______________________________________________________ UBC Let's Talk Science Partnership Program E-Newsletter Volume 11, Issue 9 May 2008 ______________________________________________________ In this issue: Volunteers Needed - Britannia Homework Club (June) - All Science Challenge (May 14th) - Rural Visits: Kamloops (May 19th - 22nd) - UBC AA (May 24th) Upcoming Events & Opportunities - Science World Workshop (April 30th) - The Science Creative Literacy Symposia (May 4th-18th) - BC Science Outreach Fair (May 8th) - BBQ Social at Spanish Banks (May 25th) April Volunteers of the Month Recently completed events - Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair + Tour Guide + Public Outreach - Brain Awareness Week - Britannia Homework Club (April + June) - Storm The Wall (April 20th) - Vancouver Sun Run (April 20th) - Geneskool training with Genome BC (April/May) - Classroom visits LTS in the Media - print: TREK, APSC in the News - radio: CKRW The Rush Our office hours Science Joke of the Month ***************************************** === Volunteers Needed === ++ Britannia Homework Club We need ~10 volunteers to provide in-class homework help for science students at Britannia Secondary! There are three classes needing our help: 1) Science 9 (Block H) at 12:10-1:30 pm; 2) Extended skills Science class from 12:10 to 1:30pm (very needy); 3) Science 9 (Block B) at 8:35-9:50 am (has a few students that could benefit from the extra one-one support). If those times don't work, volunteers can also go to in after school every Monday Tuesday Thursday from 4-7pm. Interested volunteers can start immediately and you will make at least 4 visits to your class from now to end of June. If the above times work for you, please email us and we can work out the exact days you can go in, thanks! ++The 3rd Annual All Science Challenge (May 14th) This hugely successful annual event is an exciting, all-day competition for grade 6-8 Vancouver students! Students are quizzed on their scientific knowledge through a quiz show and hands-on activities that based on a manual that we provide them with in advance. When: Wednesday May 14th Where: UBC main campus (exact locations TBA) ~~Volunteers are currently needed for the following positions~~: *Though it is a full day event (around 9 am to 4 pm, details to come) volunteers may participate for only parts of the event if they are unable to attend the whole day. ***Lunch is provided for all volunteers on the day of the event!!!*** 1) Score Keeper: keep team scores during the Quiz Show (morning only) 2) Time Keeper: stop and start the answer periods with a timer during the Quiz Show (morning only) 3) Guides: to guide groups of competitors or spectators to their next activity (either morning, afternoon or whole day availability, though preferably all day) 4) Hands-on activity leaders (activities TBA, likely bridge construction, density relay, DNA extraction, eco-diversity… nothing too hard and you will work with another volunteer): (morning, afternoon, or whole day availability, though preferably all day) 5) Final show leaders: do a fun chem magic show, magnet show, luminex show etc. for the audience to end the day! (afternoon only) 6) Booth leaders: entertain the young students during their lunch hour by showing quick hands on demos and handing out quick & easy activities (we will supply everything, you just need to "man" and table loaded with lots of cool science stuff) (lunch hour only + set up and take down – approx 12 – 1:30 pm) Email us back, lts@ubclts.com, to let us know if you would like to help out and if you have position and availability preferences. ++ Rural visits: Kamloops (May 19th –22nd) Two final trips are planned before June, including one to Kamloops in May which Lisa is currently recruiting volunteers for. Details: When: Monday May 19th (leave in the late afternoon) - Thursday May 22nd (return to Vancouver Thursday evening). Tuesday-Thursday will be in-class visits – the activities are all pre-planned and already organized. Training: Training will be sometime around May 12th - this will be at Genome BC. Training will review the trip and all the activities to be done on the trip. Other details: Volunteers will work in pairs in the schools. Travel, accommodation, and food are paid for. If you can commit to the dates listed and you want to go on the trip, please email Lisa at lts.rsvp@gmail.com. Also, if you want to be on the rural visit email list to get first notice of trips, please email Lisa with the subject line "rural visit email list". ++ UBC Alumni Affairs (May 24th) Wine anyone? The UBC-AA will be hosting an alumni event in May and wants us to run a biology/sustainability themed workshop on Sat, May 24 from 2:00pm – 4:15pm. The workshop will be for the kids of the alumni, while the parents are at an "art of wine tasting" workshop. (okay so I lied: you may not get the wine-tasting portion of the activity, but close enough…?) Email us if you're interested in helping out! **************************************************** === Upcoming Events and Opportunities === ++ Science World Workshop (April 30th) Check out the upcoming Telus Science World workshop. Info's in the attached pdf. ++ The Science Creative Literacy Symposia (May 4th-18th) LTS-PP will host, in partnership with the Michael Smith Laboratories and the UBC Creative Writing Department, the all-new Science Creative Literacy Symposia. This is a new field trip program offered at the University of British Columbia, and is designed to provide an engaging outreach experience for students at the Grade 6/7 level. Here, the intent is to combine elements of science exploration with expository creative writing with the aim of fostering skills in written literacy, scientific literacy, as well as develop appreciation in interdisciplinary connections. News and updates as they come: http://www.scq.ubc.ca/SCLS ++ BC Science Outreach Fair (May 8th) LTS volunteers will be running at booth at the BC Science Outreach Fair on May 8th. The fair is from 4 – 8 pm and is held at the Vancouver Public Library Promenade. The purpose of the fair is to provide a forum for BC science outreach organizations to showcase their products and services to teachers and the public and to communicate their ideas with other outreachers. Come check out all the fun! ++ BBQ Social at Spanish Banks (May 25th) This is a chance for you to get in contact with your coordinators (2 of which will turn a year older then, what a coincidence) and fellow volunteers! Come join us for a beach BBQ at Spanish Banks on Sunday May 25th (more details will be sent out closer to the date). BYOB but we will provide snacks and non-alcoholic bevies. Please RSVP to lts@ubclts.com so we can plan accordingly! Thanks, and we hope to see you all there. ____________________________________________________ === April Volunteers of the Month === Congratulations to Iva Jokic and Paul Mori for getting this month's honours! They were the lone soldiers for the (still ongoing, read above!) Britannia Homework Club; see below for details of their work! As usual, our VOTMs receive a $20 gift certificate courtesy of the UBC Bookstore. Our hats off to you, Iva and Paul! ____________________________________________________ === Recently Completed Activities === ++ Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair judging + Tour Guide + Public Outreach Day (April 11, 12, 13, respectively) A ton of volunteers helped make this year's science fair a great success. While the numbers for senior projects were palpably lower this year, it was still a great night, especially for the kids that presented their stuff. We also helped organizing several tours throughout UBC during the associated program for the science fairers. IF YOU DID A TOUR: EMAIL US and LOG IT ON THE PORTAL. Thanks. Under Tamryn's guidance, we also had a public LTS booth during the UBC Science Fair open house on that Saturday, with many people taking a stroll through the fair. ++ Brain Awareness Week Rena Tabata and Philip Edgcumbe were the brave leaders for this initiative, where volunteers went into elementary schools and talked to students about the brain, neurons, and how to protect them for their well-being. Thank-you Rena and Philip for coordinating from start to finish, and also Thanks to all volunteers who helped out, we will list all volunteer names once all activities have wrapped up! ++ Britannia Homework Club (April – June) For the past 3+ months, Iva Jokic and Paul Mori have been tirelessly visiting Britannia Secondary to provide invaluable homework help (either in-class or afterschool) for Science 9 students! In total, they have already paid at least 12 visits to Britannia, and the teachers there are superbly thankful for their presence. Way to go Iva and Paul!!! ++ UBC Storm the Wall (April 20th) Tamryn organized a team for the famous jump-the-18-foot-wall UBC REC event Storm the wall. Everyone got over the thing after a micro-triathlon, even though it was pouring ice slush… another fun day out! ++ Vancouver Sun Run (April 20th) This year Salman, Amelia, Mike, Sabrina, Alicia, Paul, Agatha, Sam, Nadia, Michael, Jaclyn and Rena ran the 10K Vancouver Sun Run as part of the first ever UBC LTS-PP team! Thanks everyone for a great day! Many other LTSers also ran as part of other teams. Find you picture and time here: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/sunrun/index.html ++ Geneskool training with Genome BC (April 15-26) Genome BC (GBC), a close partner of UBC LTS-PP, is getting more and more requests for their increasingly popular genetics workshop, Geneskool. In light of further synergizing our efforts and (wo)man-power, we are teaming up with Cathy Anderson from GBC to host one or two joint training sessions on how to deliver the Geneskool lesson. The training sessions will take place some time during the last two weeks of April. If you are interested in exciting young-ones about the curious world of genetics, this is for you! Email us and we will keep you posted. ++ Classroom visits In the name of all the kids you reached: Thanks for your work in April! These are the peeps that piped up and told us about their deeds: Kasandra Palmer, Chelsea Woo, Michael Poon, Sabrina Chen-Se, Phil Thomlison, Chad Sinclair, David Kent, Erika Eliason, Derek van Pel, Xi Jia, Alice Wang, Megan Sherman, Howard Yan, Mariana Veiga, Leslie Chin, Theresa Liao, Po-Yan Cheng, Heidrun Spohr, Alice Li, Amanda Vanden Hoek, Derek van Pel, Rena Tabata, Sarah Cohen, Nadia Pietravalle, Jiazhen Dai, Wing-Ki Cheng, Richard Wong, Tamryn, Michael Copley, Erin Kennah, Miranda Richter. R U not on? Log your activity on http://www.letstalkscience.ca/login/index.php : ___________________________________________________ === LTS in the Media === ++ UBC Erika Eliasson got featured on her salmon / climate change research in the recent UBC TREK (UBC 100 years) edition. Grab a copy while they last. LTS got mentioned twice in the recent APSC in the news. Check it out: http://www.apsc.ubc.ca/news-events/in-the-news/in-the-news-08-03.php ++ Radio We were up on the airwaves in the news on April 14th at CKRW The Rush in Whitehorse, Yukon, 610 AM and online on their feed. Check 'em out: http://www.ckrw.com/ As customary, all links and PDF copies of all your features are available to all of us. Check it out: http://ubclts.com/ltsmedia. Did U get an interview in? Or got some contacts with the media, and wanna run a story? Let us know, we'll get things moving. ____________________________________________________ === Office Hours === If you want to drop off receipts, pick up supplies or just chat, visit Mike Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1:00pm to 2:00pm. If you can't make those times, write us an email and we can arrange another place/time. _____________________________________________________ === Science Joke of the Month === A lonely guy decided that life would be more fun if he had a pet. So, he went to the pet store and told the owner that he wanted to buy an unusual pet. After some discussion, he decided on a centipede, which came in a little white box to use for its house. He took the centipede home, found a good location for the box, and then decided he would start off by taking his new pet out for a walk. He walked over to the box and asked, "Would you like to go to out for a short walk with me?" But there was no answer from his new pet. This bothered him a bit, but he waited a few minutes and then asked him again, "How about going out for an evening walk?" But again, there was no answer from his new friend. He waited a few minutes more, thinking about the situation. He decided to ask him one more time; this time putting his face up against the centipede's house and shouting, "Hey, in there! Would you like to go out for a walk!!!?" An agitated little voice came shrieking from the box, "I heard you the first time...I'm putting on my shoes!!!" -- Lars Rose, Sam Lee, Agatha Jassem & Mike Carnate Coordinators, UBC Let's Talk Science Partnership Program University of British Columbia 2357B-1874 East Mall (Brock Hall Annex) Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 Phone: (604) 822-9166 Fax: (604) 822-5945 Email: LTS (at) ubclts.com Web: http://www.ubclts.com