Sparks fly at science camp
Organization travelling across the Kivalliq getting youngsters hooked on science with hands-on experiments
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
RANKIN INLET
Eleven-year-old Eden Kolala has wanted to be a scientist ever since she was in Grade 2.
Eden Kloala, right, directs Piuipiu Kusugak, 7, who is wearing a "box-head"with a circuit board that students built during science camp in Rankin Inlet earlier this month. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo |
So when she heard that there was a science camp coming to town there was never any doubt she was going to sign up.
After a week at camp Kolala went home with a whole new set of skills and some new friends too.
"It was a fun experience and I got to learn," she said.
Kolala was one of 41 people signed up to take part in Actua's week-long science camp in Rankin Inlet, starting on July 11. The non-profit organization travels across the North offering programs for free throughout the summer.
In addition to Rankin, the camp had previously visited Whale Cover and Baker Lake and is expected to visit every other community in the Kivalliq in the coming weeks.
Actua uses play-based learning to teach certain fundamentals of science, particular STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) concepts.
"We just do a little bit from each facet of science and we try to expose them to as much as possible," said Andrew Henderson, outreach instructor for Actua.
"We try to make it as hands-on as possible so they have a genuine experience ... learning how things work."
"It's more about exposure rather than going in depth like in school."
Throughout the week youth between the ages of seven and 12 took part in a variety of activities. One of the most popular experiments was a "box-head maze" where participants were taught to build a circuit board that could transmit signals to a cardboard box. The box was then placed over someone's head and teams had to use the signals to help the "box-head" navigate through a maze.
"That's to model how humans and computers interact with each other," said Henderson.
Morgan Kakukktinniq, who was attending the science camp for the first time, said the box-head maze was one of is favourite parts of the camp. Although it was confusing to figure out at first, his team ended winning, making it through the maze with a time of 103 seconds.
"Not too many people bumped into the wall," he joked.
There were also chemistry experiments, mini-robots that helped teach programming and a music program where campers could write their own songs on a computer.
"They were really into," said Henderson, of the music program. "Some of them were making some really amazing stuff. I was really impressed.
After making some new friends and getting a few new skills under his belt, Kakukktinniq said he is already looking forward to next summer's camp.
"This has been a fun experience and I'd like to repeat it," he said.
