Blog
Christmas Tree Safety
Real trees can pose a serious fire hazard if the tree dries out. There's nothing like the fresh smell of a real tree, but real trees can also pose a serious fire hazard if the tree accidentally dries out. Steve Spangler teamed up with Captain Brian Ribble from the...
STAO Tribute to Irwin Talesnick
It is with deep sadness that STAO shares the news that Irwin Talesnick, for whom the Irwin Talesnick Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Science, a STAO award, was named, and a STAO Life Member, passed away on November 21, 2020. To celebrate his life and his...
Coding 101 and WEMADEIT in the Classroom PD | Western Engineering Outreach
2021 Teacher PD with Western Engineering Outreach Western Engineering Outreach is excited to announce upcoming dates for our free virtual teacher professional development sessions! Join us for Coding 101, where teachers will be introduced to the basics of coding as...
It’s Okay to be an Okay Teacher in 2020 – submitted by Brad Dixon
This year I feel like every time I turn around there is a new social media post or email from my favourite teaching organization or vendor, introducing or highlighting a new innovative or creative COVID-19 friendly teaching practice. It is great that so many people...
The Geminid meteor shower could be the best in years. CBC News
The nights may be frigid as temperatures dip to well below zero across most of the country, but there's a good reason to bundle up and head outside over the coming week: the Geminid meteor shower. The Geminids are one of the most reliable — and most active — meteor...
A Spectacularly Rare ‘Christmas Star’ Is Coming In December As Two Worlds Align After Sunset – submitted by Malisa Mezenberg
If you managed to see the crescent Moon pass Jupiter and Saturn this week, you’ll have noticed something else about the Solar System’s two largest planets. They’re now really, really close to each other, and on December 21, 2020—the date of the December...
Alberta student 1st Canadian to win $500K Cdn international science competition – CBC
A Fort McMurray, Alta., student is the first Canadian to win the $500,000 Cdn international Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a prize that includes a scholarship and new science lab for her school. Maryam Tsegaye, a Grade 12 student at École McTavish Public High...
What are the COVID-19 RNA vaccines and how do they work?
By now, we’re all familiar with the image of coronavirus. The spikey blob peppers news websites, looms behind reporters during bulletins and frequently punctuates your Twitter doom-scrolling. More recently, the news accompanying this image has taken a positive turn,...
The Astounding Physics of N95 Masks
https://youtu.be/eAdanPfQdCA This video covers the incredible engineering of the N-95 mask.
Why do you get a fever when you’re sick? – TED-Ed
https://youtu.be/jRvxnpfCDSo There are many mysteries around fever, but we do know that all mammals, some birds and even a few invertebrate and plant species feel fever’s heat. It has persisted for over 600 million years of evolution. But it has a significant cost:...
Guelph Physics Live Stream : Dr. Joanne O’Meara & Dr. Martin Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sKjopzFVVY Join us on Wednesday Nov 25th at 7:00 pm when we'll be chatting with our two CAP Medal for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching award winners Dr. Joanne O'Meara and Dr. Martin Williams. We'll be discussing the dynamics of...
Bottles and Caps – An Analogy to Stoichiometry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tx3N-6L6Dc Total number of "products" you can make depends on the limiting reactant. This video is part of the Flinn Scientific Best Practices for Teaching Chemistry Video Series, a collection of over 125 hours of free professional...