Blog
Physics Equations
Everywhere that physics is discussed it is safe to presume that the language of mathematics is never too far away. If we were to eavesdrop on these conversations, whether they occur in front of a blackboard or seated at a cafe with large enough napkins, we would not...
Student Activity/Teacher Demo: Spinning Dish
In this demo, two polyethylene strips are charged on one end by rubbing with wool. One charged strip is then mounted on an evaporating dish and the other charged strip is used to make the dish spin. As both strips become negatively charged when rubbed with wool they...
Hubble Trouble: How fast is the universe expanding?
https://youtu.be/qj7RN8sDYKo Cosmologists and astronomers have found a discrepancy in the Hubble constant from opposite ends of the universe. Is the Hubble constant in trouble? Learn more: http://scim.ag/2lUJ6BZ
Teacher Demo/Student Activity: Disappearing Beaker
This demonstration will amaze and astound! As you pour vegetable oil into a small Pyrex beaker placed inside a larger Pyrex beaker, the smaller beaker will magically disappear! This happens because Pyrex and the oil have a similar index of refraction. The straw and...
The Chemistry of Redheads
https://youtu.be/Ylt_p2zzONw St. Paddy's Day is just around the corner, and so instead of celebrating with a glass of green beer, these year we decided to take a closer, chemical look into what makes redheads stand out from the crowd. It might surprise you to know...
World’s Oldest Microfossils in Canada
Scientists announced on March 1, 2017 that they’ve identified the remains of 3,770-million-year-old microorganisms. , now the oldest known microfossils on Earth. The discovery is in the form of tiny filaments and tubes – formed by bacteria – that lived on iron. They...
STAO2017 Conference
This is Canada's largest science teachers' conference. Three days of amazing teaching ideas, networking and the latest in products and resources. If you've never been, treat yourself!
Illuminating the Universe: The History of Light
https://youtu.be/ak7GB74Qlug Beyond what we can touch, taste, smell, and hear, we experience the universe through light. But how did we come to discover light, and how did we learn light’s true nature, as the fastest thing in the universe, an electromagnetic...
The gender divide in STEM: Strategies to promote interest in engineering
The gender divide in science-technology-engineering-mathematics (STEM) fields continues to be a point of conversation and research. Within our secondary classrooms we still find a distinct enrollment divide in the number of girls who study physics as compared to boys,...
Astronauts’ Brains Change Shape in Space
Astronauts’ brains change shape during spaceflight, according to a study published in Nature Microgravity in December 2016. MRIs of the brains of 26 astronauts taken before and after missions show that their brains compress and expand in space. The longer the...
Untangling the Cosmos: How Research is Changing Our Understanding of the Universe
Join CIFAR and the Ontario Science Centre on May 17, 2017 for a symposium that will take you on a journey to unravel some of the greatest secrets of the universe. Moderated by Jay Ingram, the symposium will feature leading Canadian and international...
Hazard and Risk – How they differ
A lot of jargon is used when talking about risk and some of this can be confusing. In the discussion about chemicals, the words “risk” and “hazard” are very often used as if interchangeable. In this brochure we offer our understanding of the difference between these...