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  • Wednesday, October 30, 2019 12:44 PM | Deleted user


    TORONTO, Oct. 29, 2019 /CNW/ - Wanted: bright ideas! The Ontario Science Centre is now accepting applications for the 2020 Weston Youth Innovation Award, which honours young Canadian innovators who use science and technology in creative ways to find innovative solutions to real-world problems.

    Established in 2008, the annual award is funded by The W. Garfield Weston Foundation to support and encourage young people between 14-18 years of age to pursue science, technology and innovation in order to make a positive impact in the world. For the second year in a row, the award includes five cash prizes: $15,000 for first place, $8,000 for second place and $3,500 each for up to three finalists.

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  • Wednesday, October 30, 2019 12:41 PM | Deleted user


    Spider-Man dangles from the ceiling, the Hulk lets out a knee-shaking roar while Marvel fans snap selfies at super human speed. 

    Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes at Edmonton's Telus World of Science chronicles the story of the franchise and its influence on popular culture. 

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  • Friday, October 25, 2019 9:22 AM | Deleted user

    Telus Spark is opening an exhibit Friday that offers an inside look at the skeletons, muscles and circulatory systems that make animals tick.

    When Dr. Angelina Whalley began working with the inventor of plastination, Dr. Gunther von Hagens — now Whalley’s husband — the technology wasn’t refined enough to plastinate an entire human body. Now, more than 30 years later, the exhibition on display in Calgary, Body Worlds: Animal Inside Out, showcases one of their greatest feats, a towering giraffe.

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  • Friday, October 25, 2019 9:17 AM | Deleted user


    StarBlox Inc. is a new competitive puzzle-brawler game akin to Super Puzzle Fighter Puzzle II Turbo and Crystal Crisis. It looks like a blast of a game for when you have just a couple of friends over. The craziest part to me though is who is behind the game. The game comes from Ingenium, Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation. They partnered with Seed Interactive to bring this game to life and I’m happy about that. The game supports up to four people in two local multiplayer modes and features photos from NASA!

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  • Friday, October 25, 2019 9:14 AM | Deleted user


    Science Timmins celebrated its 50th anniversary on October 18 with another edition of the popular Science Olympics competition.

    More than 250 students from over 20 schools across the north gathered to put their love of science to the test.

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  • Friday, October 18, 2019 12:41 PM | Deleted user

    Watching Georges Méliès’ films on the dome of the Planetarium Star Theatre at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre was an immersive experience. The backdrop of the stars behind the screening of these films, alongside the ambient electronic score by Owen Connell, created a dreamlike landscape that left everyone in the audience mesmerized. Each short film transported us all out of our seats and into the space voyage alongside the characters.

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  • Wednesday, October 09, 2019 4:19 PM | Deleted user


    Written by: Alice Sun, CASC Science Communication Intern, Environmental Visual Communications Program, Fleming College 

    Understanding that ‘innovation is not accomplished in silos” is a key for the future of science learning in Canada and to the CASC 2020 conference theme of being a “Global Science Incubator”, but what does that really mean?

    For Christina Tessier, the President and CEO of Ingenium, it’s focusing on the act of storytelling instead of barriers. In applying this philosophy, Christina pushes the boundary, doing whatever needs to be done to bring new engaging experiences to museum visitors and creating amazing results throughout her 15-year career in the museum and culture world.

    As an emerging science communicator, I was incredibly excited to have the chance to interview Christina. Here, we discuss surprising moments from her career as well as her insights on the future of our science centres and science museums.


    Q&A with Christina Tessier


    For you, what does the term “breaking down silos” mean?

    For Ingenium, I think the term “breaking down silos” is just as important internally as it is externally. We try to reflect this in the way that we work as a team and consider collaboration to be a key value of the organization. When I think about collaboration in a broader sense, I think about how science centres and science museums have always worked together. When I was at the last CASC conference in Halifax, I really felt that warmth and inclusivity of our community and how we want to support each other.

    I think our opportunity now is to think far beyond just our own sites across the country, and to consider how we engage with academia, industry, government, NGO’s, artists, and others. To go not only bring them to our tables but to go to their tables. To continue to learn from each other and apply that learning in new ways in the work that we do. I think there are many new kinds of opportunities for continuous learning that we can all benefit from if we can really be focused on not just breaking down silos, but being open to working with new partners, perhaps whom we’ve never thought of before.


    Can you give me an example of being open to new opportunities?

    Absolutely. We’ve worked extensively with a company SEED out of southern Ontario for 5 or 6 years. They are a gaming studio. When they approached Ingenium originally, it was at a time when they were building the company and they were looking to work with somebody as a partner. They weren’t looking for just a quick contract, but instead wanted to build a partnership where we would both benefit and we could create new Canadian content that we could share in a new way. How could we take museum experiences and make them available through the idea of game development and share them across the country and across the world?

    Thankfully, one of my predecessors, Fern Proulx, who was the Interim President and CEO of Ingenium at the time, was very open to working with SEED, and they started working with the Canada Aviation and Space Museum on what has become an entire series on mobile apps and now video games on Nintendo Switch. One of the games, relating to the First World War and flying aces, has already been downloaded 1.4 million times! Next, we have a new space-themed game coming out this Fall, called Starblox Inc. (release date Oct. 18), which builds on this partnership to explore how we combine that sense of play with learning about science and technology.


    Ingenium has so many examples of combining science and arts in unique ways. Do you have a favourite or memorable example where the combination yielded some spectacular results?

    When I think about that word spectacular, the example that really resonates for me is, in fact, before you even walk into the Canada Science and Technology Museum. There’s a massive LED canopy and a white facade at the front of the building, and this was part of the architectural vision when the building was put together. Those of us that were busy working on the content inside the museum didn’t really think of the display it until it was getting fairly close to the opening of the museum, and we realized we needed to program one of the biggest LED screens in the country!

    Feeling fairly uncertain about our ability to do that given the time frame, I approached the National Film Board. We knew that when it comes to audio-visual, they really know their game. They came on board as a great partner in terms of thinking about how to program this display not only from a technical point of view, but also the artistic point of view. We walked up the street, probably a half kilometre stretch, to understand how people would view that space long before they get down to the museum. How would we use the display to attract people to the museum? How would we use movement in the display to catch your eye from far away?

    The vision that they came back with not only used the space that was there, but used the colours of the rainbow, geography, and time. They created a 3-minute loop that explores various science and tech themes from coast to coast to coast, and brings in indigenous cultures, which was incredibly compelling for us. It has created a gateway into the museum where you have an opportunity to change your perspectives, before you even see our exhibitions. If you stand nearby you can see the visitors stop and take it all in - little kids run right up to the LED screen, touch it, and are curious about what’s happening around them. We’re excited to continue exploring how we use what we now consider an artistic space, and hopefully work with students and other artists in the country to tell more stories.


    Can you tell me about an unexpected outcome from one of your new initiatives?

    We have a Women in STEM initiative that includes a travelling exhibition and a poster series, and a number of online components. What’s really been interesting to us is to watch the poster series’ dissemination through a number of Canadian missions and embassies around the world. One of the first places to pick it up was in Kazakhstan, which of course surprised us all. To have created a product that is so easy for others to make use of and share has been a really beneficial way for us to talk about these stories. We’re standing up and saying how important it is for women, and all people frankly, to be considered at every table when we’re talking about science and technology.


    So if you had one message to give to the world, what would it be?

    We want to be a place where everyone feels that they are welcome, they are relevant and they are valued. I think it’s important for all of us to open our doors and our tables. To encourage a diversity of voices around those tables. To examine ideas on what it means to be a learning organization. To always think about how we can improve what we do, how we do it, and how we make decisions about the work in our science museums and science centres. I think a lot of that comes down to taking risks, and that means being open to failure, thinking about how we can encourage our organization and staff to feel they can take those risks, while creating an environment where we focus on looking back on the process and not necessarily the outcome to measure successes.


    As Christina and Ingenium have demonstrated, the future of science learning not only requires you to “break down silos”, but to reach out and be open to unlikely partnerships. It means creating a space where everyone is welcome despite their gender, ethnicity, or abilities. It means contributing to an environment where people feel safe to think outside the box and take risks. That’s what it takes to create innovation, to look beyond just silos, because with an open mind, anything is possible.


    *Responses have been edited for length and clarity


  • Wednesday, October 09, 2019 2:52 PM | Deleted user


    We’d like to acknowledge and congratulate all CASC members who were awarded and recognized on September 10, at the GSCA 2019 International Conference and Trade Show in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

    Best Film Launch by a Theater (tie)

    Telus World of Science-Edmonton, Marketing Campaign for Superpower Dogs

    Big Shoe

    Mike Lutz, Evans & Sutherland

    Best IMAX Booth (honourable mention) 

    Shoppers Drug Mart OMNIMAX Theatre at the Ontario Science Centre

    Learn more

  • Wednesday, October 09, 2019 2:49 PM | Deleted user


    The Canadian Space Agency asks science centres and museums to help recruit future astronauts!

    The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) recently launched the Junior Astronauts campaign for teachers, educators, youth group leaders and young Canadians in grades 6 to 9. 


    Run Junior Astronauts activities in your science centre or museum

    By running Junior Astronauts activities in your science centre, you will have an opportunity to win a visit by an astronaut or space expert to your organization in spring 2020. All you have to do is register and complete at least one of the activities available on the Junior Astronauts website with a youth group in any of the proposed streams: science and technology, fitness and nutrition, and teamwork and communications. The CSA will randomly select schools and organizations from every province and territory. The more streams you participate in, the more chances you will have (up to three)!

    Young Canadians who complete at least one activity in each of the streams can apply to take part in the CSA’s Junior Astronauts recruitment. Selected youth from across Canada will have the opportunity to go to the Canadian Space Agency in Saint-Hubert, Quebec for a week of training by astronauts, scientists and engineers.

    Visit the Junior Astronauts website to learn more and register! You can also subscribe to an email list for timely updates about the campaign.


  • Wednesday, October 09, 2019 1:21 PM | Deleted user


    The entire team at THEMUSEUM wishes to express the gratitude of being a part of something as wonderful and large as the production of The Amazing Race Canada.

    David Marskell, CEO of THEMUSEUM shared, “Our vision is to awe, inspire and enlighten but sometimes we just want to have fun! We are thrilled to have a national spotlight on THEMUSEUM, Kitchener and Waterloo Region!" 


    Related articles:

    https://themuseum.ca/hemuseum-and-spectrum-exhibition-featured-nationally-on-ctvs-the-amazing-race-canada/

    https://www.narcity.com/travel/ca/on/2019-amazing-race-canada-locations-in-ontario-you-can-visit-ir




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The CASC office is situated in Robinson Huron Treaty territory and the traditional territory of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek. We pay respect to their traditions, ways of knowing and acknowledge their many contributions to the innovations in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Clearly and overtly this gratitude must be demonstrated in our collective commitment to truth and reconciliation, by working to transform existing relationships, with open dialogue, mutual understanding and respectful collaborations

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