It is not your typical science fair.
Royal City Science is hosting the first-ever Curiosity Carnival that is being billed as a science circus with interactive and hands-on activities. It takes place on the Family Day weekend, Feb. 17 and 18, inside the MacKinnon building on the main campus of the University of Guelph.
“This is a way to bring families together to kind of come for a one-stop shop to be emersed in a whole bunch of STEM disciplines and programming all at the same time,” said Orbax Thomas, co-founder of Royal City Science.
“But you still have this sort of fun, daytime-activity feeling when you go to a carnival.”
Among the activities that will be at the Curiosity Carnival is the portable planetarium, an inflatable dome where visitors can learn about the stars anywhere at anytime. There is also a busking zone where local organizations will have programming, workshops and virtual reality interactions.
“We have CTRL-V and Code Ninjas from Guelph, Ontario Agriculture College (OAC) Outreach Division, and Creative Encounters,” Thomas said.
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The event will also explore some of the technological advancements being made through science. Thomas said while technology is accelerating, it brings up a different number of ethical and moral questions.
“We live in a world where this tech is exceeding our boundaries of what we really know and how to use it,” he said. “The next generation of young scientists who come up and come through, are going to be the ones who will tackling those issues and shaping our future based on that technology.”
The carnival is not just geared to the kids. On the evening of Saturday the 17th, there is a science-themed game show called Freestyle Socials – Remix ‘N Match that will be hosted by Anthony Morgan from the CBC show the Nature of Things.
“The idea there is it is a fun and interactive, live science game show that actually involves the audience,” said Thomas. “It tries to learn about topics that divides us and sometimes are a little controversial. But in the end, try to see what divides us actually brings us closer together.”
On Sunday the 18th, there will be a screening of Kiss the Ground, a documentary that came out in 2020 that explores the role that regenerative farming could have as a solution to our climate crisis.
All of the activities at the Curiosity Carnival is free except for the Freestyle Socials – Remix ‘N Match game show. Visitors are being encouraged to register for the game show, documentary screening, and planetarium shows.
More information and to register is available at Event Create.
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