Media advisory: CSU Spur launches Wiz Kid, a new educational YouTube series
Media contact:
Allison Sylte
allison.sylte@colostate.edu
Cell: 720-849-1907
Note to journalists: Wiz Kid and members of the CSU Spur Education Team are available for interviews. Videos are available free of charge to the public, and may be available for outlets to stream upon request.
She might usually be wearing a bedazzled lab coat, a cowboy hat and an assortment of colorful bandanas, but make no mistake: Wiz Kid has a serious mission, and that’s to inspire and connect kids – regardless of where they live or their socioeconomic status – with the wonders of science.
While Wiz Kid’s physical “office” might be the Colorado State University Spur campus in Denver, thanks to YouTube, her lessons will extend much further – an extension of CSU’s land-grant mission to provide an accessible education for all generations.
“One of our motivations in launching CSU Spur was to help connect kids with science and learning in fun, accessible ways – so they can start to imagine themselves in careers they might never have considered before,” CSU System Chancellor Tony Frank said. “By joining in adventures with Wiz Kid, students from all across Colorado and beyond can share in these experiences – they don’t have to be physically at Spur to benefit from this one-of-a-kind learning environment. We’re excited for where Wiz Kid can go in the years ahead.”
In six videos publicly available on YouTube starting Thursday, April 4, Wiz Kid walks through a variety of at-home science experiments, ranging from plantable wildflower seed spheres to bread in a bag.
Along the way, she showcases the real-life scientists who are working at the nexus of health, food and water on the CSU Spur campus and demonstrates how kids can use the scientific method to test their own hypotheses about the world around them.
In addition to being available to anyone with access to YouTube (visit CSU Spur’s YouTube channel), these videos are also available for download upon request by other organizations wanting to share content that inspires adults and the kids in their lives to get excited about science. Parents can sign up for the Wiz Kid’s Kidz Club for emails that share experiments, birthday emails and offers special educational events.
A full list of titles and descriptions are available below:
Meet Wiz Kid and explore the wonders of science!
During this pilot episode, Wiz Kid explores the three buildings at CSU Spur: Vida, which is centered around health; Terra, which focuses on all things food; and Hydro, a hub for water-related research and activities. After exploring everything from the mock veterinary clinic to Spur’s popular stream table, Wiz Kid caps things off with an expert involving what’s known as “direct spherification” – a satisfying experiment that has to be seen to be believed.
Plants: How do they survive? Can I be a gardener too?
Wiz Kid explores all things plants at the Terra building’s rooftop greenhouse. Jennifer Bousselot, an assistant professor of horticulture and landscape architecture at CSU, shows her the different parts of a plant. Next, Candyce Wondercheck, a lead educator facilitator at CSU Spur, teaches her how to make her own wildflower seed spheres.
Made from scratch: The science of making bread, cheese and butter
Wait, you can make bread in a bag?! Wiz Kid learns this lesson and more thanks to Nicholas Trujillo, the Food Innovation Center operations manager at CSU Spur. In addition to helping her make bread, he also walks her through how to make homemade butter and even cheese for an afternoon snack in the campus’ test kitchen.
Hands on chemistry experiments that you can do at home
Wiz Kid walks viewers through three easy-to-follow, hands-on chemistry activities: playing with Oobleck, writing a secret message and making a special fizzy lemonade.
The scientific method: What is science? How do I do my own experiments?
Jake Holley, a research scientist and co-manager of the Metropolitan Ag Research Center on top of the Terra building, walks Wiz Kid through how he uses the scientific method to study plants. Later, Wiz Kid tries her own experiment by determining what does and does not dissolve in water.
Taste test: How does taste work? Why does food taste different when I’m sick?
During this episode, Wiz Kid learns about why certain foods taste the way they do – and what impacts our different senses. Martha Calvert, the manager of CSU Spur’s Sensory Lab, explains how the sense of taste works and how smell impacts the messages our brains receive.
About CSU Spur
CSU Spur is a free learning destination open year-round in Denver, focused on engaging K-12 students, families and visitors. CSU Spur showcases the work of the CSU System campuses: CSU, CSU Pueblo and CSU Global, while advancing knowledge on topics in food, water, health and sustainability. To inspire lifelong learners to engage in important world issues, CSU Spur brings together scientists at work with youth and families, showcasing career paths, while creating a space and place for collaboration across disciplines.