Between the months of May and June 2009, the Imperial Oil Science Outreach Program was able to reach 2,269 young people through 61 workshops offered to grades Primary to Twelve in both the Chignecto Regional and Strait Regional school boards. The workshops reached six different counties of Nova Scotia.
If you are a community group or a school class and you would like to participate in this program, please contact us. The best time is April to June, but other times may be able to be arranged. The workshops can be held on or off campus. These are typically around an hour in length, and include demonstrations and hands-on activities, with age-appropriate explanations.
There is no fee. This part of our program is funded by the Imperial Oil Foundation, and we are very grateful for their support.
We can offer a variety of presentations in chemistry and science. We have the following suggestions to choose from:
- Magic
- Water - various demonstrations and making marshmallow molecules
- Forestry
- Bones (with a Halloween skeleton so not too scary – naming bones and how they work and what they do)
- Food Science
- Phase Changes
- Metals
- Engineering
- Organic compounds and reactions, Electrochemistry
If you have other suggestions for a theme, we would love to put something else together. We would also be happy to discuss the activities with the teacher – especially for the high school classes, so we don’t repeat anything that may have been already done in class.
There are a number of camp leaders who will be involved:
- Bryan MacDonald has a BSc in Physics and engineering diploma and is starting his Education degree.
- Dawne MacDonald has completed three years of a BSc in Chemistry.
- Julia De Amicis has completed three years of a BSc in Biology.
- Nathan VanderLinden has completed two years of a BSc in Chemistry.
- Melissa Fraser has completed one year of a BEng.
If you are interested in one of our workshops or have any questions, please contact us at 902-867-3640 or at xchem@stfx.ca or contact Dr. Truis Smith-Palmer.