Community Invited to Opening of New Science Studio March 14

Students from Departure Bay Elementary School and VIU science students working on a ‘citizen science project’ at Departure Bay Beach in Nanaimo.

March 3, 2015 - 12:45pm

The Nanaimo Science and Sustainability Society (NS3) will mark International Pi Day on Saturday, March 14 with a big community science celebration and the opening of their new Science Studio at Departure Bay Elementary School.

Families with school age children are invited to drop in from 10 am to 2 pm. Admission is by donation.

“As a non-profit society, our mission is to inspire families and get kids excited about science through fun hands-on learning,” says Liz DeMattia, co-founder of NS3. “We feel the opening of our new Science Studio puts us one step closer to our goal of getting a permanent science centre in Nanaimo.”

Vancouver Island University (VIU) students and faculty play a big part in NS3’s activities, and will be volunteering at the Science Studio on Saturday with other community partners including the Department of Fisheries Oceans, local engineering firms, environmental consultants and other non-profit groups.

The Science Studio is located in classroom space rented from Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools – the perfect location with Linley Valley, a beach and a salmon bearing stream close by, says DeMattia.

“These natural resources complement our new studio and will serve as outdoor classrooms for our spring and summer science camps, after-school programs and other activities.”

The celebration will feature a special ‘chain reaction fundraiser’ and DeMattia encourages kids and parents to sign up.

“Think of a giant Mousetrap game,” she says. “We hope to have several teams designing and building individual contraptions and machines using things like gears, levers, pulleys, ramps, marbles, etc. Our idea is that these will all be connected to form a giant chain reaction.”

DeMattia, a trained ecologist and part-time VIU professor in VIU’s Biology department, co-founded NS3 with environmental consultant Sue Durnin in 2010 to increase science opportunities for families.

“There are no dedicated science and math teachers in elementary schools from kindergarten through grade 7 in this province,” she says, “and enrolment in secondary school science programs in the mid-Island north is declining.”

“We believe teaching kids about science and introducing them to what the University is all about at an early age is important,” DeMattia adds. “Our hope is to ignite a passion or spark an interest in science for these kids that will shape their whole lives.”

Thousands of Nanaimo children from five to 13 have been exposed to science through NS3 activities in the past three years, which include spring and summer camps and school programs.

“We started with summer programs sponsored by VIU and the City of Nanaimo, then purchased a mobile science van to deliver the programs throughout the area,” says DeMattia. “We partnered with VIU to run summer science camps, and we keep developing new programs, including the new Science Studio, programs aimed at preschool age children, and new spring break camps and summer camps.”

None of this would be possible without numerous community partners helping to engage kids and the community in science, says DeMattia.

“We have an army of amazing volunteers,” adds DeMattia. “We’ve also been able to hire several VIU graduates and students as paid employees for our programs.”

Several VIU faculty are regular volunteers at NS3 summer camps, and some helped develop NS3’s ‘citizen science projects’ that encourage public involvement in research projects through data collection and participation in long-term studies.

Last fall, VIU faculty and NS3 created an intertidal sampling project to monitor the distribution and abundance of an invasive bivalve species called a varnish clam (originally from Asia). Fourth year students in a VIU Biodiversity and Conservation class piloted the project with grade six students from Departure Bay Elementary school.

“The elementary school students sampled Departure Bay beach for clam species while learning quadrat sampling methods, species identification and data collection techniques,” says DeMattia. “They used real data collected for their math and science projects and had fun exploring nature with their VIU student mentors.

“Our hope is to expand citizen science projects like these in the future.”

For more information about NS3 and the opening of the new Science Studio, visit NanaimoScience.org.

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