Science is awesome.
Evidence of that was the turnout of visitors, mostly made up of the 10-and-under set and their parents and guardians, at the Saturday, May 9 Science Rendezvous at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Langley campus.
May 9 marked Canada’s largest celebration of science, with than 300 simultaneous events happening simultaneously, including a Canada-wide experiment.
KPU in Langley was one of two venues in B.C. to host the rendezvous, Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby campus being the other.
The event was free and open to the public.
This marks the most ambitious edition of Science Rendezvous in the event’s eight year history.
“With growing concern about the state of science and science communication in Canada, I’m happy to report this will be our biggest and boldest celebration,†Science Rendezvous executive director Kelsey Miller said.
Science Rendezvous is a national science festival described as “Nuit Blanche for the sciences.â€
Every year, Science Rendezvous partners with local research and community organizations to give the public hands-on and often unprecedented access to Canadian research.
Events span from Langley to St. John’s, including new sites in Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik, N.W.T. and take place in venues ranging from small community centres to Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square.
The festival has also mounted its first Canada-wide experiment with 12 participating sites releasing high-altitude balloons into space to take a snapshot of Canada’s atmospheric health.
The results will be analyzed by researchers at the University of Regina and presented at festival event sites.
“Science is about experimenting and this year, Canada is one big petri dish,†said Dr. Jessica Sonnenberg, who is coordinating the national experiment.
More than 150,000 attended Science Rendezvous events across Canada last year and even more was expected this year.