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For immediate release

January 25, 2013

National Science and Technology Week Sets Guinness World Record

OTTAWA, January 25, 2013 – National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) 2012 saw a lot of science being done across Canada. A record amount of science, as it turns out.

Guinness World Records has confirmed that Canada has set the world record for the largest practical science lesson at multiple venues. On October 12, 2012, at 1:00 p.m. EST, two experiments demonstrating the Bernoulli principle were performed simultaneously at 88 different locations such as classrooms, science centres and museums across Canada. The experiments involved a total of 13,701 participants.

“Congratulations to all of the participants and organizers for setting this new world record,” said the Honourable Joe Oliver, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources. “Making science interesting for people of all ages – especially young Canadians – is key to fostering innovative thinking and creating Canada’s future science leaders.”

“Canada’s enthusiasm for science and learning is being recognized on a world scale and Natural Resources Canada is proud to have played an important role in this remarkable achievement,” said Geoff Munro, Chief Scientist, Natural Resources Canada. ”Every opportunity to promote the value and excitement of science is a worthwhile endeavour and should be celebrated.”

“We are extremely proud that public participation in NSTW 2012 was so high as to set a new Guinness World Record,” said CSTMC CEO Denise Amyot. “All NSTW partner organisations, as well as the various schools and venues who took part in the experiments, deserve well-earned congratulations for their tireless efforts to awaken Canadians of all ages to the wonders of science. Gathering close to 14,000 Canadians doing science at the same time across the country is a worthy challenge, but it illustrates how much Canadians are fascinated by science, and that is wonderful news.”

The Guinness World Record-setting practical science lesson kicked off NSTW 2012, and was coordinated across Canada by Science.gc.ca, the Government of Canada’s official science portal. The Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation (CSTMC) is the national coordinator of NSTW, and was the host of one group participating in the record-setting science lesson at the Canada Science and Technology Museum (CSTM). Natural Resources Canada also hosted a participating group.

NSTW raises awareness about the importance of science and technology in today’s world, celebrating Canada’s historic and ongoing role as a leader in innovation.

To find out more about the NSTW record attempt, visit :
http://www.science.gc.ca/newrecord

To find out more about the Guinness world Records certification, visit :
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/2000/largest-practical-science-lesson-%28multiple-venues%29

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INFORMATION:

Olivier Bouffard
Media relations
Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation
613-949-5732
obouffard@technomuses.ca

David Provencher
Press Secretary Office of Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources
613-996-2007

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