Let's Talk Science

Quick links to the documents I prepared, mentioned below:

• Physics Olympics: Distance and Displacement, Speed and Velocity, and Acceleration (PDF, PPTX)
• How Do Computers Sort Stuff? (for Aboriginal youth) (PDF)
• List of CS Unplugged activities and suggested links to high school curriculum (PDF)

From the Let's Talk Science (LTS) website:

Let’s Talk Science is an award-winning, national, charitable organization focused on education and outreach to support youth development. We create and deliver unique learning programs and services that engage children, youth and educators in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

I was a volunteer 2008-2011.  I did my first LTS activity with two other volunteers at St Mark High School. We ran the Chemistry Magic Show for three different classes, and got awesome feedback about it. Some photos from this event can be seen below.

I also prepared a grade ten (academic) physics competition called Physics Olympics: Distance and Displacement, Speed and Velocity, and Acceleration (PDF, PPTX). The idea is to make answering physics questions more fun because of the added competitive nature. There are three more difficult hands-on challenges as well. The answer key for this activity is available for those who can't see the answers in the notes section of the PPTX (PDF). (Or, a text only answer key in PDF).

In May 2009, I helped with a DNA extraction activity twice on the same day as giving my Physics Olympics activity.

One of my goals is to bring CS Unplugged activities to local schools, and so I have developed a document with some suggestion course connections for high schools. All CS Unplugged activities are also very age appropriate for elementary school students - the only difference is the level of discussion that accompanies the activities.

Sticking with the theme of spreading computer science knowledge, I prepared a two page activity that shows students how computers do sorting (based on the CS Unplugged Sorting Algorithms activity). This document appeared in a newsletter sent to under-privileged Aboriginal children. My activity can be downloaded in PDF format.

In 2009, I organized another physics activity on lenses and mirrors and did another two chemistry magic shows.  I also lead some computer science activities for two science classes (in particular, I did Binary Numbers and Cryptographic Protocols after showing and discussing a video about what computer science is).

Chemistry Magic Show Photos

Check out the whole set on Flickr.