Does it happen to you that you are physically sitting in class, but your thoughts wander to distant places? Looking for a challenge and interest? You should read the following article.
Dikla Oren
Workshop participants summer 2004
Direct address to this page:
https://www.hayadan.org.il/adash.html
On the fifteenth of August, I showed up at the Weizmann Institute, ready and waiting for what would come up. I didn't know exactly what awaited me, but it didn't matter. I mentally prepared for two weeks full of research, interesting lectures and a lot of fun. What am I talking about? Science workshop for youth named after Amos de Shalit.
Every year since 1964, a two-week research workshop has been held at the Weizmann Institute in the Youth Operations Unit, which is today called the Youth Action Unit. The workshop is suitable for graduates of the XNUMXth and XNUMXth grades. The participants take part in a research project conducted at the institute and hear fascinating lectures from the best scientists. Those who excel in the workshop are candidates for scholarships for higher studies and going on research missions abroad.
Here are the details. Let's move on to what was really there. We met a group of ten high school students and high school graduates, who were going to spend two weeks together in the youth village of Tsmad at the Weizmann Institute. Each participant chose a field of interest - physics, chemistry, biology or mathematics and computer science - and our amazing instructors, Hazi Shaked and Sham Shabtiel, tried to place everyone in the project of their choice.
If you haven't noticed yet, the main purpose of the workshop is to participate in some kind of research. The topics were diverse and from different fields - starting with the control of oscillations, moving on to the study of embryonic cells and ending with experiments on a virtual reality glove. A topic was chosen for each participant or two, and the work in the laboratories began.
In the morning we woke up (usually after many difficulties, who can get up in the morning after a night when you are surrounded by people, talking and hanging out?) and after breakfast where we tried to make faces of cities and enjoyed the dedicated care of the restaurant owners we headed to the laboratories, where we worked until noon. Of course there is a lunch break on the way, where we met and exchanged experiences. How can one forget the descriptions of experiments on mice at the dinner table?
After the work in the labs and a short break, which we sometimes used to go to the pool at the institute, lectures and activities awaited us every day. There is no doubt that it was one of the fun parts of the day. We were exposed to the newest research at the institute, such as the healing of cancerous tumors with the help of photosynthesis or the connection between autoimmune diseases and neurological problems. How can you not enjoy lectures on forensic biology, molecular electronics, tours of the institute on its innovative devices, an instructive lecture on the philosophy behind quantum theory, solving mathematical problems with the help of soap bubbles, and the list goes on. Towards the end of the camp we celebrated with an astronomical observation of the summer sky and a fascinating conversation on the subject of astronomy.
Don't think this is where the fun ends. We should also hang out in other ways, shouldn't we? The institute's swimming pool opened its doors to us, and we took advantage of it for refreshing swims in the middle of the day or for a relaxing night swim. Also, after dinner and the lecture at night, we watched movies that our instructors brought, surfed the internet in the computer room, and most importantly, spent time with each other.
At the end of the first week, it's time to leave the institute and see some sunlight. After the previous evening we organized a meal on the fire and celebrated a bit, we packed backpacks and went on Saturday for a trip to the Beit Govrin caves. The trip was great. We crawled through narrow and dark caves and discovered hidden places. And if we're talking about trips, night trips around the institute helped us get to know the institute by moonlight. There's nothing like a night tour of the institute's quantum electronics lab courtesy of two nice researchers.
Kindness is the word. We were taken care of as best as possible, whether it was our guides and their lovely families, the CMD team or the scientists at the institute. The lecturers looked like they were enjoying themselves, and they stayed after the lectures to answer the barrage of questions we bombarded them with. Also, during one of the breaks, we walked around the physics department and talked to some of the researchers about their research. It was definitely a special experience. It's not every day you get to talk personally with a scientist about his work. Everyone was nice, told us and referred us to other people.
For those wondering, apart from the fun we had and the lectures we heard, if you take a moment and look at the whole experience from a more general point of view, it is very important to experience research work. High school studies are often very different from research work. Both in terms of work habits - there are no classes or ringing, you decide for yourself whether you will work or not, control over the reliability of the results is your responsibility - and in terms of general thinking - there is usually no known answer to the question being investigated. Well gentlemen, apparently this is how things work, and the workshop certainly contributes to strengthening awareness of this fact.
Details about the workshop can be found:
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~988104460~~~226&SiteName=hayadan
