Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
May 11, 2004
Discovery Channel host takes part in S@GE 2004
A Discovery Channel host will take part in S@GE 2004, the University of Guelph’s popular science camp for students in grades 7 and 8. More than 850 students will participate in the three-day camp sessions May 12 to June 11.
Natasha Stillwell, co-host with Jay Ingram of the TV show Daily Planet, will participate in the S@GE modules. Stillwell has a degree in biology and worked as a reporter in the U.K. before joining the Discovery Channel.
“Natasha’s enthusiastic approach to reporting on diverse topics in science has provided her with many exciting and unusual experiences that will be of interest to teachers and students enrolled in the S@GE program,” said Gillian Joseph, a program development manager in the Office of Open Learning, which works with faculty to develop the camp’s learning modules.
S@GE, now in its sixth year, is a residential science and technology program. School classes of up to 35 students can register in one of the six three-day sessions. Participants get a full university experience; they stay in residence with their teachers and parent chaperones, eat on campus and experience interactive learning using university computer and laboratory facilities.
The learning modules are designed along the themes of the Ontario school science curriculum to promote intellectual creativity and a sense of discovery. This year’s topics include “Designer Bugs,” “In the MOOd for Veterinary Science,” and “Fear Factor Science.” In the zoology module, “Extreme Aquatics,” this year’s participants will dissect squid. They will also learn how to make cameras out of shoeboxes in “The Science of Photography” module.
The modules are developed by university faculty and are typically taught by graduate students or fourth-year undergraduates doing research in the subject area. Faculty from the university’s six colleges, the Arboretum and the Human Nutraceutical Research Centre are participating in this year’s camp.
The closing ceremonies will feature a new show called “Sizzling Science” developed by U of G graduate students in chemistry, microbiology and physics.
For more information on S@GE, contact the Office of Open Learning at (519) 767-5000 or visit the website, www.open.uoguelph.ca/sage.
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt (519) 824-4120, Ext. 53338, or Rachelle Cooper, (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982.
