Hot air balloonist Kevin Morgan explains the science behind hot-air ballooning to students attending this year's Science and Engineering Expo. The 70-foot-tall balloon held 144,000 cubic feet of air when fully inflated. (Photo by Chris Morgan)

Dozens of science and technology exhibits, demonstrations and activities took place at the Museum of Idaho, the Expo Big Top Tent, along the plaza and across the street to the O.E. Bell Building Sept. 23-25 for the fourth annual INEEL Science and Engineering Expo held in Idaho Falls.

An estimated 10,000 people -- more than 6,000 of whom were students -- came to be immersed in the carnival of events. Auroras and atoms, electricity and engineering, petroleum and propane, and water and wind power stimulated their senses.

The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory sponsored the three-day Expo in partnership with the Museum of Idaho, Bank of Idaho and Idaho section of the American Nuclear Society. The exposition of science featured more than 70 interactive exhibits, science experiments, simulations and presentations.

The Expo is geared toward students in grades five to nine, with the objective of stimulating interest in scientific and technological careers. Designed to augment the traditional science curriculum in K-12 schools, all Expo activities are linked to national and state science education content standards.

This year, the Expo's focus was on energy and power. Visitors spotted the sun with astrophysicists, created "slime," controlled robots, learned about fish in a Rocky Mountain oilfield, compared sizes of a glider and unmanned aerial vehicle, talked with firefighters, astronomers and medical experts, and heard the loud "whoosh" of a hot air balloon being inflated. They witnessed automotive safety and technology at its worst and best, and squealed with delight at the explosive sound of hydrogen-produced energy.

Students line up to peer through a telescope. A NASA exhibit and a demonstration of model-sized planetary rover vehicles controlled remotely using computer radio commands were among the most popular exhibits at Expo. (Photo by Chris Morgan)

Expo visitors mobbed the NASA exhibit that showcased space exploration, featuring highlights of the Cassini mission to Saturn and a scaled version of the spacecraft for a Jupiter mission. They were lined up five deep to "see" heat via an infrared camera. And stealing the show were E-Blue - the electric-generated formula race car from Brigham Young University - and the rainbowed hues of colored glass formed through melting.

An asteroid micro-lander and Mars rover exhibit (presented by Boise teacher Paul Verhage), the popular robotics demonstrations (INEEL Robotics group), and a bugs-and-spiders display (Bonneville County Master Gardeners) earned first-, second- and third-place honors for strong technical merit and visual impact. The "Best of Show" grand prize and traveling trophy went to the glass-melting demonstrations presented by Shaw Missouri Idaho, LLC.

Through the Expo, businesses and industry joined professional societies and universities to interact with kids in the massive educational outreach effort. Presenters from 12 states (some from as far away as California) and Washington, D.C. traveled to the Expo venue to present science and technology in ways that pique curiosities, satisfy the inquisitive and expose a new generation to the wonders of the physical, life, earth and space sciences.

In four years, the Expo has grown from a one-day event to a three-day extravaganza reaching thousands of students and teachers in eastern Idaho. Using the INEEL Expo as a blueprint, the College of Southern Idaho has for the second year organized a similar one-day science exposition for sixth-graders in south-central Idaho.

The INEEL's Elda Zounar, Ph.D., is director of the annual INEEL Science and Engineering Expo. This year, she recognized the BBWI Spouses Organization with an award for its four years of contributions and unfailing dedication to the Expo. The group helps with planning, organizes the volunteers and coordinates the Expo's student evaluation station.