Vancouver

The City Analyst has gone missing! It’s up to your team of detectives to solve the case. Looking at all the collected material, including crime scene, impressions and DNA evidence, piece together the connections between the suspects and the sequence of events leading up to our Analyst’s kidnapping. Can you save our City Analyst and uncover the suspect’s motive?

This program is ideal for classes studying the Canadian justice system, policing, and forensic methods. 

Duration: 1 hour Capacity: 20 Cost: $8.00/student

Combine a Kidnapping program with a Museum Discovery Tour – only $12.00/student!

Come on a journey through time, and learn about the martial history of knights and duellists!

Far from armoured brutes wildly hacking and smashing their enemies, the knights and
duellists of the middle ages and renaissance were highly trained martial artists. Skilled not
only with swords, but also with daggers and spears, in and out of armour, on foot and on
horseback.

Presenters from Academie Duello will host your students, or travel to your school. Over the
course of an hour they will describe the martial arts of medieval and renaissance Italy, along
with live demonstrations, show and tell of medieval weapons and armour, and a Q&A period
at the end of the presentation.

In a Vancouver Mysteries game your students are the heroes of their own outdoor adventure — they’ll sharpen their deductive reasoning skills while they complete a series of challenges and collect clues to solve a mystery on the streets of downtown Vancouver.

Students are divided into teams of up to 6 players competing for first place in an Amazing Race style game. Points are earned by answering each challenge correctly, completing the game within a time limit, and by being one of the first teams back.

Game kits include a map, game book, worksheet, and any tools required to solve the mystery (examples: magnifying glass, measuring tape). Players use the map to navigate the streets of downtown Vancouver, cracking codes and solving puzzles along the way. Landmarks, sculptures, parks, and historic sites all play their part as the story unfolds.

Games are facilitated by Vancouver Mysteries’ Game Operators who arrive in character as detectives or secret agents to introduce the game and send the teams out on their adventure. At the end of the game, Game Operators meet the teams to calculate their scores and award team certificates.

Choose from any of our three games: Gastown murder mystery Crime in Downtown, downtown spy game Secret Mission and superhero adventure Heroes and Villains.

Need some lesson plan ideas? Check out our Field Trips page to download free lesson plans, access Kahoots! games, and pick our brains for more field trip ideas.

Use our programming to help your students explore some of the big questions about our universe. Choose from a number of programs to meet your students' needs and interests.

Planetarium shows (45 min)

Phantom of the Universe: The Hunt for Dark Matter: Discover more about the dark matter, from the Big Bang, to the theorizing of its existence, to its anticipated discovery at the Large Hadron Collider and the role of scientists associated with Vancouver-based TRIUMF in current scientific break-throughs.

One Sky Project: Indigenous Astronomy

This collection of three short films made for the One Sky Project features Indigenous perspectives of astronomy, space, time and navigation that have been inspiring minds for millennia.

Thunderbird: The sky is a powerful tool for measuring time, and for the Diné, or Navajo people, the Thunderbird transcends space and time, revealing the passage of seasons and connecting earth and sky.

Celestial Canoe: A First People of what is now northern Canada, the Innu, watched the slow turn of a canoe in the sky   mirroring the change in seasons on land. This celestial canoe guided them through a particularly challenging part of the year.

Hawaiian Wayfinders: Hear from a Hawaiian navigator as she describes how the sky provides a compass and calendar for the oceanic people whose voyages connected islands throughout the Pacific Ocean.

One Sky Project: Dreams of the Stars

This collection of three short films made for the One Sky Project features Greek, Indian, and Japanese perspectives of astronomy, history and mythology and how different cultures looking up into the night sky see different stories in the stars and new ways to study them.

The Forge of Artemis: In ancient Greece, Orion was a mighty but not particularly popular hunter, but his constellation shines brightly a familiar shape to people around the world. Why did the goddess Artemis immortalize him in the sky?

The Samurai and the Stars: For many, the stars offer solace and comfort. For our Japanese narrator, images in the sky even the colors of the stars bring back memories of music, history, and childhood.

Jai Singhs Dream: Amid the political chaos of 18th-century India, a great ruler brought the order of the skies down to earth. His giant instruments allowed for precise measurements of stars, planets, and the passage of time and his observatories still stand today!

Big Astronomy
People, Places, Discoveries explores three observatories located in Chile, at extreme and remote places. With its high, dry, and dark sites, Chile is one of the best places in the world for observational astronomy. The show gives examples of the multitude of STEM careers needed to keep the great observatories working, giving us new views of the universe and new data for astronomical science! The show is narrated by Barbara Rojas-Ayala, a Chilean astronomer.

Worlds of Ice

Worlds of Ice invites us on a journey to the farthest reaches of the solar system, travelling through the many dimensions of ice—from the territories of the Arctic to a scientific complex nestled under the South Pole. We experience it all immersed in a kaleidoscopic igloo from which we emerge utterly dazzled by the chronicles of an icy wonderland, to which Beatrice Deer, a popular figure of Inuit culture, has lent her unique voice.

Feature planetarium show: Check our feature show to see how it can support your student’s learning. (Note: feature shows are screened for approximately 6 months.)

GroundStation Canada Shows (20 min)

Planet Hunters: Discover more about planet hunting techniques astronomers use and their quest to find signs of life in the Universe.

Cosmic Glue: Hold onto your seats! We'll discuss Newton's and Einstein's perspectives on gravity and how astronomers use gravity to study the universe.

Colour of Fire
Polaris, our North Star, is made mostly of hydrogen. Have you ever wondered how astronomers obtain such detailed information about stars which are so far away? This blazing 20-minute presentation demonstrates the use of spectroscopy and how it applies to astronomy. 

Space is a Dangerous Place

Space has many hazards. From wild temperature swings to speeding micrometeorites, humans have had to face many challenges. Learn about how space is a dangerous place and how scientists, engineers, and astronauts deal with these many risks.

Cosmic Courtyard Exhibit (30 min)

Visit our space-themed, hands-on exhibit. Students can morph into an alien, touch a Moon rock or event try to lift a meteorite.

We can accomodate 15-150 kids for free multi-sport play at 6 Pack Beach, where you'll never have to worry about the weather.

Choose from the following activities: Beach Volleyball, soccer, dodgeball, tug-o-war, sand castle building, relay races and more!

Play for 2 Hours - $19.55 + tax per student

Play for 3 Hours - $21.85 + tax per student

Come up to Squamish for a great day of fun adventures. Students will enjoy the morning working together in teams on challenges seen on the popular TV series. Then, after a delicious lunch, it’s time for a scenic river experience on our kid-friendly Cheakamus Splash river trip.
Have a really large group? In the morning while one half are doing Survivor, the other half will hop on the river. Then they’ll swap!

WHAT’S INCLUDED?

• 2-hour SURVIVOR event
• 1-hour LUNCH break
• 3-hour CHEAKAMUS river adventure
• PHOTOS of the day

This is a full-day event. Check-in time in Squamish is 9:30am for a 10am Survivor start time, lunch is at 12pm, and the Cheakamus river trip begins at 1pm. Finish and departure time from Squamish will be approximately 4:30pm.
*Please contact us if you need a customized itinerary!

Not a night owl? Rather sleep in your own bed? Not Quite an Overnight may be the program for you. During this 3 hour visit, your group will have their own show in the GroundStation Canada theatre, an orientation to the night sky, a hands-on workshop, and an opportunity to look through our ½ metre telescope (weather permitting).