Media Releases

Grade 6–8 students compete and put their science skills and knowledge to the test at the Let’s Talk Science Challenge at the University of Toronto

April 30, 2014

TORONTO, ON — The Let’s Talk Sci­ence Out­reach Pro­gram at the U of T St. George cam­pus site is host­ing the 2014 Let’s Talk Sci­ence Chal­lenge for grades 6–8 stu­dents.

The areas of sci­ence, tech­nol­o­gy, engi­neer­ing, and math are impor­tant for ele­men­tary stu­dents to engage in to encour­age them to pur­sue them fur­ther in their edu­ca­tion­al careers. The Let’s Talk Sci­ence Out­reach Pro­gram helps to improve lit­er­a­cy and involve­ment in sci­ence, tech­nol­o­gy, engi­neer­ing, and math, and does this through inno­v­a­tive edu­ca­tion pro­grams, advo­ca­cy, and lead­er­ship, empow­er­ing youth to devel­op and apply these skills. The Chal­lenge show­cas­es the top stu­dents as they com­pete in a quiz-style show and a design chal­lenge. They will have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to engage with uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents as they learn about spe­cif­ic sci­ence top­ics at the Fun House booths. Natal­ie Rebot from Google will be open­ing this year’s event and spe­cial guest judges will help select the win­ning teams.

WHAT:            The Let’s Talk Sci­ence Out­reach Pro­gram at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to is host­ing the Let’s Talk Sci­ence Chal­lenge, a free hands-on and ques­tion-and-answer style com­pe­ti­tion on Mon­day, May 5. The event inspires team­work, friend­ly com­pe­ti­tion and enthu­si­asm for sci­ence, tech­nol­o­gy, engi­neer­ing and math edu­ca­tion.

WHO:              LET’S TALK SCIENCE OUTREACH at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to, St. George cam­pus will host teams of Grade 6, 7, and 8 stu­dents from 33 local schools. A spe­cial guest speak­er will open the event. The final elim­i­na­tion round will include guest judges and show­case the top teams of sci­ence stu­dents in an intense com­pe­ti­tion. Pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ties of the Let’s Talk Sci­ence Chal­lenge are avail­able through­out the day’s pro­gram.

WHERE:         Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to, St. George Cam­pus

7 Hart House Cir­cle, Toron­to, ON M5S 3H3

All events will be in the Great Hall at Hart House. Park­ing is avail­able on Hart House Cir­cle and Kings Col­lege Cir­cle. Cam­pus map: http://map.utoronto.ca/

WHEN:           Mon­day May 5, 2014, 9:30am – 2:30pm

Sci­ence quiz show from 10:20am – 12:00pm

Lunch and Fun House activ­i­ties from 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Design Chal­lenge from 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Devel­oped in 2005 by the Let’s Talk Sci­ence Out­reach vol­un­teers at McMas­ter Uni­ver­si­ty in Hamil­ton, Ontario, the Let’s Talk Sci­ence Chal­lenge has expand­ed across the coun­try, pro­vid­ing thou­sands of Cana­di­an stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to par­tic­i­pate in the event at host­ing uni­ver­si­ty Let’s Talk Sci­ence Out­reach pro­gram sites. The Let’s Talk Sci­ence Chal­lenge offers a com­pet­i­tive and fun event for Grades 6–8 stu­dents to excel in sci­ence, tech­nol­o­gy, engi­neer­ing and math (STEM) learn­ing, build their team skills, inter­act with rel­e­vant role mod­els and test their abil­i­ties against peers. Pfiz­er Cana­da, Hon­da Cana­da Foun­da­tion, Take­da Cana­da and 3M Cana­da are gen­er­ous spon­sors of this year’s com­pe­ti­tion.

To learn more about the Let’s Talk Sci­ence, please vis­it letstalkscience.ca.

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For more infor­ma­tion, please con­tact:

Sand­hya Myla­bathu­la
Phone: (647) 378‑8468
Email: s.mylabathula@mail.utoronto.ca