Elephant Thoughts Global Development Initiative

Our in-class hands-on workshops will be one of the best teaching tools you will encounter all year.

Elephant Thoughts has the most sophisticated and effective science and technology outreach program in Canada. Our repertoire of available workshops is one of the largest available and is constantly increasing. Our programming, created by experts in the field, has been designed to complement the provincial science and mathematics curricula.  It is always hands-on and engaging while emphasizing the scientific method. Let us demonstrate how exciting science and the study of the natural world can be!

This is just a small list of topics that we are capable of delivering.  We have workshops that last 90 minutes to installations, such as weather and climate change, that will leave equipment at the school and have applications over the entire school year.

TOPIC EXAMPLES INCLUDE:

Beginner Robotics and Advanced Robotics Engineering

Students combine engineering, computer science, algebra and mathematics in this very exciting program.  We use a number of different robotics platforms so the students can compare their benefits and drawbacks.  In the beginner robotics program, students will become familiar with the award winning Lego MindStorms Robotics Kit.  This program offers an excellent introduction for students of any age to explore the world of robotics and basic engineering applications.  MindStorms is also featured in robotics and engineering competitions all around the world, ranging from elementary school to university engineering programs!  Working in groups of two to four, students will have the opportunity to complete exercises where they construct, program and test their robots. These exercises provide valuable team building and problem solving opportunities as they take their creation into our robot competition ring.

In the Advanced Robotics program students have an opportunity to assemble real, full-sized aluminum, state-of-the-art robots, then use lap top computers to program them. Their robots will be able to perform tasks like fetching a drink from another room, recognizing and greeting people, serving lunch, and anything else the students’ ingenuity and imagination wants them to do!

Electricity and Renewable Energy

Students will explore concepts related to electricity, its production and impact on the environment. Our most “hair-raising” workshop allows kids to build solar cars, solder lie detector circuit boards, and build working hydro dams that really produce electricity. From wind mills to hydrogen cars, this hands-on physics and engineering program will have students experimenting with electricity in ways that will not only make their hair stand on end, but will also excite and educate them.

Astronomy and the StarLab Planetarium

Definitely one of our most effective premier programs available, this workshop lets students study outer space by building asteroids out of dry ice, making super flying comet balls, launching rockets, building real flying space shuttles, creating 3D multimedia presentations, taking a ride on a NASA invented human gyroscope, and lots more. The highlight of our space program is a visit inside our real, giant, inflatable planetarium dome. It is big enough to seat 30 people and project the universe on the ceiling!

Archeology and Paleontology

Learn everything you need to know to become an archaeologist!  We build a giant sandbox right in the room and the students take part in a mock dig, uncovering different artifacts at different levels in the dirt.  Dig up dinosaur bones and assemble replica dinosaurs, analyze and identify ancient fossils, and learn the techniques to uncovering the history of the earth. 

Bachelor of Wacky Science Program

This program is a sampling of some of our coolest hands-on experiments and demonstrations, providing a ‘wacky’ introduction to the fundamentals of science. We get students hooked for life on how much fun studying science can be by teaching them how to do things like spin gyroscopes and handle liquid nitrogen!  All the while, using the basics of experimentation and scientific method in the disciplines of chemistry, physics, and biology. If your organization has already hosted one of our Wacky Science Workshops before, no problem!  We have an endless repertoire of exciting experiments and activities to ensure many years of workshops without ever repeating an experiment!

Environmental Science Workshops

Teaching students environmental appreciation and stewardship is one of our specialties.  Each of our programs, ranging from birds and bird migration patterns, to endangered species, to wetlands conservation, emphasizes the delicate balance of all living things with nature.  All programs feature state of the art learning stations to ensure students will gain a new appreciation of the environment we live in.  Some of the topics & experiments to choose from include: dissecting owl pellets, meeting and holding real live endangered species, water and soil ecology, learning about the rock cycle, crystals and how to pan for gold, the insect world, plants and vegetation, and many more. 

Other topics in our ever increasing list of workshops also includes but is not limited to:

• light and colour
• density and mixtures
• chemical and physical reactions
• properties of matter
• dry ice/liquid nitrogen
• properties of air
• chemical reactions
• film effects
• rocketry
• scientific method
• making observations
• structures and building
• pressure
• simple machines
• the sun and its effects
• polymer madness
• optical illusions
• flight
• rocks and minerals
• photography
• digital film making
• documentary film making
• heat
• optics
• physics of motion
• meteorology
• introduction to technology
• density
• mixtures and solutions
• climate change

Don’t see a topic you want?  Call our office as new workshops are being added almost every month.  Generally if we don’t have the topic you want, we will put it together for you written by our team of expert teachers!