Hands-on experiments and exciting demonstrations provide the core of Discovery Centre's curriculum-based workshop programs. Workshops are designed in consultation with provincial educators and have specific curriculum links, below is a list of our workshops for Grades Primary to 12. Most workshops are between 35 to 45 minutes unless otherwise indicated. We require a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 25 students per workshop.
Exhibit visits are self guided tours. There are exhibit interpreters who are on the floor to help answer questions and make sure your visit runs smoothly.
Download a copy of the 2010 - 2011 Educational Brochure in Adobe PDF!
Grades 1 - 6
Way Out There!
This program is only available in the months during October, December, February, April and June.
This engaging science show will have you step into the immersive world of starry skies in our inflatable planetarium. While gazing up at the stars, learn how to identify Asterisms and Constellations and how to find the North Star. Through interactive activities students will explore curriculum related topics.
★ Relative position and motion (Grade 1).
★ Daily and seasonal changes (Grade 2).
★ Light (Grade 4).
★ Space (Grade 6)
Sponsored by 
Grades Primary and 1
Once Upon A Worm
Experiment with live worms and discover their importance in our everyday lives. See what they eat, how they move and feel them crawl through your fingers.
★ Exploring the world with our senses (Grade Primary).
★ Needs and characteristics of living things (Grade 1).
Sponsored by Conrad Brothers Soil Remediation Technologies Ltd.
Sense and Sensibility
Discover just how dependent we are on our five senses! While trying to identify mystery items using only one sense at a time, be surprised at what you touch and taste.
★ Exploring the world with our senses (Grade Primary).
★ Materials, objects and our senses (Grade 1).
Grade 2
Once Upon A Worm
Experiment with live worms and discover their importance in our everyday lives. See what they eat, how they move and feel them crawl through your fingers.
★ Animal growth and changes.
Sponsored by Conrad Brothers Soil Remediation Technologies Ltd.
Water Works
Splish, splash... do we conserve water while taking a bath? Rub-a-dub-dub, what state of matter is the water in my tub? Learn how the wter cycle plays a part in our ability to have fresh water and why it is important to maintain our resources.
★ Liquids and solids, air and water in the environment.
Grade 3
Bridging the Gap
What goes up must come down - unless we hold it there! Why are structures shaped as they are, and how strong can old newspapers really be? Here at Discovery Centre, we challenge students to bridge the gap.
★ Materials and structures.
No Strings Attached
May the force be... magnetism or static electricity? Invisible forces are all around us, sometimes being difficult to see, but in this program you'll be attracted to what you learn on your hair-raising visit to Discovery Centre.
★ Invisible forces.
Grade 4
Climate in Jeopardy
This engaging science show has students testing their knowledge of climate change as they compete in an exciting game-show format. Topics covered include the chemistry of greenhouse gases, extreme weather, the history of changing climates, impacts to natural ecosystems and actions we can take to help. In addition to answering curriculum-fit questions, teams will face hands-on challenges to help them earn points!
★ Impact of Technology on Natural Habitats.
Sounds of Science
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around, does it make a sound? Discover the answer as we follow the journey of sound from transmitter to receiver and everything between. Good vibrations guaranteed!
★ Sound.
Facts of Light
Look around and what do you see? Light in all of the colours of the rainbow, but are there colours we can't see? And where do they all come from? At Discovery Centre, we'll help illuminate the facts of light.
★ Light.
Download related teaching materials and experiments with these links: Chromotography, Colour Wheel, Facts of Light Art Projects, Juice Can Camera, Rainbow Bubbles.
Cast the Past
The past comes to life in this palaeo-program. Touch real fossils, learn how they're formed and exposed and find out how organisms adapt and change through geologic time. Each student will use a chemical reaction to create their own fossil replica to take home.
*This workshop is 60 minutes
★ Rocks, minerals and erosions.
Grade 5
Climate in Jeopardy
This engaging science show has students testing their knowledge of climate change as they compete in an exciting game-show format. Topics covered include the chemistry of greenhouse gases, extreme weather, the history of changing climates, impacts to natural ecosystems and actions we can take to help. In addition to answering curriculum-fit questions, teams will face hands-on challenges to help them earn points!
★ Weather.
Green Machines
Join us for a spot of gardening as we make use of the six simple machines. From wedges to pulleys these are the original green machines.
★ Forces and simple machines.
Build-a-bot
Use LEGO® Mindstorms to design and build their own working robots with wires, motors and gears. Discover simple design and engineering principles as you face the challenge of racing your robot and navigating them through a fun obstacle course.
This workshop is 90 minutes and has an additional cost.
★ Forces and simple machines.
Digestive Drama
An engaging science show! From mouth to the toilet and everything in-between, join us on the journey of digestion. Get hands-on as we follow your food through your digestive system and find out how to keep things moving.
★ Meeting basic needs and maintaining a healthy body.
Grade 6
Electric Odyssey
Zap! Discover the power of electricity in this hair-raising workshop. Investigate static and current electricity as well as the relationship between electricity and magnetism. Lights on!
★ Electricity.
Download related teaching materials and experiments with these links: Electo Chemical Pennies, Electric Spoon, Electric Odyssey Art Projects, Lemon Zinger, Ten Cent Battery.
Climate in Jeopardy
This engaging science show has students testing their knowledge of climate change as they compete in an exciting game-show format. Topics covered include the chemistry of greenhouse gases, extreme weather, the history of changing climates, impacts to natural ecosystems and actions we can take to help. In addition to answering curriculum-fit questions, teams will face hands-on challenges to help them earn points!
★ Diversity of Life, Endangered Species.
Fantastic Flight
An engaging science show! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No its the fantastic flight show at Discovery Centre. Unravel the mystery of flight from hot air balloons to helicopters and beyond.
★ Flight.
Sponsored by the Halifax Stanfield International Airport
Build-a-bot
Use LEGO® Mindstorms to design and build their own working robots with wires, motors and gears. Discover simple design and engineering principles as you face the challenge of racing your robot and navigating them through a fun obstacle course.
This workshop is 90 minutes and has an additional cost.
★ Forces and simple machines.
Grade 7
Cast the Past
The past comes to life in this palaeo-program. Touch real fossils, learn how they're formed and exposed and find out how organisms adapt and change through geologic time. Each student will use a chemical reaction to create their own fossil replica to take home.
*This workshop is 60 minutes
★ Earth's crust.
Mysterious Mixtures
Are mixtures a mystery? Do you think pure substances are a struggle? Get them straight while you explore different separation techniques and find out what's in the mix.
★ Mixtures and solutions.
Grade 8
Fluid Dynamix
Ever wonder how a submarine can surface and dive, or why oil and water don't mix? In this hands-on workshop, students will analyze different fluids for viscosity and discover the relationship between density and buoyancy.
★Fluids.
All's Cell That Ends Cell
Discover what's really inside our insides! Compare and contrast plant, animal and human cells (your own) while learning how to use a microscope.
★ Cells, tissues, organs and systems.
Climate in Jeopardy
This engaging science show has students testing their knowledge of climate change as they compete in an exciting game-show format. Topics covered include the chemistry of greenhouse gases, extreme weather, the history of changing climates, impacts to natural ecosystems and actions we can take to help. In addition to answering curriculum-fit questions, teams will face hands-on challenges to help them earn points!
★ Water systems on Earth, electromagnetic radiation.
Grade 9
Ready, Set, React
Perform a series of experiments to observe what can happen when substances are mixed together. Then use these observations to explore the difference between physical and chemical reactions.
★ Atoms and elements.
Way Out There!
This program is only available in the months during October, December, February, April and June.
This engaging science show will have you step into the immersive world of starry skies in our inflatable planetarium. While gazing up at the stars, learn how to identify Asterisms and Constellations and how to find the North Star. Through interactive activities students will explore curriculum related topics.
★ Space exploration.
Sponsored by
Odds On
An engaging science shoiw! Do your students think probability is boring? COme give them a taste of the deep and fascinating mathematics behind game shows and evaluating risk in this brand-new, inspiring, intearctive show.
★ Probability.
Grades 10 to 12
Who are You?
Experiment with gel electrophoresis and learn how DNA is used by scientists. Experience how DNA separation techniques would be used at a crime scene. Each student will extract strands of their own DNA from cheek cells.
* This workshop is 75 minutes in length and has an additional cost.
★ Science 10, Biology 11-12
Phenomenal Chemistry
Save yourself from boiling cabbage juice and come explore the pH scale at Discovery Centre. How do substances sit along the scale? What are the pitfalls of measurements? We'll even take chemistry's most tedious experiment - the titration - and make it pHenomenal.
★ Chemical reactions (Grade 10).
Climate in Jeopardy
This engaging science show has students testing their knowledge of climate change as they compete in an exciting game-show format. Topics covered include the chemistry of greenhouse gases, extreme weather, the history of changing climates, impacts to natural ecosystems and actions we can take to help. In addition to answering curriculum-fit questions, teams will face hands-on challenges to help them earn points!
★ Social and Environmental Contexts of Science and Technology (Grade 10)
★ Biology: Social Issues Related to Science and Technology (Grade 11 & 12)
Build-a-bot
Use LEGO® Mindstorms to design and build their own working robots with wires, motors and gears. Discover simple design and engineering principles as you face the challenge of racing your robot and navigating them through a fun obstacle course.
This workshop is 90 minutes and has an additional cost.
★ GCO Skills (Grades 10 to 12): Scientific and technical inquiry.