Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
June 09, 1999
Science camps show students the future
Want to glimpse Canada's future in science and technology? Look no further than the University of Guelph.
Hundreds of middle school students are on campus this spring, learning about aspects of science and technology and career opportunities in food science, biotechnology, nutrition and health, physics and engineering, and zoology.
The students -- in groups of about 150 -- are spending three-day stints at Guelph
as part of an inaugural series of residential spring camps, called S@GE (Science at Guelph Experience). The program was designed to reflect recent changes to the province's secondary school science curriculum, and consists of interactive hands-on and computer-based learning.
Entire classes, along with teachers and parent chaperones, attend the camps, which have been running since May and continue through June 16. The project is run jointly by the Office of Open Learning, Hospitality Services and Student Housing Services.
About 1,600 students registered for the camps, roughly 400 more than organizers had anticipated last year when they began pitching the program to more than 1,900 individual schools, said Dave Castle, program development co-ordinator for the Office of Open Learning.
Graduate and undergraduate students have been recruited to deliver the modules on engineering design; transgenic plants and organisms; Great Lakes biodiversity; health and nutrition; food properties and uses; and owl habitat (an evening "owl prowl" in the Arboretum).
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs, (519) 824-4120 Ext. 3338
