CHAD PLAUCHE-ADKINS The Marietta Times Tim Bonnette of Thermo Fisher shows Waterford seventh graders how super cool temperatures effect air pressure Thursday at Washington State Community College.

Other students marveled at watching liquid nitrogen freeze objects and earthworms eat garbage.

The audible reactions to hands-on science experiments could be heard throughout the classrooms of Washington State Community College on Thursday as hundreds of middle school students attended the 26th annual YES Days event.

Youth Engineering and Science (YES) Days is a two-day event meant to expose 800 middle school students from Washington County and surrounding areas to careers with a foundation in science and math.

YES Days Organizing Committee Member Ashleigh Pennock said the event had 50 presenters from organizations and businesses around the area to show students how science affects the world around them.

CHAD PLAUCHE-ADKINS The Marietta Times Dr. Sevinc Erdal does an experiment involving UV rays with Marietta Middle School students Thursday as part of YES Days at Washington State Community College.

“We want to expose them to STEAM,” she said.

An expansion of the standard STEM training(science, technology, engineering and math), STEAM adds art to the learning guideline, Pennock said.

“We wanted to add a few presentations about art to connect with the students who don’t have a big interest in science,” she said.

According to the National Girls Collaborative Project, male students enroll in engineering classes three times more than female students. Molly Simich, a process engineer from Kraton and presenter at YES Days, said she wants the girls attending the event to know it’s geared to them just as much as it is to the boys.

“Girls need to know that science is cool. It’s something they can do and there are female role models in science that they can look to,” she said.

CHAD PLAUCHE-ADKINS The Marietta Times Marietta Middle School seventh grader Kassandra Mankin learns how earthworms decompose land fills Thursday at Washington State Community College.

As a youth, Simich attended YES Days and said the experience helped form her love of the sciences.

“I think it’s exciting to come back and volunteer,” she said. “It’s good to show what you can do with all branches of science.”

Dr. Sevinc Erdal of the Ohio State University Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry said girls need to have a new perception of science.

“Girls need to be exposed to women with careers in science,” she said. “It creates questions in their minds about their own possibilities.”

Thermo Fisher Scientific representative Tim Bonnette said he wanted the YES Days attendees to realize there were employment openings locally in the sciences.

“Kids think they will have to move when they graduate to get a job in the sciences,” he said. “There are plenty of opportunities in the area. The local Thermo Fisher has 600 employees.”

Thermo Fisher is a global company that provides a variety of techniques and equipment used in the medical profession.

Mallory Elliott, 12, and Alazay Jeffers, 13, of Marietta Middle School said they thought the entire YES Days event was cool, but the hematology presentation is what they liked the best.

“We saw how people drew blood. It looked really neat,” said Elliott.

Both girls said they learned things that changed their minds about the future.

“I found other jobs that I want to do,” said Jeffers.

“I liked science before,” said Elliott. “But I like it even more now.”

Pennock said she believes YES Days helps children stay interested in the math and sciences.

“It helps to regenerate them,” she said. “It keeps the kids looking towards the future.”

Event recap:

•What: 26th annual YES Days

•When: Thursday and today.

•Where: Washington State Community College.

•Purpose: To show area middle school students how science and math play roles in their futures through presentations and experiments.

•Science job forecast: According to the Job Network’s web site, seven of the top 10 jobs in 2018 are science and math related.