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At STEM Camp, we believe in the power of science, technology, engineering and math to promote wonder and discovery, and we love to support and promote others, in our Ontario community and beyond, that are working toward similar goals in their own unique ways. Following are just some of the partners we work with, and what sort of STEM awesomeness we’ve been up to together.
In 2023, STEM Camp was approached by Six Nations of the Grand River and asked to provide one week of summer camp for children in the Ohsweken community the week of August 14. Forty campers participated in twenty different projects during the week, ranging in age from 5-13. The camp was sponsored by the Six Nations Community Energy Department. The curriculum was developed by STEM Camp Education Director, Sherry Downing, using the theme of energy. Read on for examples of activities we did and to hear from some families and STEM Camp staffers who had the pleasure of spending time with this enthusiastic and wonderful community!
Read more about STEM Camp at Six Nations here.
The Canadian Association for Girls In Science (CAGIS) is Canada’s largest and longest-running STEM club for girls and gender diverse youth aged 7-17. This award-winning club, founded in 1992, supports interest in Science, Technology, Trades, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) with virtual programming and local clubs that visit labs, workshops, and field sites to meet mentors and do fun, hands-on activities.
Read more about CAGIS and their programming here.
The Queen’s Eye Movement lab is interested in understanding how the brain works through eye movements. Through behavioural and functional brain imaging experiments, they study eye movement behaviour in control subjects across the lifespan, as well as in a wide variety of neurological and psychiatric patient groups. From this, researchers learn what brain areas are involved in the control of eye movements and other eye behaviours.
In this study, the Eye Movement Lab is looking at eye movements and social cognition. Learn more about the study and how you could participate.
STEM Camp has worked with SickKids (The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario) a number of times.
In 2021, STEM Camp was excited to assist SickKids researchers to explore how frequently family members have different diseases and if those diseases relate to blood clots in children. STEM Camp created awareness and helped the Thrombosis team at SickKids find potential participants for the study. Learn more.
Then in 2023, STEM partnered with the psychology department at SickKids, to support them in investigating how epilepsy may impact how people recognize and process different emotions, comparing youth with and without epilepsy. Learn more about that study here.
Scientific research is so critical to our understanding of ourselves and our world, and STEM Camp is pleased to support these initiatives! As part of that commitment to community and STEM learning and work, STEM Camp has partnered with the Development of Social and Emotional Communication Lab (DSEC Lab) at Queen’s University in Ontario, to assist them with their research study.
Parenting is complicated, and this last year has made it even more so. The Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University is conducting a study to explore which parenting strategies families find most helpful to manage those challenges. STEM Camp’s role as their partner, is to extend the offer to participate in the study to our families and community. Interested? Learn more about the study, benefits of participation and how to participate here.
Given the adversity adolescents have faced during the pandemic, this study aims to develop strategies to improve adolescent body image, physical activity and health, including making physical activity fun and enjoyable. Learn more about the study and how to participate here.
Who doesn’t want to meet an astronaut?
If you have ever looked to the stars on a clear night and wondered what it felt like to travel in space or if you have ever wondered if we are alone in the universe, you have likely wondered what it would be like to be an astronaut.
STEM Camp has been privileged to work with the Canadian Space Agency on several occasions involving astronauts Robert Thirsk, Jeremy Hansen and David St. Jacques.
What happens when you take a kid that loves STEM and the Education Coordinator from STEM Camp who is also STEM-crazy? You make a show about STEM of course! And that’s exactly what happened during the summer of 2021 when Toys R Us, STEM Camp and Mattel got together. Check it out!
Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame athletes didn’t do it by themselves. they had lots of help…including all the STEM that went into every sport along the way. This partnership exposes campers to the amazing Canadian sport heroes (our Hall of Famers) and the STEM they used to make them successful. Campers participate in virtual field trips that are designed to fire their sports imagination and foster their love of the STEM behind the sport. Learn how STEM Camp integrates this program into its summer programming.
In 2019, STEM Camp partnered with Mattel Canada to launch Astronaut Barbie into space. The purpose behind the event was to convey the message to girls that they can accomplish anything in life. In a generous gesture, Mattel Canada provided an Astronaut Barbie for every child at STEM Camp that attended the week Barbie flew her maiden voyage. STEM Camp provided space-focussed activities at camp that summer to help support the event which “launched” at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. To find out if barbie returned safely to Earth, visit our Barbie Space Discovery page.
Jason’s Wheelhouse is a Not for Profit Organization designed to be an inclusive and barrier-free environment where their guests will have the space to grow and the freedom to be themselves. Their goal is life enhancement, for both their guests and their caregivers. they strive to expand on the gifts and talents of each guest. Find out how STEM Camp is involved.
What would you do if you had to suddenly evacuate your home because of an invading army, leave all of your possessions behind, travel halfway around the world without financial resources and find yourself in a new country where you don’t speak the language? This is the situation in which Afghan refugees found themselves to be in during the summer of 2021. Many of them came with children who separately needed some normalcy in their lives. STEM camp was there to play a small role. Learn more.
As budgets in education shrink across Canada, more and more teachers dig into their personal resources to purchase supplies for their classrooms. The STEM Camp Foundation was launched in 2018 to help fund STEM projects in schools in communities in which STEM Camp operates. Projects funded have included many types of coding and robotics activities such as Microbits but also support for Women In STEM through bursary programs at community colleges. Learn more.