Dixie cups, popsicle sticks and 鈥済oogly" eyes: not exactly the first tools that leap to mind when you think about science, technology, engineering and math (often known as the 鈥淪TEM鈥� topics).
But they鈥檙e the fun tools of the trade on one particular Thursday for 20 children from Demetreous Lane, a public housing development in Dartmouth, participating in an outreach camp with .
The Dixie cups are legs for a raised maze. 鈥淚 did it,鈥� calls out Morgan, five, when she succeeds at taping the fourth 鈥渓eg鈥� to the maze she drew herself.
The googly eyes decorate a 鈥渕agnetic creature鈥� 鈥� its body made of Styrofoam glued onto a magnet 鈥� that Morgan will guide through the maze with another magnet glued onto a stick.
Liz Everett, going into her fifth year of Marine Biology studies at Dal, is one of the SuperNOVA staff guiding the rambunctious group through the activity.
鈥淚 can think back and think of a lot of teachers that made me care,鈥� says Everett, who became a counselor-in-training at 14 and has worked officially with SuperNOVA for two years. 鈥淓ven if I can get one or two kids more interested then it鈥檚 a really cool opportunity to have an impact on a kid.鈥�
Targeting key communities
For 18 years, SuperNOVA has been getting kids excited about STEM subjects through an ongoing series of camps and workshops. While SuperNOVA is best known for its summer camp program, its outreach camps throughout the year are where the organization does some of its most important work, targeting youth from communities underrepresented in STEM studies at the moment. The camp at聽Demetreous Lane, for example, was targeted at African Nova Scotian youth. This outreach aspect of SuperNOVA鈥檚 work is supported by Actua, a national registered charity that connects 35 similar programs across Canada.
鈥淲e basically look at who are the scientists of the day and who isn鈥檛 being represented or who doesn鈥檛 have the opportunity to engage with science, technology engineering and mathematics otherwise,鈥� says Sagar Jha, currently SuperNOVA鈥檚 co-director.
Jha, a recent Marine Biology graduate, is best known to the Dal community as last year's 黑料吃瓜网Student Union president. Starting in September, he鈥檒l take the reins as SuperNOVA鈥檚 sole director, helping the organization advance its important mission.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not like, 鈥楲et鈥檚 parachute into this community, do a science camp, and parachute out.鈥� We鈥檙e more focused on that deeper longer-term relationship,鈥� says Jha of SuperNOVA鈥檚 outreach work across Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. Partner organizations 鈥� in the case of the Dartmouth camp, the Demetreous Lane Community Centre and First Baptist Church 鈥� provide the logistics and the youth, and SuperNOVA comes in and delivers the program.
This summer, for example, two teams of SuperNOVA staff are in Labrador to run camps in seven communities, both on the coast and inland.
鈥淥ur goal is to have all youth realize that a career in [STEM] is possible if they want it,鈥� says Jha.
New programs, new outreach
Before summer camp season kicked off, SuperNOVA also did workshops in elementary and junior high classes across Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, reaching some 3,500 students.
鈥淲e also do girls-only outreach for those male dominated fields,鈥� notes Jha, who followed his three older sisters, and their father before them, to study at Dal.
"I.T.S. (Industry, Technology and Science) for Girls" is both a series of summer camps and a club program that operates throughout the school year with support from the Canadian Women鈥檚 Foundation.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the programs that as a director I鈥檓 really excited about,鈥� says Jha, 鈥渢o know that SuperNOVA can provide an empowering experience for a group of girls and young women with very positive and strong role models who are already in those fields.鈥�
As a Marine Biology alum, Jha 鈥� whose first-name, Sagar, means 鈥渙cean,鈥� fittingly enough 鈥� is also excited to see the oceans component of SuperNOVA grow, with a $100,000, three-year grant from NSERC.
鈥淲e鈥檙e connecting engineering back to oceans. We鈥檙e connecting computer science back to oceans,鈥� says Jha, of the camps happening this summer. In addition to rolling out a new ocean themed classroom workshop in the spring, SuperNOVA will also offer its first weeklong camp focused solely on ocean science and technology in late August.
鈥淲ith the opening of the new [Steele] Ocean Sciences Building, and being on the coast, and 黑料吃瓜网really establishing itself as the ocean research institute of the nation, I think SuperNOVA gets to play a fun role 鈥� in terms of sending that message to the Halifax community,鈥� Jha continues. 鈥淭he kids from the community are coming into the university and seeing some of the cool ocean activities and research that鈥檚 going on here.鈥�
Discovering science and technology
Jha notes that SuperNOVA is 18-years-old in 2014: 鈥淩eady to go to university, which is kind of cool to think about.鈥� He hopes to see its success grow by having former participants become staff members.
Back in Dartmouth, some older children reflect on what they鈥檝e learned at SuperNOVA so far. The clear standout activity: building a landing pad and testing its properties by dropping an egg on it from the top of a ladder.
鈥淲e all got the same materials to do it鈥� duct tape, masking tape, garbage bags 鈥� for a parachute 鈥� and a Styrofoam cup,鈥� rhymes off Xavier Buckley, 10. 鈥淢y egg survived.鈥�
Buckley says the camp has got him interested in structures. Joel McCombie, 11, echoes that. 鈥淲e had to build structures out of certain materials 鈥� like popsicle sticks, straws, tape and stuff like that,鈥� says Joel. 鈥淵ou had to make it stay together through a whole bunch of stuff 鈥� like fans, water.鈥�
A smile lights his face.
Learn more about SuperNOVA .