The Prince Albert Community will once again have the opportunity to let students in the community use their Easter break meaningfully while getting some great scientific and artistic exposure at the Prince Albert Science Centre.
The Centre is hosting their STEAM Camp at the Gateway Mall from Apr. 7-10 between the hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“We like to provide a place where the parents know that their kids are safe, learning and having fun at the same time,” said Sandra Williams, the Chair of the Prince Albert Science Centre Board of Directors. “We also believe that Prince Albert is a great place to be and we want to be part of the opportunities that are already existing here. Having the Science Centre here is our way of providing something different and unique for the children of Prince Albert.”
The Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Camp held at the Science Centre for kids from age 8-12 to keep them busy during this holiday period and also give them the exposure to steam based concepts. The STEAM Camps maybe a day event or multiple days like this one.
Williams said they do different science experiments every day.
“On Tuesday we did an experiment with gummy bears. On Wednesday we did an apple oxidation experiment,” Williams said. “During each science experiment we get our campers to make a wonder statement–what they wonder is going to happen. They also make an hypothesis–what they think might happen. Then we do the experiment through out the day and they take time to notice and make their observations. At the end of the day we figure out what our conclusion is and see if our hypothesis is correct or not.”
Apart from the experiments at the centre, there were other scientific or artistic activities that the campers engaged in build their creativity and widen their knowledge.
Uko Akpanuko/Daily Herald
The Bowl of Leggo where campers took some to build objects or structures of their choice during the STEAM Camp organised by the Prince Albert Science Centre, Gateway Mall on Wednesday, 8 April.
There are lots of hands on activities that the campers engage in. Activities like robotics, engineering with the kids building things with lego or learning about artists like Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian. Some mathematics topics like probability, computations and permutations are also added to the list of activities.
“We just felt that eight year old are mature enough to be here during the day without older sibling or parents and kids of up to 12yrs will still want to have fun and do a lot science based activities,” Sandra said.
The snow on Wednesday was not enough to deter the organizers or the parents from bringing in their kids to the science camp although there had to be some replacement volunteers. That meant board members Williams and Janelle Meyers had to step in as volunteers for the day.
“Thank you very much to the parents in Prince Albert for supporting us at the Prince Albert Science Centre,” Williams said. “We appreciate the support and we hope to get more people involved as time goes on.”
The Prince Albert Science Centre have their events and activities on their website -princealbertsciencecentre.ca and their Facebook page. Those who may wish to donate can always reach out through the website, Facebook or email – communications@princealbertsciencecentre.ca
