There are many exciting events taking place before the official festival begins. Learn more about our year-round events:

Elementary

Arizona Water Festivals (Grades 4-6)

Students and teachers join together to learn about water in a dynamic, hands-on field day experience. Students are empowered to become responsible water stewards, own their discoveries, generate real water and cost savings, and communicate their findings to the public. Students will communicate results of their scientific investigations to adult decision making groups at the Arizona SciTech Festival. 

Art of Water Science

K-12 students across the state are expressing their perceptions about water and conservation through art. Arizona students' pieces are compared with students in other countries such as Fiji, Bolivia and Australia.

Building Arizona Project(Grades 4-6)

Fifth-grade students across Arizona have the opportunity to become “Earth Surveyors” as they each investigate a six-mile parcel of the state with the help of a STEM mentor. Ultimately, students will computer model 3D color tiles that piece together to form the largest state map of Arizona, the Great Globe. The 6,000 tiles will form a large-scale geographic map of Arizona that will be publicly assembled and displayed permanently at the Desert Botanical Gardens.

Galileo Essay Contest (Grades K-6)

Hear Ye, Hear Ye: The Renaissance Festival, Bear Essential News and Arizona SciTech are promoting student days of science with an essay contest. All elementary school students are encouraged to write a short essay about the impact that Galileo made on our lives.

Science Fairs

Students are invited to showcase their past and present interactive Science Fair projects at various Arizona SciTech Festival events. Students may also choose to focus on challenges that are being addressed at each signature event, such as breaking myths at events like the “science of baseball,” or the “neuroscience of magic.”

You Can Do The Rubik's Cube Tournament

Compete to Solve Everyone's Favorite Puzzle In the "You Can Do The Rubik's Cube" Tournament! The Tournament will consist of teams of eight students in grades K-12 plus a teacher/coach. The teams will be competing to collectively solve 25 Rubik's Cubes.

Middle and High School

Galileo Essay Contest (Grades 6-12)

Hear Ye, Hear Ye: The Renaissance Festival, Bear Essential News and Arizona SciTech are promoting student days of science with an essay contest for middle and high school students. Participants are encouraged to write a short essay (500 words or less) to answer, "How did Galileo solidify the Copernican revolution, OR How do you expect astronomy to change in the next 100 years?"

Next Generation of Innovators (Grades 6-9)

Young innovators inspire our youth about the opportunities in STEM in Arizona. Maricopa County Education Service Agency (MCESA), in partnership with the Arizona SciTech Festival, is connecting college students with middle school classrooms in districts throughout Maricopa County. Undergraduate and graduate students from ASU are presenting their current STEM research and innovations and connecting it with issues of relevance to middle school-aged students.   

Science Fairs

Students are invited to showcase their past and present interactive Science Fair projects at various Arizona SciTech Festival events. Students may also choose to focus on challenges that are being addressed at each signature event, such as breaking myths at events like the “science of baseball,” or the “neuroscience of magic.”

Showcase at an Event or Host a Workshop

Arizona SciTech is calling all middle school and high school students with science skills and knowledge to share their expertise with the public by hosting a booth at a signature event or conducting a workshop at a neighborhood hub. Signature events are being held throughout the state and address a variety of STEM topics. We encourage you to participate in your regional science fair and show off your project to the public at the signature event most relevant to the science topic addressed by your project.

You Can Do The Rubik's Cube Tournament

Compete to Solve Everyone's Favorite Puzzle In the "You Can Do The Rubik's Cube" Tournament! The Tournament will consist of teams of eight students in grades K-12 plus a teacher/coach. The teams will be competing to collectively solve 25 Rubik's Cubes.