SV & Fall 2020

Headlines

  • Thank you for an aweSTEM summer!

  • Fall Update

  • Fall Clubs

  • STEM at Home Resource Library

  • Send us your Feedback


Thank you!

As the summer has come to an end and we reflect back on our journey of online programs we must send a huge thank you to all of the SV families who joined in and supported us this past summer as we transitioned in our delivery style. From our pilot program, the STEM Homework Clubs to virtual in-school workshops to online camps, our team was challenged and continued to grow our ever evolving online programs. Thank you, if not for you none of it would have been possible! 



Fall Update

The transition into the fall and the start of the school year is upon us. Science Venture is currently committed to delivering online/virtual programs to our school and community partners. As the fall progresses, our goal is to start the implementation of phasing in our in-person delivery when the time is right as the health and safety of the participating youth, our staff, and the community is our top priority. It is with consultation from the University of Victoria and the guidelines set by the BCCDC that we are developing our phase in plans. Thank you for support and patience as we navigate the transition back to in-person delivery.


Fall Clubs

During the school year, Science Venture offers after school and weekend clubs that explore science, engineering, and technology. Activities are developed and delivered by our Science Venture Staph, current UVic students or recent graduates. Currently, our Fall clubs will be offered in our virtual Maker Space with online participation from youth.

Below are the clubs offered this fall term. Clubs cost $90 (*unless noted below) and will run in the evenings on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays as well as in the mornings on Saturday. All clubs start the week of September 28th. Note there are two breaks during the club term, a one-week break to accommodate Thanksgiving in October and a two week to accommodate Reading Break in November. Clubs will end the week of November 23rd. Material kits will be provided for clubs that will be completing hands-on STEM activities. 

Wednesdays:

  • Sustainable STEM: Civil Connections - Gr. 3/4  from 5:30 to 6:30 pm:

    Science isn’t always outside, in a lab, or in space; it is in your home, city and every aspect of society! Learn about how scientists and engineers work to make essential technologies more accessible and environmentally friendly. Come dive into topics such as food, energy, clean water, garbage management, shelter and sewage treatment and learn how important they are to achieving a more sustainable planet for future generations.

  • Sustainable STEM: Civil Connections - Gr. 5/6 from 7:00 to 8:00 pm

Science isn’t always outside, in a lab, or in space; it is in your home, city and every aspect of society! Learn about how scientists and engineers work to make essential technologies more accessible and environmentally friendly. Come dive into topics such as food, energy, clean water, garbage management, shelter and sewage treatment and learn how important they are to achieving a more sustainable planet for future generations.

Thursdays:

  • Web Dev - Gr. 5/6 from 5:30 to 6:45 pm

From displaying a project, to making a company, to having an online resume; building a website is an important skill in today’s growing technology based society! Come learn website development from the comfort of your own home. Explore the basics of web development while creating your very own corner of the web. Focusing on the basics of block coding, the students will learn how to build a beautiful website that they can call their home on the internet. Finishing up the club with an introduction to coding languages that will lead participants into further exploration of web development.

  • Web Dev - Gr. 7-9 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm

From displaying a project, to making a company, to having an online resume; building a website is an important skill in today’s growing technology based society! Come learn website development from the comfort of your own home. Explore the basics of web development while creating your very own corner of the web. Focusing on the basics of HTML and CSS, the students will learn how to build a beautiful website that they can call their home on the internet. Finishing up the club with some javascript the students will have all the tools necessary to build the next big thing.

Fridays:

  • Scratch Game Design - Gr. 3/4 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm

Join us in an exploration of all things coding and computer science from the comfort of your home with our Scratch Game Design club. Get a taste of the video game industry by learning the ins and outs of game design. Code alongside our instructors and create games to play and share with your peers all while understanding what is really going on behind the scenes. Design for both newcomers and veterans of Scratch!

  • FriYAY:CS for Girls Virtual Edition - Gr. 5-9* from 7:00 to 8:30 pm

Hang out with the SV code squad on FriYAYs this fall for a memorable digital experience.  Dive into the world of computer science and computational thinking. Make new friends, learn some coding tricks, and maybe even change the world with code. Our computer science club is designed for girls by girls. 

*Cost = FREE, thanks to NSERC PromoScience and additional funders this club is offered free of charge.

Saturdays:

  • Sustainable STEM: Civil Connections - Gr. 1/2 from 9:30 to 10:30 am

    Science isn’t always outside, in a lab, or in space; it is in your home, city and every aspect of society! Learn about how scientists and engineers work to make essential technologies more accessible and environmentally friendly. Come dive into topics such as food, energy, clean water, garbage management, shelter and sewage treatment and learn how important they are to achieving a more sustainable planet for future generations.

  • STEAM Girls - Gr. 3-6 * from 11:00 to 12:15 pm

Delve into the wonders of nature through artistic expression and STEM experiments. Each week we will explore how the arts and science braid together in the natural world through experiments, art projects and more!

Weekly themes include:

  • Sky, stars and beyond

  • Natural geometries and crystal structures

  • Maps, shapes and landscapes

  • Inks and dyes

  • Beautiful and bountiful botany

  • Mathematical mysteries

*Cost = $30, Thanks to NSERC PromoScience this club is offered at a reduced rate.


STEM at Home Resource Library

Science Venture is pleased to announce resources from our online camps are accessible for all in our STEM at Home Resources. If you missed your favourite camp, do not fret! All the activities and resources are now available and searchable based on the camp, topic, and recommended age group. Put on your scientist shoes & tackle some of the innovative and exciting science activities put together by our #aweSTEM SV staph.


Send us your feedback

We want to hear from you! What are you looking for from Science Venture this fall? What can Science Venture do to support your scientists and engineers in continuing to explore different areas of STEM? How would you proceed with transition back to in-person delivery? Your feedback is valuable, follow the link below to help us ensure our programs are developed with our community in mind.

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#SVatHome

Wow, Science Venture is half way through our virtual camp season. The weeks have been flying by! We are pleased to announce resources from previous weeks of camp are accessible for all in our STEM at Home Resources. If you missed your favourite camp, do not fret! All the activities and resources are now available and searchable based on the camp, topic, and recommended age group. Put on your scientist shoes and tackle some of the innovative and exciting science activities put together by our staff members.

Looking to go outdoors this weekend? How about trekking into nature and cataloguing what you find with your own biological field guide with activities from our Exploring the Great Outdoors Camp?!

Looking to watch a movie sometime soon? How about creating your scratch animation instead and watching it with the family with activities from the Comics, Cartoons & Coding Camp!?

We also have activities from our Digging Up the Future, Human Biology, and Micro:Bit camp; and with more activities to come soon!

  • The Exploring the Great Outdoors camp Activities include:

    Field guide creation, specimen inquiry, creative creature camouflage, observing photosynthesis, wonderful worms and more!

  • The Comics, Cartoons & Coding CAMP activities include:

    Storyboarding Comics; Scratch Cartooning; Scratch Animation, Functions and Transitions; Scratch Titles and Conclusions; Scratch Publishing and Additional Resources, and more!

  • The human biology: kinesiology & nutrition camp activities include:

    Muscle making, exercise experiments, ridiculous reflexes, nifty nutrient absorption, snazzy circadian rhythms, and more!

  • The Applied Science = Engineering camp activities include:

    Polluted Pipes, fantastic fridges, sacred sundials, sun s’mores, backyard biomedical engineering, and more!

  • The digging up the future camp activities include:

    History of the earth, fossil matching, scientific names, radioactive decay, virtual excavation, and more!

The wait is over! Want to share your project or results with us? Email or tag us @ScienceVenture with your #SVatHome project!

Science Venture Summer Programming

Headlines


Summer Camps 2020 - Update
Virtual & Remote Summer Programming
Parent Survey
STEM Homework Clubs
Virtual In-School Workshops


SUMMER CAMPS 2020 - UPDATE

It is after careful thought and due consideration that Science Venture, in consultation with the University of Victoria, has made the difficult decision to cancel our upcoming in-person summer camps.

On March 26th, the University of Victoria made the decision to transition all summer academic programs to be hosted online in virtual classrooms with no students coming to campus. It is appropriate to extend this transition to Science Venture’s summer camps as this decision upholds the safety precautions recommended by the provincial health authorities to best protect the health of our community through the summer season.

Welcoming campers to the University of Victoria campus is a tradition Science Venture holds dear and we acknowledge the importance of the camp experience for youth. In the effort to stay connected with youth this summer, our team will be providing virtual summer camps. The details regarding these camps are currently being worked out by our team and more information will be released in the coming weeks. 

Thank you for your support of Science Venture camps. From all of us at Science Venture and the University of Victoria, we wish you and your families a safe and healthy summer and look forward to connecting with you in our virtual camps.


VIRTUAL & REMOTE SUMMER PROGRAMMING

The Science Venture team has been working hard to bring our platform into a digital medium. It is important to us that we continue to inspire Vancouver Island youth to explore their potential and discover their vital role in the world through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics during these unprecedented times.

We are pleased to stay connected through a number of programs this summer, including virtual summer camps and clubs, STEM at-home activities and live events. Science Venture’s Virtual & Remote Summer Schedule will be released on Wednesday May 6th, with registration opening on Wednesday May 20th.

Potential topics include:

  Engineering Design Programming 
    Exploring the Great Outdoors
    Comics, Cartoons & Coding
    Virtual Codemakers 
    Kerbal Space EDU
    Ocean Explorers
    Space Venture
    Music Studio
    And more!


Be sure to visit our website or follow us on Twitter (@ScienceVenture), Instagram (@scienceventure) and Facebook (ScienceVenture) to stay up to date with all the latest announcements.


PARENT SURVEY

As we navigate through this transition to virtual and remote summer programming we want your feedback. This feedback will be used to tailor our summer programming and determine the capacity in which Science Venture can best support our community. Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey.

COMPLETE SURVEY HERE


STEM HOMEWORK CLUBS

We are pleased to be offering STEM Homework Clubs, for grades 4 to 12 starting the week of April 27th. With the transition to online learning, we hope that building this online community will help youth maintain their learning and continue to explore their potential in STEM.

The general breakdown for these sessions will include time for youth to ask questions, introduction of topics/concepts by our Instructors through demonstrations or experiments and ending the session with projects and extensions for the the youth to explore.

STEM HOMEWORK CLUBS OFFERED

Grade 4 & 5: Math & Science - Tuesdays 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm (Apr. 28th to May 26th)

Grade 6 & 7: Math & Science - Wednesdays 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm (Apr. 29th to May 27th)

Grade 8: Math & Science - Thursdays 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm (Apr. 30th to May 28th)

Grade 9 & 10: Math & Science - Wednesdays 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm (Apr. 29th to May 27th)

Grade 11 & 12: Physics, Biology, Chemistry & Math - Tuesdays 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm (Apr. 28th to May 26th)

REGISTER HERE


VIRTUAL IN-SCHOOL WORKSHOPS

Our team has been working hard to digitize our in-school workshops. These workshops are offered for classes and can be completed asynchronously or synchronously in their online classroom. Topics are found below.

To book a workshop, please email svworkshops@engr.uvic.ca with the school name, number of students in the class and grade level. 

Note: The Mysterious Matter grade 6 workshop is currently in development and will be available the beginning of May.

See our brochure for more details


Hello 2020! What is Science Venture Up To?

What is Science Venture up to as we enter this new decade you may ask? Lots! We are delivering aweSTEM programming all over the island including our winter clubs, codemaker in-school workshops, teacher Pro-D workshops, the first Go Code Girl event and so much more! Check out our newsletter below for more details and follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to keep update on what aweSTEM content we are bringing in 2020.

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The Headlines

Winter Clubs
Temporary Location
Go Code Girl Event - March 7th
Spring Break Camp - March 23rd to 27th
In-School Workshops - Ongoing
Summer Camp Schedule - released first week of March Summer Camp Registration - April 1st at 7:00 am


Winter Clubs

Below are the clubs offered this winter. Thursday clubs begin on January 16th, Friday clubs on January 17th and Saturday clubs on January 18th. Clubs end the first week of March. Please note there is a two-week break in February due to reading break at the university.

Game Design With Bloxels

Gr. 3/4 - Thursdays (6-8pm)

Turn your story into a video game. The Bloxels 13x13 gameboard and blocks allow students to create levels, characters, and any other art they may have in mind. Using iPads and the Bloxels app, students will instantly turn their physical creations into a digital game. In the app, they can edit and customize everything - what it looks like and how elements interact and behave.

Micro:Pets with Micro:Bits

Gr. 5/6 - Thursdays (6-8pm)

Delve deeper into the languages of Java and Python along with computer science concepts which will be implemented into their session long project of building a Micro:Pet. Starting with an unplugged activity, followed by an exploration using Micro:bits student will program their Micro:Bit to progressively mimic the behaviour of a pet by needing to be fed, walked, and more!

Kerbal Space Program

Gr. 7-9 Thursdays (6-8pm)

Take flight with the Kerbal engineers in the Kerbal Space Program (KSP). KSP uses a realistic orbital physics engine, allowing for real-life orbital maneuvers. Challenge yourself and learn about rocket science in this new and exciting club. Players will assist the lovable-but-hapless Kerbals as they build rockets and carry out orbital missions. Students will master real-world physics and engineering skills as their understanding of STEM concepts blast off!

Tiny Tinkerers

Gr. 1/2 - Sat. (10am - 12pm)

Do you have an itch to tinker and create? Do like solving problems hands-on by building? Designing, building, testing and redesigning is the name of the game for this club! Each week students will discover a different area of engineering such as electrical, biomedical, mechanical, and civil.

Science & Medicine

Gr. 3/4 - Sat. (10am- 12pm)

Take a dive into the world of medical sciences. Starting with the human body, students will breakdown how the body functions in different levels from system to organ to tissue and finally the cellular level. Each week students will explore the concepts found in various careers in the medical field.

3D Design & Modelling

Gr. 5/6 - Sat. (10am-12pm)

Kick your engineering and design skills to the next level by diving into the world of 3D design. Navigate your way around three- dimensional space to create structures, trinkets and more using 3D modelling software and 3D printers to bring your creations to life

Friyay: CS for Girls

Gr. 5-8 - Fridays (6pm - 8pm)

Hang out with the SV code squad on FriYAYS this fall for a memorable digital experience. Make new friends, learn some coding tricks, and maybe even change the world with code. Our computer science club is designed for girls by girls.

STEM Girls: The Laws of Physics

Gr. 3-6 - Saturdays (10am - 12pm)

Join our STEM Girls club this winter for an all girls experience. This winter we will be taking a journey to understand the world around us. From Archimedes principle to Newton‘s laws of motion to the conservation of energy, students will explore the “mysterious rules” that underlie the universe.


Temporary Location

Due to seismic upgrades occurring in the MacLaurin building, our Headquarters and offices have been temporarily relocated one floor up. This move has shifted our Administration Office into D105 and our SVHQ into D107 & D109. We will be back in our normal location by May 1st. The move will not effect our summer programming.


Go CODE Girl Event

Saturday March 7th Grades 7-10
10am - 4:00pm Cost: FREE

Technology is revolutionizing our world, and she who knows how to code holds the power of change in her hands. At Go CODE Girl, you‘ll discover the digital skills that will drive tomorrow‘s coolest communications, most imaginative innovations and most essential societal improvements.

Open to girls in grades 7-10 across Canada, Go CODE Girl programs are designed to introduce you to the wide range of career possibilities available in the rapidly-growing fields of technology, computing and software engineering.

Mark your calendar! Registration for Go CODE Girl 2020 opens on January 13, 2020. Click here to register (or here).


Spring Break Camp

March 23rd to March 27th Grades 5/6/7
9:00am to 4:00pm*
*Drop off as early as 8:15am and pick up as late as 4:45pm Cost: $230

Join us for our Spring Break Camp. Explore various areas in STEM, expand your digital skills and visit different facilities around the university campus.

Please note: There is limited availability as our temporary move has left us with reduced capacity of SVHQ.

Registration will open Monday January 20th at noon.


In-School Workshops

We are currently offering in-school digital skills workshops for grades 6-10. Thanks to Actua's funding from the federal government's CanCode initiative these workshops are offered free of charge.

During May and June, we will be delivering our BC curriculum linked workshops for kindergarten to grade six. We are currently accepting workshop requests. Please see the workshop tab on our website for more details.


Summer Camps 2020

The Summer 2020 camp schedule will be released in the first week of March.

Summer camp registration will open at 7am on Wednesday April 1st.

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Celebrate Science Odyssey with free astronomy workshops at the Centre of the Universe on Observatory Hill. Each workshop includes a tour of the Plaskett Telescope, a planetarium show and a hands-on activity. Limited spots are available for school groups - to register email svworkshosp@engr.uvic.ca.

We're Moving!

This Fall we are prepping for a big move to a newly renovated space on campus!  Our new MakerLab will enable us to host workshops and programs year round!  As a result we will be offering a reduced schedule of programs this fall.  Look for information about Winter Clubs in early December.  

Check out the STEAM Horizon Awards!

Are you often described as a leader, an achiever, or an innovator? Do you have limitless drive, ambition, and determination? If so, there’s an opportunity to receive a $25,000 prize towards your post-secondary education.

The STEAM Horizon Awards, a newly funded prize program, invites Canada’s youth to promote positive changes throughout their community using science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM).

Up to seven students will each be awarded a $25,000 prize for their post-secondary education. Two of the seven prizes will go to Indigenous youth. The prizes will be funded by the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation Foundation, alongside eight Founding Partners. We are confident that these recipients will act as role models and ambassadors for future STEAM generations. 

For more information visit http://steamhorizonawards.ca/