Update September 28 2023:
Let’s Talk Science has resumed all in-person outreach and volunteer activities since January 2023 following the COVID-19 lockdown.
We have added multiple activities this year, and as we have adapted many activities for a virtual format over the course of the pandemic, you may now choose to book workshops in either a physical or a virtual format. Please consult the descriptions below to confirm the availability of both formats.
Let’s Talk Science events and classroom visits are free, with all costs covered by our organization.
Here are some of the ways you and educators at your school can take part in Let’s Talk Science programs
1. Classroom Visits
At Let’s Talk Science University of Toronto St. George, we have numerous “ready-to-go” interactive activity kits that our volunteers can bring into the classroom, providing educational and hands-on activities for students from Kindergarten to Grade 12. If you are interested in having Let’s Talk Science volunteers visit your classroom, follow these simple steps:
1) Take a moment to browse through the list of featured activities we have prepared and ready-to-go for the specific age group and interests of your classroom (see the Hands-on Activities page). If you have a specific area of science that you want us to focus on in our visit please indicate this to us even if you do not see a matching activity in our list of available activities.
2) Complete the request form, inserting the required information for the visit to be arranged, such as dates and times as well as the topic area of the activity you would like.
3) As soon as the appropriate number of volunteers confirm interest and availability to visit your classroom, we will get in contact with you and introduce them 1-2 weeks before the visit.
We look forward to helping you enrich your science classes with engaging, hands-on activities!
2. Large Events
Stay-tuned for large events offered in-person on campus and virtually (please consult the Outreach & Events tab to see an overview of such events offered at our site including: Let’s Talk Science Challenge, Let’s Talk Cancer, StemCellTalks, Immunology Day, Physics Day and more). If you would be especially interested in a given large event please let us know by filling-out this form; this will add you to the emailing list to receive updates regarding these specific events and calls for registration.
3. Online Resources
Let’s Talk Science online includes an easy-to-access database of STEM resources, designed for teachers! The website is available in both English (letstalkscience.ca) and French (parlonssciences.ca) and includes hands-on activities, articles, videos, career profiles and more.
4. Projects
Let’s Talk Science offers a variety of science experiments that take place nation-wide. Through hands-on experiments, youth learn real science and build inquiry and problem-solving skills. Tomatosphere™ is one such project offered every year. Other recent and current examples include:
Living Space, a project run in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency to help students explore how environmental variables such as carbon dioxide, humidity, and temperature influence human well-being;
and the Fish Market Survey, in which Senior biology students use DNA barcoding kits provided by Let’s Talk Science to test local grocery store fish samples and discover if the fish they bought are mislabelled.
5. Professional Learning
Is Digital Literacy an alien language to you? We can help! Let’s Talk Science has partnered with Fair Chance Learning to offer a suite of professional learning opportunities from coding, big data analysis, the Internet of Things (IoT) and more! Learn how to bring meaning to Digital Literacy in your classroom.