STEAM event held at OSU Lima campus for kids

The Wapakoneta Daily News and The Evening Leader were represented, along with about 20 other organizations and departments, at STEAM on the Quad not long ago at The Ohio State University’s Lima campus.

Parents who stopped by the newspapers’ booth received one free print copy of The Wapakoneta Daily News and The Evening Leader the print newspapers, an opportunity to sign up for two weeks of free home delivery of the paper with their choice of a free t-shirt or blanket. The Auglaize County Historical Society donated two copies of “The Book of Wapakoneta” to be given away at the event.

The event was co-hosted by OSU Lima and the 4-H programs of Putnam, Hardin, Allen, Hancock, Lucas, Auglaize and Logan counties.

“The genesis of the event was to bring people onto the OSU-Lima Campus and expose them to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM). It was inspired by the ‘maker movement,’ that was gaining steam at the time, by encouraging people to incorporate different aspects of science and technology and arts into their day-to-day lives, and expose more people to those career pathways,” said Robin Bagley, assistant professor of evolution,

ecology and organismal biology at OSU’s Lima campus and one of the event’s organizers.

This is the sixth event in seven years (minus one year due to COVID-19), the event took place.

Roughly 140 students accompanied by 100 adults, attended the event.

“We’re pretty happy with the turnout,” Bagley said. “We reached out to community organizations to bring hands-on science and arts activities to our campus so the community and young children that might be considering science careers can see these things... We tend to attract people from Allen and surrounding counties, including Auglaize County.”

STEAM careers are often highpaying and in high demand.

Bagley specializes her own research on how the environment impacts insect DNA. Research, like hers, can help lead to a better understanding of insect evolution,

and how invasive insect species could impact plants, animals and native insects.

Participating organizations and departments, and their projects, this year included Archivopedia,

LLC (Just Write), Lima Astronomical Society (Wonders of the Universe), Lima Symphony Orchestra (Musical Activities), YWCA Child Care Resource & Referral, Lima Public Library (STEAM Spider Webs), Allen Soil and Water Conservation District (Macro IDing), Allen County Museum (Optical Illusions and More), Charles River (the main sponsor, Various), Ohio

Northern University College of Pharmacy (Stress Balls), OSU Lima Earth Sciences (How Much Do You Know About The Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park/World), Homeless Books (Free Books for All Ages), SESA (Newton’s Laws of Motion), Science Methods OSU (Variety), English Program (Book-making, Scrabble, etc.), OSU Education Department - EDUTL 5101 (Will

London Bridge Fall Down This Time Around?), OSU Education Department - EDUTL 5101 (Dr. Seuss - Bartholomew and the Oobleck) OSU Education Department - EDUTL 5101 (Humpty Dumpty Egg Drop), OSU Education Department - EDUTL 5101 (Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair), OSU Lima Pre-Professional Health Club (Bones Girl Up), 4H (Various).