The Biology Department of Memorial University participates in "Lab Extravaganza Days" which is organized by the "Lets talk Science" national outreach program.

Let's Talk Science at Memorial University was started in 1996 by graduate student Scott Hancock from the Faculty of Medicine and had just 4 volunteers. Since then the program has grown tremendously and now includes over 200 registered volunteers who reached out to over eleven thousand youth in 2012.

Lab Extravaganza Days is a free enrichment event that provides high school students with the opportunity to explore their options at Memorial University. Students spend a full day at Memorial University and participate in 2 science workshops of their choice. This allows students to get a feel for the program and experience exciting activities and lab demonstrations. Workshops include: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Biochemistry, Pharmacy, HKR, Engineering, Computer Science, and Earth Science.

 

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On February 19th, 2013 high school students from Prince of Wales Collegiate had the opportunity to get up close and personal with sea urchins, sea stars, sea cucumbers and other amazing marine creatures in the Biology Department as part of the program "Let's Talk Science-Lab Extravaganza Day".

The enthusiastic Lab Instructors from the Biology Department and the Department of Ocean Sciences engaged students with dissection demonstrations and touch tanks.

Danielle Nichols and Tara Tipple from the Department of Ocean Sciences had students use dichotomous keys to identify local sea life. They had the chance to touch, ask questions and to get information about sea anemones, sea stars, scallops, and crabs, to name a few.

Fiona Cuthbert and Hannah Munro from the Biology Department got the students to dissect sea cucumbers and sea urchins. The eager students dissected the sea urchins and cucumbers and learned about how science can help the province develop new fisheries of underutilized species.

Here are some photos from the event: