THUNDER BAY — Science is an important part of our world.
Science North held its annual Science Carnival on Saturday and Intercity Shopping Centre, which aims to inspire people, and spark their love for science at an early age.
“We have a week of activities that all culminate today at the Science Carnival. The Science Carnival is our biggest event of the week. It's open to the public, free for all ages from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.,” said Emily Kerton, senior manager of outreach and Indigenous initiatives for Science North in Thunder Bay.
“What we have here are people who do science showcasing their science in really fun hands-on ways. We've partnered with Lakehead University's research and innovation group, and they're showcasing some of the research that they do, and then we have a main stage that has live music and science demonstrations going on. Beyond that we have tons of different community groups and organizations showcasing all the cool science they do with hands-on exhibits and activities.”
There were over 20 different local exhibitors doing science-related activities and demonstrations.
On the main stage, attendees experienced science shows where the crowd was engaged and involved in multiple experiments.
“It's really just to get people understanding that science is fun and it's accessible, and they have the opportunity to do it,” Kerton said.
There was a lot of interest at the carnival on Saturday, Kerton said
“There are so many families coming through. Also, people who just came to the mall and didn't realize that the carnival was happening today, and are joining in in the festivities.
“We're only about 40 minutes in and we've already had about 400 people assembling into the mall for this, so we expect we're going to see thousands of people today,” Kerton said.
Science holds the answer to a lot of our big world problems, she said.
“Getting people excited about science, especially at a young age, we have seen the research and it shows that the younger they are and more excited about science, the more likely they're going to follow a career pathway into the sciences in the future. That will help all of us with some of these big world problems that we're facing today.
“We want to inspire people, spark their love of science at an early age and get them thinking critically about all the things that are happening around them in their everyday lives.”
Kerton said part of Science North’s work is to ensure that science is accessible for everyone across all of Northern Ontario.
“That means we have to ensure that we can bring our programs and services to groups and communities and different people all over the North. One of the things that we really focus on is ensuring that we're bringing our science equipment and our services and programming to First Nations communities.
“We also have indigenous staff members who make sure that the science that we're bringing really connects in terms of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives,” Kerton said.
Devin, a 14-year-old and owner of Devin's Dynamic Designs, sells 3D printed items.
"I've always had an interest in 3D printers. I decided to raise some money and I got my first one. Then from the support from local people here, I was able to grow the business and buy some licenses for all the different products so I could do it legit and it's just taken off," he said.
Devin said it felt rewarding to be invited to the carnival by Science North.
"There is a lot of science in the technology behind 3D printing. It's a lot of work and the printers need some learning for you to be able to use them," he said.
To learn more about Science North and the work they do, visit the website, Instagram or Facebook.
