Scientifically Yours, a conference intended to encourage students to pursue an education and career in science and technology, will be held at Brock University Thursday, May 9 and Friday, May 10. Students are shown participating in the Go Fish! Lab from the 2017 event.There’s no better way to get a taste of science at the university level than to get into the labs and experiment.
And that’s just what dozens of students from Ontario high schools will do during the annual Scientifically Yours conference being held at Brock University Thursday, May 9 and Friday, May 10.
The signature event will mark its 30th year by welcoming teens to campus to participate in hands-on activities meant to showcase potential post-secondary pathways and future careers in science-related fields.
About 60 Grade 10 and 11 students from southern Ontario are expected to attend the two-day event, presented by Brock’s Faculty of Mathematics and Science.
They will participate in fun and immersive projects that touch on various aspects of science. Past favourites will have students exploring what makes juice and pop drinks so tasty, building their own space invaders game through basic computer programming and creating a genetic profile of themselves to learn about DNA fingerprinting.
New to this year’s lineup of experiences is a blood typing project that will have students learning about how blood is classified into different types, and how that information is used to solve forensic mysteries and identify donors during medical emergencies.
The scenario-based activity will see students act out two different roles: the first as a detective who must use only science skills to analyze a crime scene and attempt to solve a murder, and the second as a hematologist who must find compatible blood types for a life-saving transfusion.
Students will also get the chance to meet and mingle with a variety of scientific mentors during dinner Thursday night to learn more about their various careers and scientific fields, including environmental sciences, medicine, statistics, neurosciences, computer science and psychology.
“For the past 30 years, Scientifically Yours has been sharing with youths the fulfilling and rewarding paths science can take you on,” said Senior Lab Demonstrator Christene Carpenter-Cleland, who co-ordinates the conference alongside Senior Lab Demonstrator Poling Bork. “The conference helps show high school students that pursuing an education and future career in science is within reach and that the staff and faculty at Brock are here to help them along the way.”
More information on the event is available on the Scientifically Yours website.
