Congratulations on getting your first key! You can’t test it until you collect all of the keys to see if you have the right one.

The next 4 challenges are at the Faculty of Medicine and show you some of the important work that is done in hospitals in order to diagnose illnesses and disease.

Making discoveries by medical research is hard but it is very important for teaching new medical students.

In the first video, Dr. Patricia Cousins explains how the medical school does that uses real bodies to contribute to science and research.

You’re on a roll with 2 keys! Well-done!

Have you ever wondered what your cells look like on the inside?  The parts inside of your cells (organelles) have a lot of  important jobs to do every day. Watch Danielle Gardiner in the second video to see all the important organelles at work each day, even when you sleep!

And just like that you are at your third stop in the Medical School! You are doing great!

Since cells are so small, how do scientists and doctors see inside? If you guessed a microscope, you’re right! But not all microscope are the same and some are way more powerful than others. Join medical technologist, Stephanie Tucker, to see how much work is needed to be able to see cells on an electron microscope.

Great job, you already have 4 keys!

Your fifth key is waiting below with medical technologist Corinne Mercer who explains how medical students are taught and the important differences in human blood – it is not all the same!

Key #6 is right ahead! Great job in the medical school, you whizzed through that!

Next you are on to MUN’s Biochemistry Department with Hannah, Oishi, Jannath, and Jenna for a lesson on acids and bases. If you have every wondered why vinegar tastes sour, keep going to find out!  You can do these experiments at home too!

The pH scale from 1-14 indicates how many H+ ions are in a substance. A substance with a lot of H+ ions is acidic and a substance with not very many is basic. Many substances that we use everyday rely on the pH scale, including the foods that we eat. Making cheese starts with milk and acids to produce curds (cheese proteins). You can also use the colour of foods to indicate how acidic or basic they are and how much H+ ions are in them as a result.

You’re going to need a big pouch to carry all your keys – you’re not done yet!

The next 3 keys are earned in the Engineering Department and require you to get hands on!

For this activity you will need:

Materials:

• A cup
• A lid made of plastic, cardboard, or cardstock paper
• Water

Directions:

1. Before you begin, make sure your lid is flat and is slightly bigger than the opening of the cup
2. Gather your materials and set up to do the experiment over a sink or tub
3. Pour water into your cup until it is about half full
4. Use one hand to hold your cup with water in it and the other to firmly place and hold the lid tightly over the top of your cup. Make sure that the lid is bigger than the top of the cup, as you need to cover the entire top of the cup!
5. While holding the lid on top of the cup, turn the cup completely upside down
6. Remove your hand from the lid and see what happens!

When you hold a lid on top of the cup and turn the cup upside down, gravity pulls all the water in the cup to the new bottom of the cup. But if gravity pulls the water down, why doesn’t it cause the lid to fall off?

The first reason has to do with physics. The pressure in the cup must match the pressure outside of the cup and forces must be balanced, so there is a force pushing up on the lid to prevent the imbalance a vacuum inside the cup would form.

The second reason is because of the water property called cohesion, which describes what happens to molecules of a substance that really like each other and want to stick together. Water is made up of tons of molecules that really like sticking together, and also like to stick to other, non-oily molecules, like the lid. This property is called adhesion, and water is so cohesive and adhesive that this cool trick works!

Great job, you will solve this mystery in no time!

In order to get key #8, you have to get your thinking cap on for another activity with some materials around your house.

You will need:

• a clear measuring cup or glass
• some water
• a small piece of fruit or vegetable (a small potato, clementine, strawberry or apple pieces would work well)

Instructions:

1. Fill your measuring cup half way with water, using the measurements on the cup.
2. Drop your fruit or veggie piece in the water
3. Check your water level again…has it changed?
4. What do you think happened?

You’re getting close to the end, only a couple more keys to collect. Great job so far on collecting 8 keys!

The last activity in the Engineering Department has you investigating with pepper. Have you ever noticed that pepper floats? Do you know why?  Keep going to find out!

You will need the following:

Materials:

• Pepper
• Dish Soap
• Shallow Bowl or Plate
• Water
• Finger or toothpick

Steps:

1. Fill your bowl or plate with about an inch of water
2. Sprinkle your pepper over the surface of the water, it should float on top
3. Before you dip your finger or toothpick in the pepper water, what do you think will happen?
4. Dip your finger or toothpick in the dish soap, then carefully place it in the middle of the water

You have arrived at the last and final key!! Congrats on a job well-done! One more key to collect and you will have all 10 keys to get to the pets.

Your last stop has you in the Chemistry Department interpreting different kinds of reactions – watch the video for some cool chem in action!

You have found the animals being hidden in the basement of the new Core Science Building on Memorial University’s campus. The culprit thought this would be a good hiding place because the building is under construction and closed BUT they are no match for your quick thinking and investigative skills!  The key that opened the door to the basement was key#6 from the Biochemistry Department. Congrats on solving the mystery and returning the pets to all your neighbours – everyone is very relieved!

Next year, Science Rendezvous will happen on campus (hopefully) in the new Core Science Building above, which is scheduled to open in Fall of 2021. We are very excited to continue Science Rendezvous in the new building – there will be a whale skeleton on display in the whale atrium and lots of exciting things to see. To find out more about the Core Science building go to https://www.mun.ca/csf/.