Newsletter - Science Travels

Fall 2015
Newsletter
A s another year comes to a close, we are
proud to announce that we have
exceeded our outreach goal this semester by
reaching over 3000 students! During our
travels, we visited past favourites including
Eastmain, Moosonee, and even made a return
to one of our very first destinations back in
2006, Iroquois Falls. Yet, this semester also
marks our first visit to Rankin Inlet, Nunavut,
where our volunteers were overwhelmed by
the welcome they received from the
educators and community members upon
arrival. As we continue to expand our
outreach efforts this coming Spring, we hope
we can continue sharing our love of science
to new and old faces once again.
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Fall 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Fall 2015, By the Numbers
2
Activity Summary
3
Moosonee & Moose Factory
4
Eastmain & Waskaganish
5
Rankin Inlet
6
Cochrane District
7
Photos from Across the Map
8
Who Are We?
9
Science Travels
Fall 2015, By the Numbers
8 communities visited in
Ontario, Nunavut and
Quebec.
175 workshops delivered at
18 educational centres,
including elementary
schools, high schools, and
native friendship centres.
14 outreach volunteers
Moosonee, ON
Moose Factory, ON
Phoebe Ampaw
Julia Kirby
Peter Feige
Kaitlin Town
Bishop Belleau School
Moosonee Public School
Northern Lights Secondary School
Delores D. Echum Composite School
Ministik School
Eastmain, QC
Waskaganish, QC
Veronika Cencen
Colleen Cornett
Fatou Sarr
Justin Whitaker
Wabannutao Eeyou School
Wiinibekuu School
Annie Whiskeychan Memorial School
Rankin, NU
Eliza Ali
Renée Nelson
Leo Ussak Elementary School
Maani Ulujuk Illinniarvik School
Simon Alaittuq School
William Chen
Sebastian
Hadjiantoniou
Linda Mouhamou
Marina Torreblanca
St. Patrick School
Kapuskasing District High School
Kapuskasing Frienship Centre
Aileen Wright English Catholic School
Cochrane Public School
Iroquois Falls Secondary School
École Secondaire L’Alliance
Kapuskasing, ON
Cochrane, ON
Iroquois Falls, ON
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Fall 2015
Science Travels
T o start the Fall semester off right, we
delivered educational workshops to a total of
3178 students, in 169 classrooms.
Activity Summary
A ll of our volunteers worked
tremendously hard to prepare for
and deliver a wide range of science
activities this semester. Thank you to
all of them for their hard work, and
thank you to the teachers and
students for inviting us into their
schools to present!
175 Workshops
34 Unique science activities,
including topics in
chemistry, programming
and molecular biology
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Fall 2015
Science Travels
Moosonee & Moose Factory, Ontario
Peter Feige
“M r. Blood! Mr. Blood!” sixteen nine
year old students yelled in unison, blocking
the hall between classes.
“Hey guys, do you remember what’s in your
blood that makes it red?”
“That’s easy,” said a few.
“Rust!” yelled some.
The pride they took in their knowledge was
endearing. The bell rings and we leave to our
next class.
“Mr. Blood! Mr. Blood!” sixteen nine year old
students yell running down the hall.
“Hey guys, do you remember the clear
liquid in…”
“Plasma!” a few children yelled excitedly.
This game continued between classes for the
rest of the day where the students
remembered everything from how antibodies
smell out the bad guys to how white blood
cells help gobble them up. Whatever doubts I
had about our teaching were long gone.
“The volunteers were knowledgeable and enthusiastic. They brought out much excitement in
my students.” – Teacher in Moosonee
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Fall 2015
Science Travels
Eastmain & Waskaganish, Quebec
Veronika Cencen
D uring the week of November 14th to 20th,
we (Colleen, Fatima, Justin and Veronika)
were fortunate enough to go on the adventure
of a lifetime; a week of presenting science and
engineering-related activities to indigenous
school children and youth in the tiny Cree towns
of Eastmain and Waskaganish.
Although our flight to Eastmain was very
pleasant and we experienced what were the
most ideal flying conditions, an unexpected
overload on the plane meant that we had to
wait a few days for the luggage carrying some
of our activities to arrive; this also meant
spending most of our evening planning how we
could adapt the activities using our limited
supplies. This snag in our plans wasn’t all that bad
though, as it kept us indoors on quite a cold
night. Using the Chemistry Magic Show kit as our
go-to backup turned out to be very enjoyable
for all grade levels, and for us too!
When we were not in the classrooms, we
were excited to take some time to experience
the Eastmain community, including exploring the
youth and recreation centre, a large and
modern fitness and sports complex, and the
ever-famous Northern store. It didn’t take long
into our trip before we experienced the beauty
of mother nature; on the second evening, we
witnessed the Aurora Borealis right at the beach
next to our hotel, and a sideshow of a full sky of
twinkling stars on a clear night, untainted by light
pollution.
It was difficult to leave a place that after
just two days, offered us the pleasures of nature
and excitement of students, but we were also
curious about and willing to accept the new
challenges that awaited us at the next location –
the (slightly) larger town of Waskaganish.
To maximize the amount of time we could
spend on the activities in Waskaganish, we
decided to hold the activities in a few central
locations: the lobby and the gym at the
elementary school, and the science labs at the
high school. We were also fortunate to be
provided accommodations at the then-vacant
local doctors’ home, which just happened to be
across the field from the schools!
In Waskaganish, our free time was spent
with the locals, either being shown around town,
dining at the community tee-pee, or listening to
special guest speaker lectures. By the end of our
stay, we were almost sorry that we ended up
catching the plane home!
“I like science! This was so cool and interesting, come back again!” – Student in Waskaganish
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Fall 2015
Science Travels
Rankin Inlet, Nunavut
Eliza Ali
F rom November 21st to 28th, Renee and I
headed our way up north…way north to
Rankin Inlet! We were both so excited for our
new adventure as Science Travels volunteers.
Rankin Inlet is a bustling town and once we
arrived we got down to business teaching at the
three schools.
Our first stop was the high school, Manni
Ulujuk Illinniarvik where we both helped a keen
group of students jump start their science
projects about bacterial growth in different parts
of their school. We engaged the students and
taught them about trial and error as we worked
together to create luria agar plates to grow their
samples. Afterwards, with the grade 9 class, I
gave them an introductory lesson about parallel
and series circuits and the students teamed up
to draw out the different circuits and build
them. The most memorable moment was
doing the Germs Kit with the grade 8 class and
seeing their reactions during the pandemic
activity when many of them were ‘infected’
with a mysterious virus.
At the primary school, Leo Ussak School
and at the secondary school, Simon Alaittuq
School, every single student had a blast with
the Chemistry Magic Demonstration. They
loved making slime out of borax and glue and
watching in anticipation for one of the baking
soda and vinegar rockets to blast off. All the
students were amazed how the carbon dioxide
in their breath turned the pink basic solution
clear. Let’s just say the students of Rankin Inlet
were very inspired after watching and doing
cool science activities.
Exploring Rankin Inlet was such a treat
and there were many surprises. First and
foremost, the Tim Horton’s was a sweet spot for
us to grab ourselves some coffee, donuts and
hot chocolate which was conveniently located
at the Northern Store (which by far was the
biggest we’ve seen!). In the middle of the town
we had the chance to take a picture with the
giant inuksuk which was on top of a hill. Since
we were so far up north, Renee and I
experienced shorter days and longer nights as
well as chilly temperatures ranging from -45°C
to -56°C every single day. What was a nice
surprise was eating Thai food at the Wild Wolf
Restaurant. We also were ecstatic when we
spotted the Northern Lights dancing right
above us and we both checked this off of our
bucket list! The community members and
teachers that we met throughout the week
were so warm and welcoming and hoped that
Science Travels could come back in 2016.
“Observing my students’ engagement and willingness to participate – they loved the hands
on approach. Thank you for your time!” – Teacher in Rankin Inlet
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Fall 2015
Science Travels
Cochrane District, Ontario
Linda Mouhamou
T he excitement of our journey to the
Kapuskasing, Cochrane, and Iroquois Falls
area began before we even departed. Because
this was my first Science Travels trip, it was a little
nerve-racking not knowing what to expect. But,
with the support of my team (Marina, Sebastian
and William), two who were Science Travels
veterans, my mind was eased to the idea. Not
only would I get to experience communities to
which I had never been before, but I would get
to share in the enthusiasm of students as they
learn new scientific concepts in a fun and
interactive way.
On our first night, our team bonded
quickly as we spent hours preparing the robotics
activity for the next day. Our efforts paid off
when, the next morning we were greeted with
excited students ready to learn. Every kid, no
matter their age or sex, loved the idea of
battling Legos sumo-style for the chance at the
ultimate bragging rights and champion title!
It was fantastic to see how excited the
students were to learn just about any topic,
including natural selection, germs and healthy
hearts. In one classroom all of the students had
just done an entire unit on the heart and seemed
to know just as much as us! Sebastian and I had
to alter the presentation to keep up with these
clever kids. We even gave them a chance to
use their iPads to check their pulse with a
downloadable application and had them test
out just how hard the heart works.
My absolute favourite group to teach was
a small group of special needs high school
students. Marina and I had the chance to really
bond with each student and make a
connection. One of the workshops we presented
to this group was Germs, which had almost all of
them scared of what was to come. At first when
we pulled out the UV light, “ooh”s and “aww”s
resonated through the room. When we used a
special powder to illustrate germ contact, they
all realized just how easily germs could spread. It
took quite a while for us to reassure them that
the powders weren’t actual germs, but it
certainly gave them a good lesson on the
importance of washing hands!
Come the last night of the trip, we were
all ready to go back home to a snowless city to
get some rest after an exhausting week. But, of
course, it was still a bittersweet moment having
to say goodbye to each other and to such an
amazing experience. As we ended the week, it
was reading the student and teacher surveys
that reminded us of our impact during the week
and just how much our presence was
appreciated!
“This was so cool to experience, especially because it’s the first time I got to see a robot in
action. I love science and now I love it even more.” – Student in Kapuskasing
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Fall 2015
Science Travels
Photos From Across the Map
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Fall 2015
Science Travels
Who Are We?
Dr. Barbara Vanderhyden
Ana Gargaun
Christina Thomsen
Barb is the founder and
director of Science Travels.
She provides guidance to the
program through a veritable
wealth of experience in
science outreach.
Ana is the Kits Coordinator.
Ana
ensures
that
all
volunteers are trained on their
activities and that they leave
with all the supplies needed
for a successful voyage.
Christina is the Science Travels
Program Manager. She takes
care of travel arrangements,
communications, staffing the
trips,
and
day-to-day
operations.
Contact Us!
Christina Thomsen
Program Manager
Science Travels is funded by an NSERC PromoScience
grant, and support from AirCreebec & CalmAir and the
following uOttawa programs:
Student Academic Success Services, Aboriginal Resource
Centre, Administration Committee, and the Faculties of Science,
Engineering, Medicine and the Center for Global and
Community Engagement.
Room 304 Tabaret Hall
University of Ottawa
550 Cumberland Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 6N5
Tel: 613-562-5800 x 2909
Fax: 613-562-5285
stravels@uottawa.ca
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Fall 2015
Science Travels