Wonderground: Bringing curiosity to Canadian classrooms

Thanks to NSERC PromoScience funding, SNOLAB was able to pilot a new program this year in classrooms across Canada! The program, formerly called SEEDLING, was offered for students in Grades 4 – 8 and focused on letting students be curious by learning about the process of science. Programming engaged students in an opportunity to do science, with hands-on learning in each session. Read on to see what the program involved! 

Each classroom that participated in the program completed a minimum of six sessions with SNOLAB’s Education & Outreach team with the following sessions: 

• Session 1: Introduction to the scientific method
• Session 2: Asking scientific questions
• Session 3: Introduction to SNOLAB
• Session 4: SNOLAB and scientific method
• Session 5: Preparing experiment idea for submission
• Session 6: Sharing your science! 

Session 3 featured a live virtual tour of SNOLAB, where students were able to live video call a member of the SNOLAB team who was underground to walk through the lab and learn about some of our experiments and unique infrastructure. This session really sparked curiosity for students and in the following session students were able to create experiment designs to submit to SNOLAB to investigate some of the questions they had! Questions from students ranged in topics from gravity to the effects of increased pressure underground.  

These experiment designs and questions were then submitted to a panel of SNOLAB researchers for input and feedback. From this, 10 experiment ideas were selected as being feasible to do! SNOLAB expertise was used to refine experiment ideas to meet our strict safety and cleanliness requirements. Members across many departments got involved in helping to make the ideas from students come to life! Check out a brief overview of the experiments here: https://www.snolab.ca/wonderground-experiments/

The program wrapped up with a Celebration of Learning event held at Science North. The hybrid event invited all program participants to come together to learn about all the experiments completed by other classrooms during the program – and enjoy a pizza party! The event featured a giant elephant toothpaste demonstration from a Science North Bluecoat and a session with Indigenous Knowledge Sharer Will Morin. During the event, participants got to meet and talk to SNOLAB staff, some of whom did the student experiments, and used an online platform to engage with remote classrooms.  

SNOLAB Executive Director, Dr. Jodi Cooley, attended and got to interact with the students. When asked about the event, she said, “I really enjoyed talking with them about their ideas, the questions they were exploring, and the things they had discovered along the way. Their curiosity and excitement were inspiring to see. I was particularly excited to talk with the Ice Gorbelers about their project on freezing water. It reminded me of work I did with my research collaborators during my Ph.D., where we studied how to freeze ice without creating bubbles. Sharing that connection with the students was a fun reminder that the questions that spark scientific discovery can start anywhere — even with a simple question about how water freezes.” 

The pilot program reached over 150 students across Canada – half through in-person visits, half through virtual visits. Following this successful pilot program that received great reviews from educators and students alike, the program will re-launch in the fall of 2026 with a new and improved name – Wonderground! Stay tuned so you don’t miss out on the opportunity to be involved in the program!