SAN ANTONIO – The Shamrock Series continues in San Antonio, and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame football team will be hosting the Army Black Knights Saturday in the Alamodome.
Notre Dame is taking advantage of the weekend to bring more than just football to the Alamo City. It also brought educational sessions with it. The university had professors and experts talking about water for farmers, understanding mathematical patterns, bugs and faces.
"It's about conveying to the next generation the excitement that science brings, the importance of science in our everyday lives," said Earl Carter, assistant dean for faculty affairs and special projects at Notre Dame.
About 1,200 middle schools students from around the city were part of a session called “Moment of Science.” There were several different hands-on displays.
Graduate and undergraduate students were conducting different experiments. One presentation was about the effects of liquid nitrogen.
"It's a lot of fun. It's my favorite chemical, so it's really cool to play around with it and show the kids," said Sarah Lum, a grad student and bio analytical chemist.
"It's really cool to see reactions happen," said Jake Friesenhahn, a seventh-grader from McNair Middle School.
Lum was one of 24 students from Notre Dame who made the trip to San Antonio to expand horizons.
"I am hoping this type of event really encourages anyone who is interested … to have an interest, a passion, a curiosity in science that maybe they might develop that into a career,” Lum said.