Science educator and advocate Kevin Delaney appeared at The Beeches Conference Center Friday evening to wrap up a week of events sponsored by the 2017 Project Fibonacci STEAM Conference.
The project promotes learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts and math, or STEAM. It is sponsored by ANDRO Computational Solutions in Rome, and encourages learning among high school and college students throughout New York. Its website is projectfibonacci.org.
Project Fibonacci began last Sunday and concludes today. During the past week participants engaged in a variety of activities and lectures which promoted learning in STEAM disciplines.
These included a number of celebrity guest speakers at Rome Free Academy and The Beeches. The speakers challenged students to pursue their passions.
“I’ve learned a lot this past week,” Christine Magunga, 18, said.
Magunga is a senior at East Syracuse-Minoa High School and will study engineering at the University of Albany this fall. She said the week’s highlight for her was a lecture given Tuesday evening at RFA by Deborah Berebichez, a physicist and co-host of “Outrageous Acts of Science” on the Discovery Channel.
“I am definitely motivated after hearing her speak,” Magunga said.
Standing for science
Delaney is a science presenter at Arkansas’ Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, where he demonstrates various practical science applications. He said the hard work by Project Fibonacci participants inspired him.
“I am impressed with what I’ve seen among the students since Thursday evening. They are passionate about science and learning,” he said.
Delaney has helped to develop the “Science After Dark” program for adults on the Science Channel, and is a frequent guest on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.”
“I enjoy working with Jimmy Fallon and his production crew. They work very hard every night,” he said.
Delaney learned the value of science through his uncle’s influence. “My uncle worked as a geologist and a paleontologist, and travelled extensively. He instilled in me a curiosity for learning. I wasn’t the kind of person who blew up stuff during experience.”
That passion, Delaney said, is important because of what he said is an anti-science attitude in the United States.
“Science is under attack,” he said. “The Trump administration has cut back funding for science programs, and in general people are not promoting science and the arts. What I want to do is promote passion for science, and this passion will motivate. It’s important to get people fighting for science education. It’s also important to get women and minorities involved in arts and science. There’s a lack of opportunities for them in these fields.”
Living legacy
Leonardo Fibonacci lived from approximately 1175 to 1250 in Pisa, Italy. He was the son of Guglielmo, a merchant, and he frequently travelled with his father. During a visit to Algeria he discovered the Hindu-Arabic numbering system, a system of calculations based on the number 10. Fibonacci introduced this system to Pisa, and it later became the standard system of mathematics in western civilization.
“They didn’t know what to do with Fibonacci,” Delaney said before the demonstration. “They wanted him to be a merchant, or politician, and not walk around all day running numbers through his head. They should have let him fix the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But he kept with it, and look where we are today.”
Delaney and his assistants showed students experiments demonstrating the practical value of science. He ate Chetos dunked in liquid nitrogen, and used a laser to explode black balloons but not the clear balloons they were encased in. He also had students hold flames in their hands after applying a substance that would keep their hands safe from the heat.
“This is the most impressive presentation I’ve seen all week,” Ar-Jon Peterson of Thomas R. Proctor High School in Utica said.
Peterson, 15, plans to study business at Syracuse University after completing high school. He learned practical advice from Daymond John, the FUBU clothing line founder and “Shark Tank” co-host who spoke about starting business Thursday evening.
“I learned a lot from Mr. John, but seeing science in action is very interesting,” he said.
