2011 is British Columbia's Year of Science and Vancouver's elementary students are sharing in the wonder of science through the Scientist in Residence program.

Paige Axelrood, Ph.D., Managing Director of the Scientist in Residence Program recently appeared on CBC Radio's The Early Edition.

• Click here to listen to an mp3 of the show.

In the interview, Axelrood, founder of the program, describes how the program brings hands-on science lessons to children in Kindergarten to grade 7. "The program encourages children to discover their world through science," said Axelrood.

This year the program is taking place in six schools and involves six scientists, 12 teachers, and 272 students. The foundation of the program is a partnership that is formed between one scientist and a team of two teachers at the schools. Working together throughout the school year, they develop an enriched hands-on science program and teach the unit to their students in the classroom and on field trips.

Teachers from across the Province also benefit from the program as more than 200 hands-on science lesson plans that support the BC science curriculum for K-7, have been placed on the Scientist in Residence Program web site www.scientistinresidence.ca.  These lessons were developed collaboratively by scientists and teachers during the past seven years.

To date, the program has involved 37 Vancouver elementary schools, 101 teachers, 2400 students (K-7), and 19 scientists.

Elementary schools and science themes for the Scientist in Residence Program - 2010/2011

Sir Guy Carleton: Plants and Ecosystems
False Creek: Biodiversity of Local Environments
Florence Nightingale: Forest Ecology
McBride: Science in Our Surroundings
Thunderbird: Salmon
Pierre Elliot Trudeau: Electricity