A carnival atmosphere will prevail as York researchers take science to Main Street Markham’s Farmers’ Market as part of the third annual Science Rendezvous May 8.
York Science Rendezvous buskers and researchers will share the wonder of science on the street and at booths Saturday at the season opening of the food, arts and crafts market in Markham’s downtown from 10am to 3pm. They will be making dry ice, testing for colour blindness, extracting DNA from fruit and demonstrating how bees help gardeners, displaying cow eyeballs and operating a mini Mars rover, among a host of fun demonstrations. There will also be science chats at The Antique Café and science art at the Tangerine Gecko Art Gallery near the Main Street Markham Farmers’ Market.
Left: A wow moment at York Science Rendezvous in 2009
In the evening, York’s Science Rendezvous shifts to the Keele campus where stargazers can view the night sky through telescopes at the York Observatory from 8 to 11pm.
The York-Markham event is part of a growing one-day festival held at schools, in malls and at cultural centres across Ontario to engage citizens in the discovery and wonder of science and research, and promote an understanding of how science affects daily lives.
York’s Faculty of Science & Engineering has participated in Science Rendezvous since the festival was launched in 2008. In the first year, York focused on space science (see YFile, April 10, 2008). Last year, it focused on space, energy and stem cell research and incorporated Science Rendezvous into the York Community Festival (see YFile, May 4, 2009) celebrating the University’s 50th anniversary.
This year, York takes science to Markham. It will feature:
Science busking
Hosts of Let’s Talk Science and York students will conduct icy experiments (making dry ice, ice cream and ice bubbles), test for colour blindness and perception, and make polymers and bouncy balls.
Right: Making dry ice in 2009
Science demos
See how crystals form and make a geodesic dome. Learn how bees help your garden. Find out about DNA in your fruit and how cells develop to become Sofie the bunny. Look down a microscope at urchin eggs being fertilized by sperm. Examine cow eyeballs, a brain, a heart and other animal organs. See how water is filtered and talk about clean air. Watch a Mars rover manoeuvre through the crowds. Visit the crater pool to see how craters are made. Pet a comet.
Math & Stats game show
Test your math IQ in this skill-testing game.
Sipping science
Ever wondered why…? Now’s your chance to ask a York scientist that burning question and engage in informal discussion on current scientific issues hosted by Let’s Talk Science at The Antique Café, 138 Robinson St.
At the Tangerine Gecko Art Gallery at 107 Main St. N. in Markham, see Garbage Kayak (above), a 15-foot Greenland kayak frame made from garbage and other found objects, and Mental Fabric, kaleidoscopic merging of anatomical and mathematical visual information.
To download a free mobile app and get a Science Rendezvous guide, visit the Science Rendezvous Web site and key in u6prgak.