It was an action-packed week of summer science excitement for 20 local kids from Petawawa and 22 local kids from Deep River as CNL’s Summer Science Camp made a triumphant return in July. Held at the Minwamon Building at the Chalk River Laboratories, the camp once again featured an interactive week of science-based talks, presentations and demonstrations, and hands-on activities and games.
This year, each day was focused on a different scientific discipline, including radiation; energy; health and the environment; engineering, trades, and technology; and the science of space. Among the many sessions, the kids were given the opportunity to design and test their own moon lander, explore programming using robots to navigate marbles through mazes, build a human lung to understand how pollution affects living organisms, and experiment with electricity using snap circuits to power their own “mini-homes.”
In addition to these fun activities, the kids visited a handful of the many unique nuclear research facilities at Canada’s national nuclear laboratories. These tour stops included visits to the Hydrogen Isotopes Laboratory to learn about hydrogen energy, the High Temperature Fuel Channel Laboratory to learn about energy storage, the Mechanical Equipment Development lab to learn about inspection tooling, robotics and 3D printing, and the Radiation Protection Training Facility, where they learned about radiation safety and how to use radiation monitoring instrumentation.
Overall, the kids were engaged and enthusiastic throughout both weeks, asked thoughtful questions, demonstrated excellent participation, and seemed very happy to learn about all the interesting insights that science has to offer. While some participants did suggest the inclusion of “more pizza lunches” for next year, the overall feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
With the Petawawa and Deep River camps now complete, CNL still has one more week of science camp on the horizon. As in previous years, CNL hosted children from Petawawa and Deep River for their sessions earlier this month, and new this year, CNL is welcoming a number of participants from the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation for a week in August.
Once again, these camps are made possible through the support of Let’s Talk Science at Ottawa U and Carleton, the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan, the Town of Petawawa and the Town of Deep River, with the biggest contribution coming from the CNL staff who supported us by sharing their research and knowledge with the kids, escorting them on-site, otherwise helping make the camp a success. Thank you to everyone for making our camp a success. Click here to view the 2024 CNL Science Camp photos.
CNL is pleased to offer many other exciting events for kids and adults year-round. Watch out for these events on our website and social media so you don’t miss the next one.
See you next camp season!
There are a few spaces still available for next week’s August camp (Tuesday, August 6 to Friday, August 9), and we invite interested guardians (including CNL staff) to register their children by reaching out to bolu.bello@cnl.ca by the End of the Day on August 1. Registration will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis.
