Program gets kids hooked on science

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/electrophoresis1.jpg” caption=”Students participate in a Let’s Talk Science activity. Photo courtesy of Lynn Easson-Irvine.”]There was a time when we all looked at the world with the eyes of a child and wondered why the sky was blue, how come the stars didn't fall, or how tadpoles became frogs. Science students at McMaster are sharing their passion for science with children in the community, and there is always a need for more volunteers.

The Let's Talk Science (LTS) program is a national charitable organization that was founded in 1991 and now has 22 participating universities and colleges across Canada. McMaster University and the Faculty of Science are proud to have their students involved in this program. The mission is the same for everyone — to promote science literacy to the community's youth through educational programs, research and advocacy.

“The benefit of having McMaster students engage in a program like Let's Talk Science is paramount to building strong ties to our community's youth,” said John Capone, dean of science. “It also encourages leadership qualities in our own students. The skills developed by our Let's Talk Science volunteers will be invaluable when they graduate and begin their own careers in science.”

The LTS program connects graduate student or senior undergraduate student volunteers in science with elementary and secondary school teachers and students. By taking science to youth in the broader community, volunteers encourage and promote the understanding and importance of science.

Diana Dregroesc is a PhD biology student and is also the McMaster's Let's Talk Science Partnership Program co-ordinator. Dregroesc has volunteered with the LTS program for three years.

“I have always been interested in science and making a difference in children's lives and in their community, so Let's Talk Science allowed me to do both of those things at once.”

Dregroesc explained that the role of the volunteer may involve visiting classrooms, presenting interactive demonstrations, bringing students to campus for hands-on science activities or lab tours, judging science fairs, providing information about careers in science and more.

In addition to working with schools, volunteers can also explore science with young patients in the Hamilton Children's Hospital outreach program. Each partnership is unique and it is up to the volunteer and their teacher partner to decide how the partnership will be fulfilled. Volunteers are expected to interact with their classroom at least once a semester.

The LTS program at McMaster is planning to implement a new activity called the Atlantic Salmon Reintroduction Initiative. It will provide hatchery kits for classrooms, where students can raise, study, then release this locally extinct species back into their natural habitat.

New volunteers for this and other programs are needed, particularly students with expertise in physics, chemistry, geology and engineering.

Derrik Leach is one of about 70 volunteers with the McMaster branch of LTS.

“I love doing a demonstration that makes the kids say 'wow' because regardless of how many times I do it, I am thinking the same things,” he says. “It's amazing how much young kids know and how interested they are in science.”

The goal of the program is to make a difference in the perception of science to youth, and the LTS program does just that. If you are interested in volunteering with the LTS program, please note the following: