A cycling skeleton, a super cool game zone, amazing science showmen and a convoluted crawl through the large intestines! All this and more greeted visitors to Sci-TechKnoFest 2008, the biennial science and technology festival which was held at the National Science Centre in D'Abadie.

With its emphasis on health and wellness, this, the fifth staging of Sci-TechKnoFest, attracted over 14,000 visitors in its first week. Several schools have come to the festival at which teachers have gathered lots of tips for conveying science curriculum concepts and student learning has been stimulated by engagement with fun interactive exhibits.

With over 200 exhibits on key areas of health and wellness, Sci-TechKnoFest 2008 delivers an awesome package of vital information on health topics and encourages visitors to make wise lifestyle choices.

Without a doubt, some of the most engaging exhibits are those based in the "Healthy Lifestyles" area. Here, both young and old spent several hours testing their fitness levels on steppers, grip strength apparatus, in football strike nets, on cardio kids bikes, treadmills, and the ever-popular Wii and Playststion 3 systems among several others.

Also popular with younger visitors (and parents and teachers!) was the "Heart Over Heels" exhibit from Graz, Austria, which uses the unusual concept of a house to educate on the human body and feelings about oneself and others. Visitors enjoyed respiration activities in the 'verrandah', blowing an animated oxygen molecule through the network of bronchi to the lungs and then helping a carbon dioxide molecule out to complete the respiratory process.

The young and young at heart crawled along the intestines from the 'kitchen' to the 'bathroom' while following the digestive process and deposited their bad feelings in the toilet bowl. Then it was on to a test of memory in the 'cellar' and a range of puzzles to explore how the brain works over in the 'study'. Moving through the 13 rooms of this exhibit was truly an engaging and entertaining experience for visitors.

During the first week, visitors were also able to interface with several health-related agencies which partnered with NIHERST in the festival. The Optometrists' Association, Dental Nurses Association and Midwives Association of Trinidad and Tobago were among some of these agencies which offered free advice on health care.

Additionally, the Institute of Marine Affairs, the Environmental Management Authority and the Solid Waste Management Authority offered insights into environmental pollution and health, while the Insect Vector Control Division and the Public Health Department of the Ministry of Health looked at ways of controlling disease vectors.

The National Oncology Centre provided several interactive displays with a focus on cancer. Their comparative display of a healthy lung and a smoker's lung had a tremendous impact on visitors. Many other interesting and informative displays were also mounted by WASA, the Asthma Clinic staff of Arima and Chaguanas and the Radiological Sciences Department of UWI's Medical Sciences Faculty.

Both the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago and British Gas TT engaged visitors with hands-on activities that focused both on health and an understanding of the natural gas industry.

Not to be left out was a visit to the festival's TechKno Theatre. Hosting two theatres for the first time, Sci-TechKnoFest offered visitors a range of dramatic performances by both local and foreign artistes, using the dramatic arts to deliver messages on the health and wellness theme.

This first week saw daily performances by the Pierrot Grenade - Mr. Felix Edinborough, the Necessary Arts Theatre, Brown Cotton Theatre Ensemble, the NSC Science Club, Ms Elicia Pivott an aerobics expert, the Inter-Caribbean Children's Ministries puppeteers, Ms. Sylvia Branzei and Jim Taylor of the Health Adventure, USA among others.

Jim Taylor's performance combined his excellent voice and guitar skills with a humorous cadre of performers to tell the tale of the Couch Potato who eventually woke up to engage in a lifestyle of physical fitness and healthy eating. Taylor and his troupe returned to the USA on May 2nd, leaving the way clear for the introduction of a new theatre line up.

A favourite with youngsters, Ms. Sylvia Brazei continued with "Germ Zappers" in her ever popular Grossology repertoire, as well as Dr. David Price from the UK with his show on "The Science of Sport".

NIHERST warmly welcomed everyone to get in on the fun as Sci-TechKnoFest 2008 took visitors on "A Journey Within You".