N.C. Science Festival offers two weeks of STEAM activities

The two-week festival, now in its seventh year, offers all kinds of free or inexpensive activities for all ages at parks, museums and other venues. It all wraps up April 23. This year, the event's theme is art and design, bringing STEAM experiences to the public (that's Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math).

"It's been neat seeing how these art and science events are coming together," said Jonathan Frederick, the festival director.

For this year's festival, there's an updated website that's easy to cruise around using mobile devices and quickly find events that are happening in different regions of the state.

Among the many events coming up in the Triangle will be the massive Triangle SciTech Expo, which is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh.

The free event will feature more than 50 hands-on exhibits, games, crafts and activities, plus several presentations. The event puts a spotlight on the Triangle's scientists and technical professionals from local universities and businesses and is an opportunity for the public to learn more about what they do and why it's important to their daily lives.

Activities include building a Lego version of Raleigh, from skyscrapers and museums to houses and parks.Visitors can also build a working Super Mario Brothers controller out of Play-Doh, use a friend as a keyboard, or try their hand at the duct tape challenge.

Other events coming up ... Statewide Star Parties are scheduled April 21 and April 22 and feature 50 stargazing events that will happen across the state.

And the UNC Science Expo is April 22 on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. In the children's area, the expo will be hosting the first ever 0 K or Zero Kelvin. Instead of a 5K, children will try not to move as part of the Zero K. Zero K actually is the temperature at which nothing can be colder. So kids will get to move around - and then "freeze."