On Saturday, May 7, 2011, the public is invited to explore the world of science at Science Rendezvous 2011. From 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, there will be free hands-on activities and demonstrations at locations:

University of Manitoba, Fort Garry campus: Engineering and Information Technology Complex (EITC), 75 Chancellors Circle

and

Inner City Science Centre: Niji Mahkwa School, 450 Flora Avenue

At the University of Manitoba site, there will be a host of activities, including:

- Free prizes and balloons
- Chemistry Magic Show
- Tour the Cretaceous Menagerie Museum
- Guided tours of some state-of-the-art research labs and equipment
- See an aerostat (mini-blimp) flying inside the EITC atrium. It’s used to monitor riverbank erosion, a real issue this spring
- An all-electric ATV will also be running in the EITC atrium
- A Formula Race Car, Formula Hybrid Race Car and Baja vehicle designs
- A simulation car set up to you can test your own racing skills

Interactive activities and displays will also include:

• making candy DNA
• try a cola taste test
• watch an earthquake simulator
• touch fossils
• look through microscopes
• examine amazing minerals
• play Plinko
• watch robots in action
• sew a plush e. coli
• play with slimey surprises and magic mud
• try strawberry DNA extraction
• try superfoods
• examine textile fibres under the microscope

At the Inner City site, there will be:

• free pizza, prizes, and balloons
• a tour of ICSL student laboratories

Also, hands on exhibits and interactive displays from the University of Winnipeg departments of anthropology, chemistry, computer science and geography, including:

• superconducting magnets
• chromatography flowers
• luminol

Science Rendezvous is a public platform to promote science awareness in Canada. It informs and works to engage and transform the general public from passive supporters of science and technology into active and passionate champions. In the process, people will develop a basic understanding of the important role science plays in our rapidly changing world.

Science Rendezvous is designed to bring science and its practitioners face-to-face with the public. The program strives to encourage a public understanding that science affects their daily lives and that it is a worthy educational and career path for our youth.

Participating groups at the University of Manitoba site will include:

• Collège Universitaire de Saint-Boniface
• University of Manitoba Faculties of: Agriculture and Food Science: Engineering; Environment, Earth, and Resources; Human Ecology; and Science
• Let’s Talk Science

Participating groups at the Inner City site will include:

• Biomedical Youth Program, University of Manitoba
• Faculty of Science, University of Winnipeg
• Let’s Talk Science, University of Winnipeg

Funding for Science Rendezvous has been provided by Innovation, Energy, and Mines (David Chomiak, Minister), the University of Manitoba and the Chemical Institute of Canada.

For more information about Science Rendezvous 2011, visit the website:
http://www.sciencerendezvous.ca/2011/university-of-manitoba/

For more information, contact James Xidos, University of Manitoba Faculty of Science, at: 204-474-6078