What makes Dino Fest so important—beyond the fun, hands-on activities—is the opportunity it creates for early STEM exposure. Events like this aren’t just entertaining; they’re deeply impactful. Research shows that introducing kids to STEM topics early in life can influence how they think, what they’re interested in, and even the careers they eventually pursue.

When young students engage with science and technology in meaningful ways, they’re significantly more likely to envision a future in STEM. They’re more inclined to study STEM subjects in college—and more likely to land jobs in those fields. Just a handful of classroom experiences or extracurricular activities can dramatically shift a student’s trajectory. The key, however, is ensuring young minds are exposed to STEM.

That’s where Dino Fest shines. By giving kids a chance to explore science, technology, engineering, and math in an approachable, exciting way, the event helps nurture curiosity and confidence. It sends the message that STEM isn’t just for grown-ups in lab coats—it’s for everyone, including the five-year-old who just built a dinosaur skeleton out of toothpicks. And when adults show kids that an interest in STEM is valued and supported, that interest can grow into something lasting—and possibly life-changing.

To help expose kids to STEM in ways that are exciting and curiosity-driven, Dino Fest will feature a wide variety of hands-on activities designed to make science, technology, engineering, and math come alive for kids of all ages.

At the center of it all will be the Fossil Dig Station—a guaranteed hit. Every child will get the chance to excavate and take home a real fossil. While these won’t be dinosaur bones, kids will uncover treasures like bivalves, shark teeth, petrified wood, and more. With nine pounds of fossils ready to be discovered, every young explorer will walk away with a piece of ancient Earth in their pocket. It will be hands-on, educational, and unforgettable—the kind of experience that fuels a lifelong love of STEM.

In addition to the fossil dig, Dino Fest will offer a host of other engaging STEM stations, each one geared toward sparking new interests and making learning fun. Here’s a look at just some of the activities attendees can enjoy:

• DNA bracelets with pony beads – Kids will learn about genetics by creating bracelets inspired by their favorite animals.
• Marshmallow and spaghetti towers – Engineering will get tasty as kids build tall structures using simple (and edible) materials.
• Dino egg painting – A creative activity where art meets science.
• Felt “Layers of the Earth” project – Young scientists will build a soft, tactile version of Earth’s internal structure.
• Sand pendulum station – Kids will watch mesmerizing patterns form as they explore orbital rotation and physics.
• Elephant toothpaste demo – A crowd-pleasing chemistry experiment with a colorful, foamy reaction.
• Plate tectonics density activity – Kids will compare continental and oceanic crusts in a hands-on way.
• Vinegar and chalk fizz – A classic and satisfying demonstration of chemical reactions with carbonates.

For younger attendees, there will also be a special area inside the Thornton Arts and Culture Center featuring STEM-themed art and science activities that will be sensory-friendly and perfectly suited to smaller hands and growing minds. With so many opportunities to explore, experiment, and play, Dino Fest 2025 will offer visitors a joyful and memorable way to see just how fun STEM can be.

Located in Southwest Florida, FGCU is one of the state’s 12 public universities—and a relatively young one at that. Just over two decades old, FGCU has quickly developed a strong reputation for its focus on teaching and applied research, especially within its innovative Water School, which houses a wide range of environmental science and sustainability programs.

One of the faculty members leading the charge is Dr. Thomas, who has a passion for both science and education. Dr. Thomas teaches limnology, the study of inland waters—derived from the Greek word limne, meaning “lakes, ponds, or marshes,” and ology, meaning the “study of” a particular subject.

In his limnology class—offered to both undergraduates and graduates—Dr. Thomas blends research and teaching in a way that gives students a taste of the real work scientists do in the field. With about 35 students enrolled each year, the course goes far beyond lectures by teaching students how to do limnology. 

“Part of my main work here as a researcher is involving the students in what I do for my research,” Dr. Thomas explained. “I expose them to mock projects, but they’re actually doing real-world tasks.”

This exposure gives students experience with field methods, data collection, and professional-grade analysis and visualization tools like Surfer, all of which can help them excel in careers after graduation.

When Dr. Thomas first started teaching limnology at FGCU back in 2008, his students’ surveys on the campus lakes were entirely manual. Armed with nothing more than canoes, tape measures with weights and handheld GPS, students would make transects across the lakes—measuring water depth by hand at fixed intervals from one shore to the other. Using basic trigonometry, they’d map out the lake bottom and create a rough bathymetric profile. This hands-on approach laid a solid foundation, but as technology advanced, so did the class. The first major upgrade? Sonar. 

“At the beginning, I used just a fish finder,” Dr. Thomas said when explaining how he started incorporating sonar into his class. “It not only gave me the positioning on the lake—such as the X and Y coordinates—but also the water depth in Z coordinates. With this, we actually had more points, which was more valuable.”

The only problem? Winter classes presented a challenge: Florida’s dry season often caused lake levels to drop, leaving gaps in shoreline data since measurements were based solely on water depth. To fill those gaps, Dr. Thomas began incorporating surveying tools like stadia rods to gather elevation points along the shore. Still, the coverage was limited—until drones entered the picture.

In 2015, drone technology transformed both Dr. Thomas’ research and his classroom. Using a DJI Phantom 4 Pro and photogrammetry software like Pix4D, his students began creating digital surface models (DSMs) of a lake and converting them into digital terrain models (DTMs) by removing vegetation and surface features. This aerial data was then combined with bathymetric measurements and GNSS-based elevation data (referenced to the NAVD88 vertical datum) to create a detailed visualization of the lake and surrounding terrain.

And this is where Surfer comes in. A longtime user of Surfer dating back to his grad school days, Dr. Thomas has his students use the software to interpolate their data, create accurate visualizations, and calculate key metrics like lake volume, surface area, and mean depth. The students also dive into variograms, interpolation techniques, and model their results—learning not only the science, but the full technical workflow they’ll encounter in the field.

What makes Dr. Thomas’ limnology class truly stand out is that the work students do isn’t just academic—it’s deeply tied to real-world environmental challenges. Every field exercise and visualization they create plays a role in solving practical problems related to water quality, lake management, and environmental compliance.

For example, once students build a complete bathymetric map of one of the campus lakes, they don’t stop there. That map becomes the foundation for real scientific decision-making, like analyzing slope stability for regulatory compliance. Florida state guidelines require a 4:1 slope for shoreline safety and erosion control, and Dr. Thomas and his students use the elevation data to evaluate whether the lakes on campus meet those standards.

The data also feeds into one of Dr. Thomas’ main research areas: eutrophication—the excessive accumulation of nutrients that leads to the overgrowth of algae. Students use their morphometric models, built in Excel using volume and surface area calculations generated in Surfer, to determine the percentage of the lake that can support algae growth. From there, they assess how to mitigate the issue—whether by applying dye to limit light penetration or calculating the exact concentration of algaecide needed to treat the problem effectively and responsibly.

And it doesn’t stop with the water. Students also explore the interaction between light, depth, and algae growth, applying real measurements of light attenuation in the water column to determine how deep algae can thrive. This insight helps drive lake management strategies and gives students a tangible example of how the science they’re learning translates directly to environmental action.

The Hydrogeology Field Course happens over six weeks. Each week is one credit and covers a different aspect of hydrogeology, including:

• Environmental Surface Geophysics
• Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response 
• Well Drilling and Installation 
• Groundwater Sampling and Monitoring 
• Aquifer Testing 
• Remediation Design and Implementation

For 20 years and counting, Surfer has been a key tool students use throughout the course, thanks to the affordable plans Golden Software offers teachers and universities. In the Environmental Surface Geophysics and Aquifer Testing modules, the class uses Surfer to process and visualize data like they would in the industry, helping them gain the skills they’ll need to stand out in the job market.

The first week of the Hydrogeology Field Course focuses on the Environmental Surface Geophysics module. Students visit a 50 x 200 meter off-campus training site owned by WMU, where they use a variety of geophysical tools and techniques — including electromagnetic, ground penetrating radar, seismic, and electrical resistivity methods — to explore the subsurface and locate buried objects.

“It’s a really cool project where students figure out which method works best for finding things like metallic objects, underground storage tanks, utilities, salty water, or anything conductive—basically things that could be similar to groundwater contamination,” Howe explained. “They spend a lot of time in the field using different instruments to conduct the surveys.”

Afterward, the students take all the data they’ve gathered, process it using Surfer and other software, and map out any anomalies underground. This gives them a solid foundation for surveying and understanding potential causes for further investigation. Then, they work collaboratively in teams to compile their findings, write a report, and present it to the class.

“You can be the smartest person in the world, but if you can’t present data digestively to other people so they understand, it doesn’t really matter,” Howe noted. “For the presentations, we tell one group they’re addressing the public. We tell another they’re addressing a client, and we tell some groups they’re presenting to a regulatory body like the EPA. We’re getting them prepared to talk and express information on different levels, which is important.”

Students get another chance to work with Surfer during the fifth week of the course when they dive into aquifer testing. This module takes place at the same off-campus site, where there’s a 4-inch pumping well and 14 PVC monitoring wells.

Students are divided into six groups and each group manages 2-3 wells. Their job is to set up pressure transducers and record water levels before, during, and after the pumping test. This field work happens for a couple of days, with each group staying the night to track decreasing water levels and the surrounding monitoring wells. 

Once the fieldwork is done, they use Surfer to analyze how much water the aquifer can sustain. They also create visualizations to better understand how the aquifer responds when water is pumped out, a critical but challenging task, as picturing and relating what’s happening subsurface is one the hardest skills to master. That’s especially true in Michigan where the land is mostly sand and trees, and the subsurface isn’t as rocky. To help with this, the Hydrogeology Field Course includes field trips to the Western U.S., where students get to observe different geological environments and build their understanding of 3D subsurface features.

Have you ever spent time creating a plot and fallen in love with the format options? With Grapher you can save those options as a .GRT template file that you can apply to any future compatible data you have by using the File | New | Plot from Template command. This works great if you regularly generate reports for a lab on campus, or if you know the journal you are submitting your research to has a required format for all figures. Save some of your precious time and create uniform figures with Grapher’s template graphs. 

That will wrap up this list of reasons why Grapher can be a powerful tool for students. Each year hundreds of students from top universities all over the world purchase a Grapher student license. If you or a student in your life are interested in taking their data visualization to the next level, get in contact with our Customer Support Team at sales@goldensoftware.com today!