Tours

2024 Tours

This year, several tours have been arranged in order to provide insights into unique facets of the Guelph campus, and to enable participation where shadowing a parent is deemed inappropriate.

• These tours are available for limited group sizes and must be registered for in advance. 
• Please indicate your interest in having your son or daughter join a tour on the Release and Indemnification Form.
• Parents/ guardians will receive confirmation of tour enrollment.
• Parents/ guardians need to make arrangements to get your son or daughter to and from the tours

Tour 1: Robots at work (9:15 am – 10:15 am)
Have you ever wondered how robots are directed to complete tasks? Come learn about the programming language used to guide their actions and the uses of robots in industry. Observation of students working on their projects in the labs may be possible.  Meet at RICH2504 at 9:15 am.  Maximum 20 participants.

Tour 2: Nature's Marks (9:30 am – 11 am) 
Do you really know who is living in and visiting your backyard? Sometimes it is hard to see critters but they leave traces of their presence behind - scat, holes, and nests. Become an investigator and discover who lives and lurks in The Arboretum! We will start and conclude at the Arboretum Kiosk located on Arboretum Road past Alumni house. Maximum 15 participants. Dress for the weather.

Tour 3: Breaking Bad in the Chemistry Lab (10 am – 11:30) 
Chemistry is fun! Come and perform a real experiment and learn about some of the techniques and equipment used in the lab.  Meet at Summerlee Science Complex 3108, 10:00 am - 11:30 am.  Enroll early!! Limited to 12 participants. 

Tour 4: College of Arts – an interactive Culture and Technology Studies workshop (10 am – 11:30 am)
Zine-making with CTS! Join students and faculty from the Culture + Technology Studies program to make zines in THINC Lab (located in McLaughlin Library)! Bring your artistic side and we’ll provide the materials to create tiny magazines on a topic of your choosing! Limited to 10 participants. 

Tour 5: Biodiversity, Insect Collection and DNA Barcoding (11 am – 12 pm)
Ever wonder how DNA is determined and used to identify species? Meeting at the entrance to the Centre for the Biodiversity Genomics, building 135, starting at 11 am, this 60-minute tour will include a review of DNA barcoding processes and a visit to the Centre’s insect collection. Limited to 10 participants.

Tour 6: Ontario Veterinary College Complex tour (12:30 pm – 1:20)
Beginning (and completing) outside OVC Lifetime Learning Centre Room #1713, this tour is of veterinary teaching spaces for about 50 minutes, led by student veterinarians in the DVM program. Perfect for all future veterinarians! Maximum 30 participants.  Due to biosecurity and confidentiality concerns, visitors to OVC are not permitted to “wander around” or explore within the clinics without a guide. Please note that there is a strict no photography or video recording policy in areas where animal patients or client names are present. Children under the age of 12 are not permitted on tours.

Tour 7: Department of Athletics (1 pm to 1:45 pm) 
Tour the state of the art, award-winning Athletics facilities and learn about the benefits of physical activity on mental health and well-being. Meet in the Lobby, through the Larry Pearson entrance. Limited to 20 participants.

Tour 8: Bovey Greenhouse (1:30 pm – 2:30pm)
This 1-hour tour will commence from the front foyer of the Bovey Building. See current research projects and answer questions such as: "Can plants help treat cancer in humans?"  Visit the Bovey tropical plant collection and learn about plants that are part of the world's food economy as well as those that are just plain weird! As time allows, participants will propagate a plant to take home. Limited to 20 participants.

Tour 9: Campus tours (2 pm – 3:30 pm)
Starting at the University Centre, this tour runs for 1.5 hours and covers all the highlights of campus! Stops include: Rozanski Hall, the Science Complex Atrium, the Library, MacNaughton Bookstore, Athletics, Creelman dining hall and residence. Tours start from the Campus Tour Centre, third floor UC (take the North elevator) and finish in the UC main level courtyard.  Max 30 participants.

Tour 10: Meeting the animals that help us all (3 pm – 4 pm)
The CAF houses a wide variety of animals for research and teaching including: mice, rats, pigs and dogs. The tour will visit various animal holding areas and procedural spaces while talking about the unique features of the facility, the guidelines that must be followed, some of the ongoing research and the care of the animals in the facility including environmental enrichment strategies. Starting at 3:00 pm, this 1 hour tour will meet in the foyer of the Central Animal Facility, on McGilvray Lane. Open to 15 participants only.