Hundreds of kids from inner-city schools are set to converge on The University of Winnipeg next month to participate in fun, hands-on science activities. The annual summer day-camp is organized in collaboration with UWinnipeg’s Let’s Talk Science Outreach Program and the Boys and Girls Club of Canada’s Community School Investigators (CSI) Summer Learning Program.
Roughly 860 elementary students will be on campus from July 10-28, and each school group will spend one day visiting activity stations to learn about chemistry, physics, and biology.
Last year’s physics station included three workshop: the first focused on lasers, where students learned the theory behind lasers and played a game of laser chess using mirrors; the second featured simple machines, where students made pulleys, ramps, and wheels and axles to simplify everyday life; and the third highlighted sound and harmonics, where students made pan pipes out of drinking straws and learned that sound travels in longitudinal waves.
The biology station has a different biome theme every year. This year the campers will learn about the African Savanna through a scavenger hunt/tag game that will demonstrate how animals survive in that environment.
The camp coordinators have also teamed up with UWinnipeg’s Gallery 1C03 to add an art component to this year’s programming. This station will include a conversation about work by Indigenous artists and the students will get to make their own piece of art to take home.
To help the camp to run smoothly, coordinator Hannah Wheeler is looking for volunteers to help out throughout July.
“I need at least 10 volunteers per day but I will never turn down extra hands! Really, the more help the better. I can easily find jobs for over 20 volunteers each day if I could be so lucky to recruit them,” she said.
Wheeler needs activity leaders to run workshops at the chemistry, physics, and biology stations; as well as team leaders to stay with one group of students for the entire day and guide them from one room to the next — this position is reserved for volunteers who can commit more time to the camp since it requires more responsibility and leadership.
To get involved contact Hannah Wheeler at ltsuofw.csicamp@gmail.com by July 3, 2017. Find more info on the camp’s Facebook page.
