STUDENTS IN GREATER SUDBURY JOIN CHILDREN WORLD-WIDE TO SOLVE SCIENCE RIDDLES
AT SCIENCE NORTH
Event Marks International IBM TryScience Month
Sudbury, ON – A siren blares as the "Culprit at Technopolis" flees with a priceless Mayan artifact. While local authorities rush to investigate the crime, TryScience.org users from classrooms and museums around the world assist police by matching their recollection of the "perp" against subject files through "Suspect Sketcher." This dynamic online challenge -- which launches International IBM TryScience Month -- requires that students pay close attention to detail and exhibit intuitive deduction -- the basis of all scientific discovery.
While the crime may be fictional, the collaborative power and online learning of TryScience.org is very real.
On November 19 at 10:30 a.m. in Science North's FedNor CyberZone, children from Greater Sudbury schools will join students from Naples, Italy, Mexico City, Durham NC, Atlanta GA, and Ft. Worth TX in a real-time collaboration to identify and collectively re-create the fleeing suspect as they participate in a fun example of science in everyday life.
"This international collaboration is not only exciting, it demonstrates how easy it is to apply principles of science to every day activities, and not become intimidated by the idea of science," said Science North's Science Director Alan Nursall.
The "Suspect Sketcher" activity is part of International TryScience Month sponsored by the IBM Corporation, the New York Hall of Science and the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) to celebrate the third anniversary of a groundbreaking partnership that has made millions of such educational learning adventures possible. It is based on a museum interactive from Technopolis, a science center in Belgium. IBM’s Web Video Collaboration will enable the participants to deliver interactive video-based messages to a live, targeted, global audience over the web.
At the heart of TryScience is the collective knowledge of thousands of science experts in subjects ranging from archeology to zoology. The New York Hall of Science acts as a TryScience clearing house to develop unique, new web-based content from material provided by more than 500 museums and to integrate it into virtual field trips, experiments and activities for the viewer. TryScience (www.tryscience.org) is powered by IBM technology.
"Suspect Sketcher is a wonderful collaboration of IBM technology and the world’s finest scientists and museum professionals. The results – now available in six languages – have children around the world exploring, experimenting and enjoying science," said Cathy Wellesley, Manager, IBM Corporate Community Relations, IBM Canada Ltd. "This exercise and many more TryScience activities are a valuable resource for the classroom. But the web site is equally accessible to parents and children at home to keep firing the imaginations of future scientists."
Wellesley also announced that by the end of this year, IBM will have donated 75 "Around the World" kiosks to major museums throughout the U.S. and abroad, where visitors can get acquainted with TryScience and continue their discoveries on the web site at home or schools.
TryScience: Three Years of "Bringing Science Home" to the World
In its 2002 Science and Engineering Indicators report, the National Science Foundation in the U.S. reported that sixty-six percent of those surveyed in 2001 had visited a science or technology museum during the past year. This percentage – the highest ever recorded – indicates the continuing fascination with science and technology.
"TryScience.org and its related kiosk project are a key part of an overall effort by IBM to make science and technology more accessible and exciting to children and classroom teachers", Wellesley said. "Hopefully, we’re inspiring the next generation of great thinkers."
To try "Suspect Sketcher" go to www.tryscience.org/fieldtrips/fieldtrip_shockwave.html?technopolis_sketch.
For more information on TryScience and IBM Corporate Community Relations, access www.ibm.com/ibm/ibmgives/.
For more information on the New York Hall of Science, access www.nyhallsci.org/.
For more information on the Association of Science-Technology Centers, access www.astc.org/.
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For more information, please contact:
Alan Nursall
Science Director, Science North
(705) 522-3701, ext. 250
nursall@sciencenorth.ca
Nancy Griffin
Marketing Communications Specialist, Science North
(705) 522-3701, ext. 239
griffin@sciencenorth.ca
Donna Mattoon
IBM Corporate Communications
(518) 487-6603
mattoond@us.ibm.com
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