Let's Talk Science

A volunteer helps a school child with DNA extraction.

Let’s talk about the DNA makeup of an onion. Let’s talk about firing a potato from the barrel of a cannon. Let’s talk about science.

Science is a lot more than tables and equations in textbooks. It’s about people and their passions and every year at Dalhousie, graduate students set out to share their passions with school students from elementary to high school as volunteers with Let’s Talk Science.

Let's Talk Science (LTS), a national, non-profit organization, strives to improve science literacy through innovative educational programs, research and advocacy. At Dalhousie, LTS volunteers visit classrooms throughout Nova Scotia, facilitate field trips to Dalhousie labs, judge science fairs and give presentations and demonstrations throughout the community.

“Volunteers gain experience disseminating scientific topics to a wide range of ages and audiences,” says Stephanie Collins, Phd student in psychology and an LTS coordinator. “It's great for those interested in improving their presentation skills, especially for teaching classes or conference presentations.”

Volunteers can commit as little as an hour to as much time as they like. The level of participation is entirely up to them.

“I joined LTS because I enjoy what I do and it’s fun to communicate that to other people, especially students,” says Julian Ware, masters student in mechanical engineering and an LTS volunteer. “When you’re excited about what you do, they are too.”

Mr. Ware, who hopes to volunteer with LTS as long as he can, frequently wows students at local schools, bringing a potato cannon to launch spuds across a field. Students take over and do everything from charge the cannon to estimate flight and distance. Mr. Ware says the benefits of being involved with LTS are invaluable.

“It's really improved my public speaking and confidence,” he explains. “There's no better way to sharpen your ideas and learn to communicate effectively than by explaining them to a grade six class.”

Each year, teachers request LTS volunteers to visit their classrooms and many become annual LTS clients. The added value to the students is a great learning tool for teachers to complement their lessons.

“Since funds for taking students out of the classroom are always hard to come by, this is the next best thing,” says Karen Trenholm, teacher at Sackville High School and annual LTS client. “Having someone come in who is a passionate expert in their field is a great thing for students to see.”

Ms. Trenholm believes LTS peaks students' interest in science by making science fun and engaging. “If it's relevant to their own lives they tend to be more interested.” she says.  “LTS always tries to make their presentations relevant to society.”

LTS is so popular with teachers, in fact, that demand for volunteers outnumbers supply. While this may seem like a good problem, to best sustain and improve their positive reputation, LTS needs more volunteers to continue to bring their experiences to the classroom.

LTS is open to any senior undergraduate or graduate students, faculty, staff or alumni specializing in science and engineering. The Dalhousie chapter of LTS covers the costs to all volunteers. All that’s required from volunteers is their enthusiasm. Those interested in participating with LTS can contact lts@dal.ca, or visit http://letstalkscience.dal.ca.