ice cream using dairy products and liquid nitrogen. As the ice cream was being made, ISU physics professor Steve Shropshire explained how and why it worked. He explained liquid nitrogen is basically cold air and the temperature of it is what helps make quick ice cream.

Shropshire said he loves sharing his love of science and anything that can help gets excited about it is a great thing.

“The more interest kids have in science the more likely they are to learn more about science and be a bit more engaged in their science education,” Shropshire said. “And frankly, we could use a lot more kids going into sciences and engineering in our country.”

Next week, Shropshire said the physics department will also be gathering teachers to collect data from the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21. That data can then be used as a classroom learning tool this fall to teach students a little more about the once-in-a-lifetime event.

The Pine Ridge Mall will also be holding lots of other family-fun activities on Saturdays for the next several weeks.

July 15 and July 22 will be the Pocatello/Chubbuck rock painting fest. Aug. 5 will be a back to school fashion show, as well as several other events coming up. Those events can be found on the mall’s Facebook page.