The public is invited to see the work of 62 students, who have created 45 projects for the annual Science & Engineering Fair on Saturday, March 7. Students have created projects for a variety of competition categories, addressing real-world issues and applying the scientific method to test their ideas. The public will have an opportunity to vote for their favorite project, which will receive the Community Choice Award. Judges will select the top six projects to advance to the 2026 California Science & Engineering Fair, being held April 11-12 at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

The Science Fair is being held in conjunction with the annual STEAM Expo at TCOE’s Mooney Administration Building and Planetarium & Science Center from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. on March 7. The events are free to the public and will feature plenty of hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) activities for Central Valley families and children of all ages.

Attendees can try their hands at aerospace engineering by designing and launching their own rockets, explore sensory sand, experiment with a vertical wind tube, experience how air pressure works, and use tangram puzzle pieces to create shapes and designs. Community booths also include AIMS Center for Math and Science Education, Army Corp. of Engineers – Kaweah Lake, Architecture, Construction, Engineering & Sustainability Program (ACES), Arts Visalia Visual Art Center, CAL FIRE Tulare Unit, Circle J-Norris Ranch and SCICON, UC Master Gardeners Tulare/Kings Counties, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Tulare County Sheriff's Crime Lab, SEED Sequoia Environmental Education Directive, Porterville College, Southern California Edison, Sequoia Riverlands Trust, Visalia Host Lions Club, and STARBASE Porterville.

A Cardboard Challenge area will be created for families to envision and construct anything they can imagine out of cardboard. Attendees will also have the opportunity to create numerous art-related projects, including Popsicle stick harmonicas, shape bubbles, string art, an art mural, and Newton's color wheel.

Event organizers are bringing engaging technology and coding opportunities for children to try, including Bee Bots, Ozobots, Cubelets, and Sphero indi car robots and robotic components.

The planetarium at TCOE's Liberty Center – south of the Mooney Administration Building – will offer showings of one of its popular shows. Shows will happen every hour on the hour, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Planetarium seating is very limited. Free tickets for the shows will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at the STEAM Expo. Once planetarium doors close for a show, no late seating and no reentry is permitted.

Two food trucks will be on hand, including Taquizas Gonzalez and Snackology & More.

For more information, visit www.tcoe.org/STEAMExpo.