Ready for Science Rendezvous?
View our 2022 programme below or download a PDF version.
May 7th, 2023 I 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Webinar 1
10:00AM - Opening Remarks
DNA is the building block of life. Come learn about DNA and watch how you can get your own DNA or the DNA from common fruits in your home!
What are animals that scientists study in labs? Come watch glow-in-the-dark fish and worms, two common animal models, in this live interactive session!
Come explore different parts of the human body through our games and activities.
Learn about sustainable and healthy food, clean air and reduction of airborne infections, clean water and water security to draw attention to the diseases caused by infected water, lack of water or flooding, and solutions to deal with microbes that avoid resistance and maintain the ecosystem.
Attendees will engage in fun activities and games such as Health food store, trivia on the water scarcity around the globe in support of the UNICEF project Hand hygiene for all, and on airborne bugs and pollutants that cause common diseases.
Meet with doctors and dentists and learn about the work doctors, dentists, and other health care professionals have in promoting wellness and health in communities.
Activities coming soon
12:00PM - Break
Join us for a day in the life of a scientist. Several PhD researchers will vlog what their life looks like and answer your burning questions!
We will be exploring different parts of the human body using a variety of games and activities.
DNA is the building block of life. Come learn about DNA and watch how you can get your own DNA or the DNA from common fruits in your home!
What are animals that scientists study in labs? Come watch glow-in-the-dark fish and worms, two common animal models, in this live interactive session!
Activities coming soon
2:00PM - Break
Vaccination Nation!
How do you know your vaccines are safe? This is the biggest question on everyone’s minds today as we’re living through the biggest mass vaccination program in history. But vaccines are an essential part of our lives every year, starting with vaccinations when we’re born.
Join the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy for our Vaccines Trivia Event on Kahoot! Any age can join in on the fun, learn about the vaccines we depend on, and play for prizes!
PRIZES: $25/$20/$15 UofT Bookstore virtual gift cards for the top 3 winners of each Trivia Event!
Come explore different parts of the human body through our games and activities.
Activities coming soon
Activities coming soon
3:50PM - Break
From Basic Science to Star Trek Surgery: Achieving the Fundamental (Single Cell) Limits to Minimally Invasive Surgery and Biodiagnostics
Speaker: Professor Dwayne Miller
One of the dream experiments in science was to directly observe atomic motions during the defining moments of chemistry and biology – to make a “molecular movie”. This experiment was achieved and beyond any expectation this research discovered the basic physics to enable the laser to finally achieve its long held promise to attain single cell precision for surgery. The new technology is the first method by any means capable of scar free surgery and molecular bar codes for surgical guidance. In this context, the importance of blue sky research will be discussed in terms of the questions motivating scientist to explore deeper and how to benefit from discovery.
5:00PM - End
Webinar 2
10:00AM - Opening Remarks
Learn about blood donation with the Canadian Blood Services! Complete our quiz for a chance to win CBS Swag.
What is the plastics cycle and how do we, as scientists, research plastic pollution?
Come explore and learn about the sources and fate of microplastics in our watershed and explore potential solutions to plastic pollution!
Learn about the importance of stem cell donation as we present the process of registering and requirements to register as a stem cell donor.
We will demonstrate how to use a swab kit to register as a stem cell donor.
What is Life? Can we measure it?
Speaker: Professor Dwayne Miller
This talk will discuss latest advances that show how innumerable arrangements of atoms are guided by a few key types of motions that shows an enormous reduction in number of dimensions or possibilities. This work gives our first hints at how chemistry scaled in complexity to the limit of biological molecules to breathe life into otherwise inanimate objects. Could a similar reduction principle be at work that gives rise to the nonlinear biochemical pathways that lead to living response functions. This conjecture will be discussed along with the new technology that holds promise to open a new window on the study of cells – and from a physics perspective – the meaning of life.”
12:00PM - Break
Using demonstrations of brain imaging and cognitive neuroscience, the Gender and The Brain booth will explore the social, biological, and psychological aspects of gender in the human brain.
First, we will ask what gender is and what it looks like in the world around us using a sociology lens.
Second, we will put on our figurative lab coats and investigate how the brain develops from fetus to adult and learn how neurons communicate with each other to send information from the brain through the body.
Third, we will explore human behaviour and how gender interacts with the biology of our brain.
Talk: Up, up and Away! Doing Scientific Experiments from a Really Big Balloon
Speakers: Professor Kaley Walker’s Group
Come along for the ride as we discuss how high-altitude balloons can be used to study Earth’s atmosphere from “near-space”. Learn how instruments are designed and tested to handle harsh conditions. We will take you along for the journey of a balloon flight capable of carrying 500-1000 kg of experimental equipment up to altitudes of 30-40 km. Hint, the balloon is 25 stories tall!
Learn about blood donation with the Canadian Blood Services! Complete our quiz for a chance to win CBS Swag.
This activity is a simulation blood-typing scenario. Participants will act as laboratory researchers identifying the antigen composition of different simulated blood samples in order to identify the patient the blood belongs to. Through this activity, participants will learn about the direct utility of laboratory medicine in a clinical setting. We will have scientific explanations that are adaptable to various audiences, as we can go into varying depth (talking about blood types, Rh factor, genetic pattern of blood types etc.)
In this activity, our demonstrators will be using household items to mimic blood and antibody serums. This will include milk dyed with red food coloring and vinegar, which will coagulate similar to the antibody and blood solution. We will be running the demonstration in a “theatrical” performance where the audience will be participating in our experiment and helping us identify the blood sample. We will also provide the protocol to students this at home again later in they would like.
2:00PM - Break
Activities coming soon
Using demonstrations of brain imaging and cognitive neuroscience, the Gender and The Brain booth will explore the social, biological, and psychological aspects of gender in the human brain.
First, we will ask what gender is and what it looks like in the world around us using a sociology lens.
Second, we will put on our figurative lab coats and investigate how the brain develops from fetus to adult and learn how neurons communicate with each other to send information from the brain through the body.
Third, we will explore human behaviour and how gender interacts with the biology of our brain.
Learn about blood donation with the Canadian Blood Services! Complete our quiz for a chance to win CBS Swag.
This activity is a simulation blood-typing scenario. Participants will act as laboratory researchers identifying the antigen composition of different simulated blood samples in order to identify the patient the blood belongs to. Through this activity, participants will learn about the direct utility of laboratory medicine in a clinical setting. We will have scientific explanations that are adaptable to various audiences, as we can go into varying depth (talking about blood types, Rh factor, genetic pattern of blood types etc.)
In this activity, our demonstrators will be using household items to mimic blood and antibody serums. This will include milk dyed with red food coloring and vinegar, which will coagulate similar to the antibody and blood solution. We will be running the demonstration in a “theatrical” performance where the audience will be participating in our experiment and helping us identify the blood sample. We will also provide the protocol to students this at home again later in they would like.
3:50PM - Break
5:00PM - End
Webinar 3
10:00AM - Opening Remarks
Students age 12+ can learn coding through FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Blocks in a simulated FIRST Tech Challenge programming environment.
Join in a demonstration of the FTC SIM, a free online virtual robotics software designed for teachers, coaches, students, and team members to learn the basics of programming.
Sign up to use FTC SIM for free at: https://pixelpad.io/ftcsim/
Blue Sky hopes to provide attendees with significant exposure to its creation process, and the steps that are being taken to create its 11th generation car model.
With a focus on ideation techniques like prototyping, this booth is designed as a means to create a fully immersive experience that facilitates transparency and fosters open conversations surrounding green technology and how it can develop solutions. There will be live demos, trivia games and the winner gets a prize.
Activities coming soon
12:00PM - Break
▼△ Geometry in Art: Tessellations and Origami △▼
Recycling is a manufacturing process, worth the effort because of 𝘯𝘦𝘵 energy and cost savings. It is in our best interest to use less paper and value every sheet to its fullest. Before tossing away your mail or homework, try folding it into art! We’ll teach you how to make origami while appreciating its simple geometry.
Come learn about the divisions and projects of the UofT Aerospace Team! Join us for a presentation as we share some of our exciting projects, and explore sustainability in the aerospace industry though the lens of each of our divisions, including sustainable rockets, space debris, and novel aircraft designs!
Will you survive outer space? Learn about astronomy/physics principles with the Astronomy and Space Exploration Society! Come in first place on our quiz and win a prize!
2:00PM - Break
Talk: Oceans in Motion
Speaker: Professor Nicolas Grisouard
The oceans have inspired many throughout history, and the tools developed to understand them have led to numerous advances in timekeeping, navigation, and mathematics. This presentation first provides an overview of the science of tides from ancient times all the way up to the modern satellite era. We then explain how physicists shape the contemporary study of the oceans and of the climate system.
A brief introduction to robotics, along with a short and simple demonstration of a robot using sensors to “map” its environment. We will also run a quick Kahoot about sustainability to promote this year’s theme of STEAM Green!
We will run through an interactive presentation covering different aspects of composting such as what’s involved, how it works, and with an emphasis on the science and microbes involved. We will leave attendees with a link to resources.
Astronomy Trivia Quiz
3:50PM - Break
5:00PM - End
Daniels Presents
10:00AM - Opening Remarks
Daniels Minecraft Camp uses the powerful tool of Minecraft to explore design potentials. Join us for this demonstration of the software and green building design. Participants will learn about sustainable building materials and how to integrate and use nature through guided instruction then will be shown how to design unique, green architecture in Minecraft.
Platonic solids were used by the philosopher Plato and Astronomer Kepler to describe the basic building blocks of our world and universe. Join us for a talk and demonstration on how to use these building blocks to design an outdoor structure that provides shade on a sunny day. All demonstrations will use free software you can explore on your own.
12:00PM - Break
Participants will learn fundamental concepts related to structure and green design and develop new relationships between nature and the built environment. Participants will learn how to use a free online web version of Sketchup to design a garden pavilion.
Moving images are built just like buildings – they are constructed moments often referred to as typologies. Participants will be shown how to use a smartphone and a free online platform to create a GIF of a specific typology within their own space. Find new ways of documenting the world around you that you can share with others!
2:00PM - End
Science Fair
9:00AM - Student Check-In
9:30AM - Opening Remarks
10:00AM - 1st Round of Posters
11:30AM - Break
12:00PM - 2nd Round of Posters
1:30PM - Break
1:45PM - Announcement of Winners & Closing Remarks
2:00PM - End
Webinar 1
10:00AM - Opening Remarks
“Discoveries from around the globe that revolutionized medicine” will invite the audience on a magic trip around the globe with stops in various countries that made fundamental discoveries to medicine such as Egypt, Greece, USA, Italy, Israel, India, Canada, Poland, Iraq, Pakistan, China, Russia, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, Romania, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Syria, etc. The audience will learn about fantastic discoveries as well as participate in interactive games that will satisfy their curiosity. From Roman aqueducts to penicillin, from vaccines to gene therapy, from toothpaste to birth control pill, from heart transplants to Xray, we are sure the public will be captivated by fantastic research stories and the minds behind them. Let’s see who will discover the key to preventing aging, regenerating damaged body parts, or AI-induced cancer screening.
We will be sharing a presentation that includes interactive activities focused on different parts of the human body, focusing on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Students will also be exposed to the roles and responsibilities of a physician and get to listen to different heart and breathing sounds.
Coming Soon!
12:00PM - Break
A brief introduction to robotics, along with a short and simple demonstration of a robot using sensors to “map” its environment. We will also run a quick Kahoot about sustainability to promote this year’s theme of STEAM Green!
Students will have the opportunity to learn about the history of vaccines, their discovery, and their benefits.
Coming Soon!
2:00PM - Break
Can you survive outer space? Students will go on a journey through the dangerous regions of outer space and will be tested on their knowledge of space trivia to see if they can survive.
Let’s Talk Science at U of T, St. George is excited to bring you on an out-of-this-world trip! We’ll be starry-eyed making our own constellations [2 versions – bring either cardboard tubes [e.g., toilet paper roll], pencil, paper, scissors, and tape, OR just pencil and paper]. Then we’ll test your knowledge with a stellar space quiz [prizes for winners!] and hear from an astronaut! We’ll finish up by exploring the skies and sharing what space sciences means to everyone.
Microplastic Scientist for a Day! Participants will explore and learn about the sources and fate of microplastics in our watershed and explore potential solutions to plastic pollution. Learn how researchers in the Rochman Lab identify and categorize microplastics! We will also share examples of our solutions-based research, including research to track and record items captured by Seabins installed in the Toronto Harbour.
3:50PM - Break
Speaker: Professor Dwayne Miller, Founder of Science Rendezvous
5:00PM - End
Webinar 2
10:00AM - Opening Remarks
Our exhibit will highlight research currently conducted by two NMC projects, Computational Research on the Ancient Near East (CRANE) and the Tell Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP). The display will illustrate how our projects apply the use of both 2D and 3D modeling and visualization of ancient artifacts and monolithic sculptures, as well as how climate modeling and simulation is used to understand the environment of the ancient Near East. We will also showcase the potential of gaming as an approach to educational outreach of the history and cultures of the ancient Near East, and how archaeology and the current research help create digital environments. Our exhibit hopes to show how virtual touch 3D images of sculptures housed in Turkey can be manipulated as well as an image loop to see our projects in action excavating in the field at Tell Tayinat in the Hatay province of Turkey. Based on the SR presentation format, we hope to have ancient artifacts from the NMC archaeology lab available online for visitors to see and ask questions about and learn how they are processed, and the research used to analyze them.
Learn about the importance of stem cell donation as we present the process of registering and the requirements to register as a stem cell donor. We will demonstrate how to use a swab kit to register as a stem cell donor.
Students age 12+ can learn coding through FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Blocks in a simulated FIRST Tech Challenge programming environment. Join in a demonstration of the FTC SIM, a free online virtual robotics software designed for teachers, coaches, students, and team members to learn the basics of programming. Sign up to use FTC SIM for free at: https://pixelpad.io/ftcsim/
12:00PM - Break
Participate in Science Through Video Games! This activity is a live session from the Department of Molecular Genetics. This video will introduce viewers to citizen science projects that are ongoing in Canada and globally. The video will define citizen science and provide examples of how scientists have integrated their research into video games. Then, there will be a demonstration/playthrough of one to two citizen science video games, such as Eterna.
DNA Extraction Challenge! This activity is a live session from the Department of Molecular Genetics. This activity is a live demonstration of how you can extract DNA from fruits at home. After the demonstration, we will host a Q&A session. Then, we will challenge viewers to try extracting DNA at home. We also encourage participants to discover what kind of fruits are easy to extract. We will provide a take-home protocol sheet and an observation table in the chat or through a link.
2:00PM - Break
Glow-in-the-Dark Model Organisms! This activity is a live session from the Department of Molecular Genetics. We will introduce the concept of model organisms and emphasize why they are important for scientific discovery. Then, we will showcase videos of fluorescently-tagged transgenic models (Ex. Drosophila, worms, zebrafish) with different behaviour (wildtype vs mutant).
Exploring the Sun! We will set up live solar viewing through our 8-inch and H-alpha telescopes, where we will hopefully be able to see sunspots and solar prominences. Students will be able to test their knowledge about the sun for a chance to win fun prizes! Explore our facilities with a virtual observatory tour!
3:50PM - Break
Speaker: Professor Dwayne Miller, Founder of Science Rendezvous
5:00PM - End
Webinar 3
10:00AM - Opening Remarks
Stories in the Stones – an U of T Urban GeoTour! The Earth Sciences Department will showcase a virtual Urban GeoTrails Tour currently in development with part one – University of Toronto Building Stones. The interactive tour offers photos of a number of buildings on campus with close-ups of interesting geological features in the building stones and descriptions of the rocks type, chemical structures, fossils visible in the stone, locations, and other details such as why these building stones were used, and causes of wear on the stone. As well as the tour, researchers from our Tectonophysics lab will demonstrate analogue experiments using a sandbox to show mountain building, fault lines and structural aspects of the Earth!
Students will become familiar with what a reflex is and will be able to discover and learn more about them. We’ll then dive deeper into how a muscle grows and the best exercises and movements that can be done to stimulate growth. Additionally, we will discuss the importance of identifying concussions across football players and the evidence that led to the discovery of the condition, CTE. Our goal is to show what medical discovery is like in the modern-day.
Coming Soon!
12:00PM - Break
Biomedical Engineering at UofT! Biomedical engineering is at the cross section between medicine and engineering, developing the medical treatments of tomorrow! At U of T, biomedical engineering researchers design cutting edge healthcare technology, from diagnostics to rehabilitation therapies. Learn about some of the most recent research being conducted at the University through live demonstrations of scientific experiments.
Students will learn about DNA and how it can be extracted from fruits, such as bananas and strawberries, using common household materials/items!
Students will learn about the Canadian Blood Services and understand the science behind blood types. This session will end with a Kahoot and will be providing prizes for the top winners!
2:00PM - Break
U of T Physics – Virtual Tour of SNOLAB! SNOLAB is a world-class science facility located deep underground in an operational nickel mine, near Sudbury, Ontario in Canada. The combination of great depth and cleanliness that SNOLAB affords allows extremely rare interactions and weak processes to be studied. The science program at SNOLAB is currently focused on sub-atomic physics, largely neutrino and dark matter. At 2km, SNOLAB is the deepest clean room facility in the world.
Can you survive outer space? Students will go on a journey through the dangerous regions of outer space and will be tested on their knowledge of space trivia to see if they can survive.
3:50PM - Break
Speaker: Professor Dwayne Miller, Founder of Science Rendezvous
5:00PM - End
10:00AM - Opening Remarks
“Discoveries from around the globe that revolutionized medicine” will invite the audience on a magic trip around the globe with stops in various countries that made fundamental discoveries to medicine such as Egypt, Greece, USA, Italy, Israel, India, Canada, Poland, Iraq, Pakistan, China, Russia, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, Romania, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Syria, etc. The audience will learn about fantastic discoveries as well as participate in interactive games that will satisfy their curiosity. From Roman aqueducts to penicillin, from vaccines to gene therapy, from toothpaste to birth control pill, from heart transplants to Xray, we are sure the public will be captivated by fantastic research stories and the minds behind them. Let’s see who will discover the key to preventing aging, regenerating damaged body parts, or AI-induced cancer screening.
We will be sharing a presentation that includes interactive activities focused on different parts of the human body, focusing on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Students will also be exposed to the roles and responsibilities of a physician and get to listen to different heart and breathing sounds.
Coming Soon!
Our exhibit will highlight research currently conducted by two NMC projects, Computational Research on the Ancient Near East (CRANE) and the Tell Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP). The display will illustrate how our projects apply the use of both 2D and 3D modeling and visualization of ancient artifacts and monolithic sculptures, as well as how climate modeling and simulation is used to understand the environment of the ancient Near East. We will also showcase the potential of gaming as an approach to educational outreach of the history and cultures of the ancient Near East, and how archaeology and the current research help create digital environments. Our exhibit hopes to show how virtual touch 3D images of sculptures housed in Turkey can be manipulated as well as an image loop to see our projects in action excavating in the field at Tell Tayinat in the Hatay province of Turkey. Based on the SR presentation format, we hope to have ancient artifacts from the NMC archaeology lab available online for visitors to see and ask questions about and learn how they are processed, and the research used to analyze them.
Learn about the importance of stem cell donation as we present the process of registering and the requirements to register as a stem cell donor. We will demonstrate how to use a swab kit to register as a stem cell donor.
Students age 12+ can learn coding through FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Blocks in a simulated FIRST Tech Challenge programming environment. Join in a demonstration of the FTC SIM, a free online virtual robotics software designed for teachers, coaches, students, and team members to learn the basics of programming. Sign up to use FTC SIM for free at: https://pixelpad.io/ftcsim/
Stories in the Stones – an U of T Urban GeoTour! The Earth Sciences Department will showcase a virtual Urban GeoTrails Tour currently in development with part one – University of Toronto Building Stones. The interactive tour offers photos of a number of buildings on campus with close-ups of interesting geological features in the building stones and descriptions of the rocks type, chemical structures, fossils visible in the stone, locations, and other details such as why these building stones were used, and causes of wear on the stone. As well as the tour, researchers from our Tectonophysics lab will demonstrate analogue experiments using a sandbox to show mountain building, fault lines and structural aspects of the Earth!
Students will become familiar with what a reflex is and will be able to discover and learn more about them. We’ll then dive deeper into how a muscle grows and the best exercises and movements that can be done to stimulate growth. Additionally, we will discuss the importance of identifying concussions across football players and the evidence that led to the discovery of the condition, CTE. Our goal is to show what medical discovery is like in the modern-day.
Coming Soon!
12:00PM - Break
A brief introduction to robotics, along with a short and simple demonstration of a robot using sensors to “map” its environment. We will also run a quick Kahoot about sustainability to promote this year’s theme of STEAM Green!
Students will have the opportunity to learn about the history of vaccines, their discovery, and their benefits.
Coming Soon!
Participate in Science Through Video Games! This activity is a live session from the Department of Molecular Genetics. This video will introduce viewers to citizen science projects that are ongoing in Canada and globally. The video will define citizen science and provide examples of how scientists have integrated their research into video games. Then, there will be a demonstration/playthrough of one to two citizen science video games, such as Eterna.
DNA Extraction Challenge! This activity is a live session from the Department of Molecular Genetics. This activity is a live demonstration of how you can extract DNA from fruits at home. After the demonstration, we will host a Q&A session. Then, we will challenge viewers to try extracting DNA at home. We also encourage participants to discover what kind of fruits are easy to extract. We will provide a take-home protocol sheet and an observation table in the chat or through a link.
Biomedical Engineering at UofT! Biomedical engineering is at the cross section between medicine and engineering, developing the medical treatments of tomorrow! At U of T, biomedical engineering researchers design cutting edge healthcare technology, from diagnostics to rehabilitation therapies. Learn about some of the most recent research being conducted at the University through live demonstrations of scientific experiments.
Students will learn about DNA and how it can be extracted from fruits, such as bananas and strawberries, using common household materials/items!
Students will learn about the Canadian Blood Services and understand the science behind blood types. This session will end with a Kahoot and will be providing prizes for the top winners!
2:00PM - Break
Can you survive outer space? Students will go on a journey through the dangerous regions of outer space and will be tested on their knowledge of space trivia to see if they can survive.
Let’s Talk Science at U of T, St. George is excited to bring you on an out-of-this-world trip! We’ll be starry-eyed making our own constellations [2 versions – bring either cardboard tubes [e.g., toilet paper roll], pencil, paper, scissors, and tape, OR just pencil and paper]. Then we’ll test your knowledge with a stellar space quiz [prizes for winners!] and hear from an astronaut! We’ll finish up by exploring the skies and sharing what space sciences means to everyone.
Microplastic Scientist for a Day! Participants will explore and learn about the sources and fate of microplastics in our watershed and explore potential solutions to plastic pollution. Learn how researchers in the Rochman Lab identify and categorize microplastics! We will also share examples of our solutions-based research, including research to track and record items captured by Seabins installed in the Toronto Harbour.
Glow-in-the-Dark Model Organisms! This activity is a live session from the Department of Molecular Genetics. We will introduce the concept of model organisms and emphasize why they are important for scientific discovery. Then, we will showcase videos of fluorescently-tagged transgenic models (Ex. Drosophila, worms, zebrafish) with different behaviour (wildtype vs mutant).
Exploring the Sun! We will set up live solar viewing through our 8-inch and H-alpha telescopes, where we will hopefully be able to see sunspots and solar prominences. Students will be able to test their knowledge about the sun for a chance to win fun prizes! Explore our facilities with a virtual observatory tour!
U of T Physics – Virtual Tour of SNOLAB! SNOLAB is a world-class science facility located deep underground in an operational nickel mine, near Sudbury, Ontario in Canada. The combination of great depth and cleanliness that SNOLAB affords allows extremely rare interactions and weak processes to be studied. The science program at SNOLAB is currently focused on sub-atomic physics, largely neutrino and dark matter. At 2km, SNOLAB is the deepest clean room facility in the world.
Can you survive outer space? Students will go on a journey through the dangerous regions of outer space and will be tested on their knowledge of space trivia to see if they can survive.
3:50PM - Break
Speaker: Professor Dwayne Miller, Founder of Science Rendezvous