Gifted Atlanta

The Museum of Design Atlanta and the Midtown Alliance invite children ages 8 to 12 to a Bridge Building Challenge on May 16 and 17, 2015.

In each of four available two-hour workshops, MODA instructors will teach kids about different types of bridges, then guide them through creating their own. Students will compete to see whose bridge can support the most weight.

The workshops will be held at Cornerstone Village in Midtown.

Find out how the Chattahoochee River and its tributaries etched the North Georgia landscape in a walk and lecture presented by geologist Bill Witherspoon, May 7, 2015.

Witherspoon, a retired science educator and one of the authors of Roadside Geology in Georgia, will lead an evening walk along Rottenwood Creek in Marietta, highlighting how rushing waters carved the area’s gorges. A lecture and slideshow will follow.

The event is free, but registration is requested via the Georgia Rocks web site.

The Spivey Hall Children’s Choir will hold auditions for young singers on Saturday, April 25, 2015.

Auditions are open for girls and boys ages 10 to 13. Students selected for the program may remain in the choir until they complete high school.

Founded in 1994 and affiliated with Clayton State University, the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir consists of three groups: the Young Artists Choir, where most new singers are placed; the Children’s Choir, a larger ensemble that includes children through age 18; and the Tour Choir, a traveling group that has performed in locations across America and overseas.

To audition, complete an online application.

Dogwood Toastmasters is offering a public speaking program this spring to help kids ages 10 to 17 get comfortable presenting their ideas in front of an audience.

The Youth Leadership Program will be held on Saturday mornings from April 18 to June 20, 2015, in northeast Atlanta. The registration deadline for this free class is April 4.

Things are about to get real science-y around this town.

The second annual Atlanta Science Festival kicks off this Saturday, March 21, offering a solid week of science-related activities on lots of science topics.

You’ll find the usual suspects of STEM: model rocketry, robotics and forensics, just to name a few. But when’s the last time you had the chance to learn the science of table tennis, or squishy physics (food science)?

The week culminates in the Exploration Expo, a massive free event on Saturday, March 28, at Centennial Olympic Park. Dozens of companies and schools will host hands-on activities geared toward kids and families.

The Atlanta History Center will offer free admission on Monday, Jan. 19, 2015, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This will include access to the history museum, the Margaret Mitchell House, the 1928 Swan House and Smith Family Farm, the Centennial Olympic Games Museum, and the Goizueta Gardens.

The Gwinnett Symphony Youth Orchestra will begin rehearsals next Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015, at Creekland Middle School in Lawrenceville.

Wind, brass, string and percussion musicians who are 18 or under are invited to apply to join the orchestra.

The youth orchestra is led by conductor Dr. Gregory Pritchard, and plays alongside adult musicians in the symphony’s masterworks concerts.