Nature Exchange

Students are encouraged to explore the natural world around them through a trading process. Students are to investigate nature around them, whether it be in their backyard or around their community, and record their findings in a nature journal. These journals will be marked, and points rewarded based on effort. Once the points are collected, they can be traded for a prize.

Nature Journals can contain pictures, thoughts and research.

Example: If the student sees a fox outside their window while eating breakfast, they can draw a picture or take a photo of the fox and record what they saw (“I saw a red fox with a white-tipped tail in my yard this morning.”)

The students will get points based on the amount of effort put into the nature journal. Students are encouraged to research the items in their journals and record that information as well (“The red fox lives in shrublands and meadows, they eat small rodents, birds and insects, and they are active from dusk to dawn. They live to be around 10 years old, have been known to have up to 12 pups, and their natural predator is the coyote.”) 

Based on the size of the class, we will limit the number of pages in nature journals being marked to 2-5 to ensure everyone gets their pages marked, points rewarded, prizes picked, and still have time to explore the museum.

Students are more than welcome to continue working on their nature journals and can bring them back later to gain more points to trade.

Students will also be given a scavenger hunt to complete. All the items can be found around the museum.

Target Learners: Grades K-7

Nechako White Sturgeon

An introduction into the biology and life cycle of the Nechako white sturgeon. Understanding the life cycle of a species helps foster a greater respect for all sizes and species of animals.

Can you imagine living when mammoths walked the earth, giant beavers built dams, and sloths the size of a car roamed around? The Sturgeon have seen a much different earth than we have today. They have watched our world change and have adapted to the many different environments that come with that change.

 Target Learners: Grades K-7

Curriculum Connection: Introduction into metamorphic and non-metamorphic life cycles and the biology of a Nechako White Sturgeon and how it adapts to its environment.

Coding for the Climate

Age range: Grade 2 - 3

Coding for the Climate will encourage students to consider some causes & effects of climate change, while working collaboratively with each other and technology.

• Length: 45 minutes
• Cost: Free

Students will discuss some interactions between our ecosystems and the greenhouse effect. Using Dash robots, students will explore coding with functions and sensors to inspect & map a simulated neighbourhood, then send the robot on a journey through that neighbourhood!

Curriculum Links

• Grade 2/3 Social Studies - Simple Mapping - Responsibility to the Environment
• Many curricular competencies from Science, ADST, and Social Studies are incorporated

Coding for the Climate Pre-Workshop Activity (optional)

• Map Your Fruit: This activity is a great introduction to transportation energy usage and how it can be reduced.
• Grid Coding: This activity introduces some coding concepts as an unplugged (no screens) challenge that incorporates physical movement.

Motivating Micro:bits

Age range: Grade 4 - 7

We've all been there - the inevitable state of boredom. Coding is a great tool to solve a lot of problems so why not use it motivate you out of your bored state?!

• Maximum 30 students
• Duration: 50 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Students must be prepared to work in pairs 

In this workshop, students will learn how to turn the task of a “boredom buster” – a random generator that will output an activity of their liking to do when they’re bored – into an algorithm that they can code in a variety of different ways. In doing so, we can explore conditional statements, variables, arrays, random numbers, and inputs on the micro:bits. From there we can work towards enhancing their code further in ways to make it more useful in their lives.

Curriculum Links

• Grade 6-7 ADST – Computational Thinking
• Many curricular competencies from Physical and Health Education and ADST are incorporated.

Required Post-workshop Survey

• You will be required to complete a demographic survey upon completion of this workshop. For more information about why we are collecting this information, visit Science World's Tech-Up page.

Ozobot Dance-Off

Age range: Grade 4-6

Students use block-based coding to design a dance for a teeny-tiny robot. In pairs, students will learn the basics of coding and robotics.

• Length: 50 minutes
• Cost: Free

Robot Mice

Age range: Grade 1-3

Students are introduced to coding through offline prompts. In small teams, students program a robot to execute a series of commands.

This program can be booked as an in-person workshop OR you can book the kit for self-directed learning in your classroom.

• Length: 45 minutes
• Cost: Free

Ozobots

Find the fun in coding with the help of our STEAM-minded Ozobot kit! Ozobots are tiny robots programmed to follow lines and react to colour patterns. This Kit is designed to help kids learn how to code in a fun and interactive way. Kids will learn how to place colours in a specific pattern to code their Ozobot to do a variety of movements. You can design a city or a maze of elaborate twists and turns to see how your Ozobot navigates its way through your puzzles, and the fun doesn’t stop there! Program your Ozobots with even more specific codes through Ozoblockly online. Watch as your Ozobot performs a light show or shows off your own custom dance.

Thanks to our sponsors, our Tech-Up kits are free to book. We’re looking for teachers or schools who are interested in borrowing our kits for 1 – 2-week intervals.

Micro:bits

Already got the basics of coding down? Well, prepare to further increase your knowledge with our Micro:bit kit! Our Micro:bits might not look super exciting, having the appearance of a circuit board with some LEDs and buttons, but they can do some pretty fun things once you know how to code them. Learn how to create music, play rock, paper, scissors, or make your own pedometer. With an LED display, you can use your Micro:bit to write messages and send them to other Micro:bits via a radio signal. Kids can practice their code on a digital Micro:bit at makecode.microbit.org, and once they’re content, they can download their code and add it to their Micro:bit to test it out in real life.

Thanks to our sponsors, our Tech-Up kits are free to book.We’re looking for teachers or schools who are interested in borrowing our kits for 1 – 2-week intervals.

Code-a-Pillar 

Let your little ones experience the world of coding while playing with our code-a-pillar kit. Watch as they design their own games, leading the Code-a-pillar through a series of cards before arriving at the prized leaf. They’ll soon know how to program their own code into the Code-a-pillar by learning how to change the directional segments on the code-a-pillar. The Code-a-pillar is designed for kids 3-6 and will help keep them entertained for hours.

Our Code-a-pillar Exploration Kit is free to book. We’re looking for daycares or preschools that are interested in borrowing our kits for 1 – 2-week intervals.