The traditional and rather boring periodic table got a new life and a lot, a lot of color, after two years of writing and designing. On her way to elementary school? One of the goals of the project is to interest the children in science, so that they will want to explore nature when they grow up.
Recently, a crowdfunding project was launched to explain the world to children through the periodic table, resurrected in illustrations and stories. For this purpose, the group is raising a crowd-funded budget that will allow them to understand the connection between the small particles and the big things that we see in our day-to-day lives.
For an explanation on the project page
Most readers of the site are familiar with the periodic table: square, sparse on information and the information that already exists appears in the form of dry numbers. The table is made of squares-squares, without charm, with two or three colors, and that's it. It may be useful for high school students, but to place it as it is in an elementary school in order to promote scientific thinking and interest small children, is a far-fetched idea. There were attempts to adapt the table for children, a little more color, a drawing here and there, but in essence it remained the same, poor and boring. Then Assaf Avraham arrived, and after two years of work he produced a huge table containing various and diverse details, explanations, drawings and photos, and a lot of interest and color.
What is the motivation to create such a project?
The awareness of the importance of science is sometimes more important than the science itself. Perhaps it is worth clarifying a point here: the world is divided into two, one group is scientists and people who live according to the spirit of science for whom science is of course important, they know it and its contribution to humanity, and there is the rest. So-and-so, whether he meant it or not, he is on a certain side, the side that promotes science or the side that degenerates it. There is no middle ground. Most people like to see "shades of gray" but in this case, even if someone comes and says "science is important but I'm not interested, so I won't work to promote it", it turns out that he contributes to the degeneration of science, because science needs to be promoted. He is not a creature of nature. The sun should not be promoted. Whether you are interested in her or not, she will continue to shine. If people ignore science, it will disappear. Therefore, everyone should calculate for themselves, in which type of culture they want to live: according to what exists today, or according to what was thousands of years ago, and act accordingly.
How was the idea born?
The original idea was to create a periodic table for my son (then 9 years old), who one day asked if the four element model as shown to viewers in one of the animated series was correct. Then it turned out that his whole class learned that this is the composition of the world. I do not expect children in the third grade to have in-depth knowledge of chemistry, but on the other hand it became clear that they have difficulty distinguishing between reality and imagination in what is shown to them on the screen, and in conversations with parents, it became clear that most parents do not know what to answer. For several weeks he tried to convince his class that there are 118 known elements, brought a list of elements I made for him, and finally managed to convince most of them. But I decided to go a step further and try to create a table that would cover an extensive canvas with a minimum of complication, and I began to build a graphic design and a certain concept, how the table and its surroundings should look, what information it would contain, where it should be and what would be done with it.
Then?
So I decided that the main idea "in the field" would be enrichment activities. Enrichment and not regulated study because I am not coming to replace an existing curriculum, nor promote things before their time. I designed a table that is very colorful and rich in information, and the purpose of this design is to attract attention because I did not want the table to remain as an ordinary picture on the wall. Big and colorful things attract the eye and the heart, arousing interest and curiosity especially in children. Watch any animated series, any children's poster, go into a toy store and you will see the same thing. Everything is big, busy and colorful. The next step was to figure out what should appear as information. It was clear that the classic tables would not do the job, the name of the element, its symbol, the atomic number and maybe one or two other figures, it's quite boring. The main design idea was to combine simple text with images for illustration. Pictures "speak" more to children than texts, so I added pictures that show the basic uses and their condition in nature alongside the textual description. Also, in order to show that the discovery of the elements was made over hundreds of years and by people, I added next to most of the elements the name of the scientist who discovered it and the year of discovery. This, in order to show children that scientific progress is made by people just like them, from all over the world. My son asked about one of the elements why it was called that, what the meaning of the name is, and this led me to add to the elements their meaning as well, thus "closing a corner" of something unclear. Thus, after two or three weeks of designing and layout games, I came up with a fairly clear concept of a basic cell, which I duplicated 118 times.
But the table you designed does not only include basics
Right. The title of the table is "The Periodic Table of the Elements". So the question arises, what is a "foundation"? and not only. The texts present various terms that are unfamiliar to the children, but at the same time they can be explained relatively simply and make the children get a more or less basic picture of what is happening. That's how I started writing down terms unfamiliar to children, and created a sort of small dictionary for the table. But while working, another challenge arose, when I realized that describing an atom as a particle of matter would raise the question "what is the atom made of", and therefore I was "forced" to elaborate on an electron, proton and neutron, and here too the question repeated itself. At the same time, the question arose "in the other direction", what is between an invisible atom, the material we see and feel, and larger structures - people, buildings, nature, galaxies... This is how the scheme was born that draws children the basic "route" from individual quarks to "Animal-Plant-Still" known to them from school lessons.
Another thing I added is the explanation of the chemical formula as "the laws of nature". Here I gave a literal meaning to the element symbol and again I connect the matter to school studies, when I describe formulas as sentences, and chemistry as a language, which may be obvious to most of us, but may create an easier and clearer connection with the world of science for the children.
Despite all the content, the child eventually asks, well, I understood that there are elements and that the world is made up of all kinds of materials. Why does this have to do with me? So in order to create a real personal "connection", I added a red heart to each element that participates in building the human body. This way the child can see that he, his family, his friends, and all the people around him are made of the same materials. The possibilities for education for the respect of man and the environment based on this fact are very large, because very quickly the assumption that we are one big family arises.
The last thing added is an explanation of the scientific method, because one of the main goals is to expose the children and youth to the scientific concept, to the idea behind it, to the creation of the cognitive-operative distinction between reality and imagination.
You talked about what was happening "in the field", school activities. What is beyond that?
I thought about an activity sharing site. Activities need to be invented. Each institution invents for itself, but then the question arose, why not share activities with each other. And if sharing, why not also give access to improve existing activities? So I sat down for a few days and designed a website that covers quite a few options. As part of the development, a new idea was born, or an additional concept for this project: in fact, anyone can come up with an idea for an activity, why not give everyone the opportunity to contribute activities and ideas? This is how the project turned from a closed institutional idea into a completely open public idea.
Why reveal science at elementary school age? Do you feel that science is threatened?
Science is threatened, but it is not so much related to religions as is commonly thought. The main threat exists in the form of "the obvious". We got used to it, our life is "honey" as they say, compared to what was in the world until only a hundred years ago. We receive things that are a distinct scientific product, of course - we turn on a tap at home, and of course there is water, we go to the grocery store, and of course there are vegetables and fruits, we press a switch and of course there is light. We take it for granted that next year a new generation of computers will be released, it is clear to everyone that there will be new antibiotics, that it will be possible to fly to the moon and much more. Every aspect of our life is based on science, and we have gotten used to it so well, that failures seem very strange to us, for example, that a mother dies during childbirth, or that it is very unusual to have a failure in some device, or an area without reception, etc. When you get used to good being available without interruption and limitation, you stop thinking about where it came from, what efforts were invested in it and what needs to be done in order to preserve it. A good example of this is something that happens to all of us - we get annoyed with devices. A computer that "falls", a car that doesn't move suddenly. Why do we get angry? Also because in our eyes these things are perfect, this is also one of the reasons people don't back up their information. The computer worked yesterday, there is no reason why it won't work today. A user whose computer is stuck will not start thinking that "well, it is possible because it was designed by humans and computer science and materials engineering have not yet reached a stage of miraculous reliability, and perhaps the heat dissipation was not designed well or statistically there is a chance that I am using a damaged disk". No. He will shout in surprise "No! No way! why did this happen?…".
So where's the problem?
The problem lies in the fact that the technological world, from temptation in the grocery store to the space shuttle, seems so perfect that we lose interest in it. During the creation of the table I shared the idea with adults. As I asked younger people, aged forty and under, they had no idea what a periodic table was, some of them did not know the names of elements. Older fifty-somethings, remember. This discovery was shocking to me, but provided an excellent explanation for why young people are misled by pseudo-scientific ideas such as alternative medicine or witchcraft and superstitions. They have no tools to distinguish between reality and imagination. They are not exposed to science from a young age and this deprivation is getting worse to the point of affecting their ability to make day-to-day decisions. Today there are a lot of mental stimuli, especially for children. If until the seventies, a child could occupy himself with reading a book, a class, a youth movement, football in the neighborhood or wandering with friends in wild areas, then today there are so many things that curiosity disappears, and along with it self-exploration. We simply got used to everything we want being found and in abundance, so who cares how it was created, what it is made of and whether there will be a new generation of it, because it exists now and of course there will be tomorrow as well. And if this is not enough, then more and more occupations enter in the same given and fixed time frame.
Today there is a decline in the world's interest in science. I had a conversation with someone, a scientist herself, who claimed that there is an excess of scientists today. Suppose there is a surplus, which is a product of the education of 25 years ago, but it is today's surplus. If today there is a surplus and we do not invest in the next generation of scientists, who will staff the laboratories in 30-20 years? Who will develop drugs? Who will operate the electricity company's facilities? In the past we treated Israel's water reservoirs like this, and today we are on red and black lines. I received enrollment data for master's degrees in science and engineering at universities in Israel, we have nothing to be optimistic about regarding the future of biology, chemistry, physics and engineering studies. While the population of Israel is growing, the number of students is "shuffling" in more or less the same place. The situation in the USA is no better: of all master's degrees in 1966, 29% were in the fields of science and engineering. Since then there has been a decrease, and in 2010 they were only 20%. If we don't invest today from first grade and catch the children in time, science will also dry up like the Sea of Galilee.
But today there are "scientist" children
Yes. There will always be those who will be interested in research using the scientific method. There were both 2500 years ago and 5000 years ago. The question is the welfare of the human race. We live from science: medicine and extending life expectancy, food production for all, environment, technology and more, all based on science. If 2500 years ago you had 1000 scientists in the world, of which we remember, say, 50 who were the "highlight" of that time, and today you have millions of scientists and research and abundance are manifested like never before, would you want to go back to the period 2500 years ago? I'm sure not, and the problem is that people don't know how possible and realistic going back is. A generation or two of neglecting scientific education is enough for us to start going back to ancient times. It is possible.
What is the ultimate goal of the project? what are you trying to achieve
We must, both as the human race and as the State of Israel, preserve the inherent curiosity in children. If we want to continue the trend of human development further into the unknown realms of the future, if we want to defeat diseases, extend life, eliminate hunger, understand the universe, and also colonize other stars because there is no promise that tomorrow our planet will still be able to support life, we must start early. The line of thought is inculcated in first grade, the desire to know and explore is preserved and nurtured from a young age, in the simple things like teaching children what the world is made of, from dealing with the perception of the obvious, this is the only way we will move forward. Why did the countries of the USSR and the Soviet bloc win gold medals in the Olympics and have a good name in the sports world? Because they started teaching sports from the age of five. So at the age of 20 the gymnast won a gold medal. The same goes for world famous musicians, racing drivers, and so on. The private model for the individual is also suitable as an education policy in the country. start from a young age.
Also as the state of Israel?
Yes. We have a problem. The State of Israel has almost nothing to offer the world. True, we sell potash and bromine, there is tourism according to the mood of terrorism, there is agricultural export and that's basically it. But we sell science. A lot of science, and in every field, agricultural, security, medical, communication and computers for decades. Every field is touched by science, and these are mostly our scientists. There will be no scientists, there will be nothing to sell to the world, and the world will lose its interest in Israel. Most of us trust the Americans, we enjoy good relations with the USA today thanks to American Jewry. It was recently published that close to 60% of American Jews assimilate, consider themselves "Jews and nothing else". I'm not an expert in politics and international relations, but if US Jews stop being a target audience in the presidential race we may find ourselves in a rather cold world. Should not.
Furthermore, according to a published report, "Indices of education and training for the training of scientific-technological personnel in Israel 1999-2009", there is a decline in education in the field of science and technology, and the issue was already revealed in the PISA index of the year 2000. There are quite a few reports on the subject.
In the practical aspect, how do you run such a project?
I have never created and implemented a nationwide project, so I am learning "on the road". The table is quite ready, I have done some small scale trial prints and currently have three full scale tables hanging in schools for trial. Of course this operation needs to be financed. After considering all kinds of options, I chose crowdfunding. The project is social, for the public and for the country. Even the actual implementation - activities, ideas, is with public participation. It is usually accepted in crowdfunding projects that the public donates an amount, receives a "return" and that ends its role. This is just the beginning. But now that we have started, the future is in the hands of the public.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
39 תגובות
Hello, where can I purchase a copy please?
He offers from the stands
I know the series and the amazing episode about the gold, I especially liked it.
The periodic table project makes use of the story of the chemical elements, but its purpose is not to teach chemistry, but rather exposure to the world of science, encouraging questions and research and bringing science home.
friends don't fight,
If it is important for you to expose your children to the story of the chemical elements, I wholeheartedly recommend the YouTube channel (in English)
the periodic table of videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/periodicvideos
In which there is an interesting video about each element, usually a Jewish professor from Uni' Nottingham is interviewed there
With the story of the discovery of the element, its uses, experiments and more.
The chapter on gold is especially recommended, where you visit the vaults of the British Bank.
Speaking of crowdfunding, I wonder how much it will cost to add a Hebrew translation to the videos..
Assaf Avraham, once again you can solve the above problem in all kinds of ways, for example: splitting the table into parts (groups of elements in different prints can cut costs and also maintain the quality of the table.) You are starting from a wrong assumption where the table will be active regularly which is not true Obviously (I studied at a school that invested thousands of shekels in various scientific facilities and they were deserted for the whole year). You only focus on a few subjects and do not stimulate the child (fields such as engineering, biology, physics and astronomy.), you will need experienced instructors who will expose the child to science (with all due respect to the Israeli education system, most teachers are not interested in science themselves and certainly will not interest the child). I return to the matter of the activities. You focus too much on the activities around the table which (in my opinion) should be used as a means of focusing on the topic of chemistry but not as the main point.
Regarding crowdfunding. You are asking so much for something that is still not sure that it will help at all, yes you ran the project in three schools but in a capitalist society and for such an amount you have to show an extraordinary profit (results), in addition you do not have any statistics on the degree of success of the project like what do you think of the students, teachers and parents, for example conduct a survey before placing the table on how many of the students are thinking about a scientific career, how much the parents are aware of science and what is the degree of interest of the students in scientific fields, and after a few months check again.
I think you should start smaller, maybe 100 schools nationwide, combining the above suggestions and see where it goes. The price should be correspondingly low and you will have data that you can present to various organizations that can help you finance the project.
Good luck and good night.
Ariel,
There is no question of justice here. The table is indeed huge, and the reasons for this are varied - visual presence, a multitude of different types of content, the possibility of running several children in front of it, which is not possible with a table of standard size of 70*100, the need to add the content to the right of the table itself also increased the area. In my experience, institutions that wanted a copy and got it, found somewhere to hang it. If you want - you can. The cost of the table is of course also affected by its size, material and printing technology.
Regarding reducing the table, I'm just saying that the size of the contents is adjusted to the size of the table. You can make it smaller, but we'll see you letting the kids read millimeter-sized letters. If you reduce and do not reduce contents, everything is reduced in the same proportion. If you reduce the size and also reduce the content accordingly, you might even be able to print on paper and get a discount, but you will have to replace the table every year due to wear and tear, and besides, what will you have left in the content? almost nothing So you scattered 3000 tables with no content at zero cost. Cheap, but you didn't achieve your goals, you don't have funding to build a website and there's no point in the activities... believe me, I thought about everything, I checked, I tried, I made small test prints, I let the children read from a distance... A cheap price gives a "cheap" product, and it's not up to standards, Mine at least…
From the child's point of view, the goal is indeed to arouse interest, to engage the children in various activities around the contents of the table, not necessarily only in the fields of science. There is no point in memorizing material or learning parts by heart. The table does not come to replace chemistry studies in high school. The activities on the site are only an example of the nature of the expected activities. I wrote some myself for that matter. There will be more, and not just from me. As I wrote and said, anyone can write an activity.
Regarding crowdfunding - the amount is huge for crowdfunding sites, where most projects raise thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, I agree with you, the masses are not interested in science, but worse, are not aware of its importance, neither on a personal level nor on a strategic level, and this is where the great danger lies. So-and-so can say "I'm not interested so I don't read science news" and that's fine. The problem is that it continues "so I won't teach my children scientific thinking and it doesn't matter to me whether or not there will be science at all".
When you wrote "will appeal to all strata of the people", what did you mean? 3000 elementary schools are all levels of the people (with the exception of the ultra-orthodox sector at the moment).
Assaf Avraham, I think that Albenzo is right, you really need to reduce the table more.
Your table is very interesting but also very expensive. In addition, there is no room for other scientific fields such as biology (a field that children find very interesting), the activities you have listed on your website are a bit...too boring and lacking in uniqueness. If you want to get children to turn to the scientific direction, you need to challenge them, intrigue them and not necessarily put empty facts into their heads (memorizing the periodic table is nice, but it will not intrigue the child or give him useful information). Another thing is the activities remind me of homework in verbose fields, and you don't want to make students hate science, but love it.
The idea of crowdfunding is nice, but unfortunately the crowd you are turning to for funding probably won't see the importance of the project as you do. The reason for this is quite simple, the masses are not as interested in science as you mentioned at the beginning of the interview, and those who are will probably not contribute $1.2M.
I hope you will change the project so that it will cost less, include more subjects (perhaps illustrated books will do a better job)
will appeal to all strata of the people, challenge gifted students and intrigue them.
Say, how surprised do you think I am that you ignored all the criticism…?
Let's make a short summary:
1. I showed you that you started with the aggressive line, you chose to ignore.
2. I asked you to prove your false claims, you chose to ignore.
3. I explained to you that my criticism is that the project is too expensive for its usefulness, and your entire response completely ignores that and only acts (falsely and maliciously) as if I am claiming that it is not worth investing in.
4. Will a poster at a quarter of the cost give a quarter of the result? really? What exactly did you decide that on? If the student doesn't feel tiny next to your monster then he won't understand that there are more than 4 elements? Again, you just completely dodged the question - what makes a 2 x 5 meter poster better than a 1 x 2.5 meter poster, other than it being more expensive?
5. I gave a review, until now you ignored it, and you say that I "don't come off the tree". What a joke. A joke even if we don't take into account the fact that your statement that I "don't come off the tree" was made even before I said even one argument...
6. You dodge again and again and again. I asked two questions - the first, what is less effective in a small poster? You claim that it has less content, but that is not factually true. After all, even your own website has a poster a quarter of the size that contains the same content. And even if it was true, who decided that a little more content that can be pushed into a monstrous poster is worth a quarter of the price? You really can't understand the idea of doing something cheap with millions of shekels and using them for something else in the field of scientific education? Do you really believe that if it's not part of your poster, it's not worth it? How come you can't understand the simplest criticism there is?
7. I understand. So what you are saying is that you are offended and that is why you are unable to answer two simple questions.
8. My dear, ego here is only in the person who thinks that the plate he made is worth an investment of five million shekels...
9. Yes, I repeat the economic argument. Let me explain again because it's quite clear that you don't understand what's going on here: I had a criticism that the project is too expensive in relation to its usefulness - that is, that it could be drastically discounted and still maintain its usefulness at a reasonable level. Since then you attack, evade, change the subject and gives straw men. I'll say it again: the economic argument is all there is here. The whole discussion is about the economic argument. Maybe in your head you created some imaginary scenario where I try to destroy your baby and tell you that everything you did was bad and destroy education in Israel, etc. You simply do not understand that all that is happening here is that they brought you a (financial) criticism and you go into hysteria of swans instead of answering. And sorry, I'm very sorry, but your statement "a poster at a quarter of the cost is a quarter of the result" is not considered an answer. This is the evasion of a man who has no answer.
No, what guides my line of thought is not money. What guides him is how to do the best to improve the state of science in Israel, and this means - if there are five million shekels, what are the things that can be done with them that will help us in the best way. Too bad you can't grasp this super simple idea. It's not money, it's survival. You are like a father of a family of ten who decides to spend the entire budget on a fillet steak, and when you try to explain to him that with the same money you can buy rice and chicken for a month, he says "You are only interested in money, so what if it is expensive, feeding my family is a supreme value and it is worth it It". Amazing how you keep arguing at all.
Maybe instead of trying to explain to me about the state of science in Israel and its importance, you would call an organization like "Youth Seeking Science". Tell them that you are interested in donating five million shekels and you want to know what to do with such an amount of money. You will get some proportion to how much money you are interested in investing in Plect.
Well, let it be…
1+2 You repeatedly repeat the economic argument without having any idea about the costs of such a project.
3. It is clear that if there are mistakes it should be standardized, I have no problem with that and that is why I released the table months ago in order to get feedback, not only on content but on design and other matters. Dozens of people sent, what could be assimilated was assimilated. The proposals I am referring to and you understand them yourself is changing essential details in the plan such as the scope of distribution, size and the like. I know there are people who don't care what the final product is, but the main thing is that it should be cheap. I hope you are not one of them. Just so you know, although it is possible to print in China and get a discount, I prefer to divide the work among several printing houses in Israel. Such an attitude, you can mock, that's fine.
4. A poster at a quarter of the cost will give a quarter of the result (or less).
5. There was none of these things but as I said at the beginning, you don't get off the money argument tree.
6. Read again. Read your rhetoric. Even if you didn't mean to, that's how it turns out. Regarding your question, one of the goals is exposure of the maximum population to create a change in the perception of science among the population, students and parents. That's why there's not much point in starting with 100 schools, or with one as this was also suggested to me. There is also a very limited time frame to correct the situation. Reducing the poster to a quarter will significantly reduce the scope of the content, the result will be less interesting, less visually significant and so on.
7. Criticism is legitimate, wording is another story. There is a fundamental difference between "It seems very expensive to me, maybe you can explain why this amount" and "1.2 million dollars is simply a ridiculous amount. It's hard to read it and keep a serious face." Also the type of responses accordingly. And again you repeat the economic argument.
8. Be careful not to explode with too much ego. And again you repeat the economic argument. I don't need to be declared a savior. What is this thing? are you real? And again the rhetoric "and how ridiculous it is to take on a project that at the end of the day is nothing more than a project"... why do you complain when you receive responses in the same style?
9. And again you repeat the economic argument.
Briefly explain yourself. You think it is expensive, what guides your line of thought is first of all money, then execution and results. OK. Sometimes it fits and sometimes it doesn't. not today. Do you think so? We can continue this discussion forever. In the end, Israel survives on science, I guess you know that science in Israel is on the decline. I'm one of those who complain but also do, so for two and a half years I did. Now I want to apply. Will succeed - great. It won't work, the problem will continue. Maybe we will find another solution. maybe not.
I've pretty much exhausted this discussion. We got it, money.
Happy New Year
I agree with Assaf Avraham
Wow, where to start.
1. "Instead of asking questions, you attack...". First, you are the one who started attacking. I wrote one line about the fact that five million shekels is an astronomical amount, and you are the one who accused me of speaking without reading (even though I read everything), of lying (you continued to insist that I didn't read even though I told you I did), of coming up with some example and not willing to give up about her (even though at this point you haven't heard even one of my arguments) etc. Second, you wrote "instead of asking questions" when in my previous reply I asked questions. But don't worry, we'll get back to that in a moment.
2. "Determines facts and defends them fiercely". Please back it up with facts. Show a quote from me stating a fact, then show a quote from me fiercely defending it. Right now you are in the possession of a liar, because what you are talking about simply never happened.
3. "Offers proposals unrelated to the essence of the program". What offers are you talking about? About the fact that I suggested not teaching the students that God is a star? Or maybe about the fact that I suggested not to start straight away with 3000 schools? Or did I offer a smaller poster? So first of all, I didn't suggest these things. Feel free to scroll back and see that I asked what their implications are. Moreover, my criticism in the first place was about the psychopathic cost of the project and therefore I do not feel the need to apologize that the questions I asked are about how costs can be cut. Your whining that the "offers are not related to the essence" is just a way to avoid giving an answer on financial issues.
4. "You have already determined that it is possible to cut." I didn't decide, I asked. Yes, that thing you accused me of not doing (maybe you should scroll back and see exactly what I wrote. I'll help you: "What would happen if...", "How much could you cut costs if..."). But yes - you'll have to work pretty hard to convince me that a quarter-sized poster won't cut costs. I read all your (somewhat arduous) explanations on the website about how you arrived at the said size, and your searches to find the right material and the right printing machine. Are you trying to say that if you limited the poster to a standard size that could be made in any reasonable printing house, you couldn't cut costs significantly? If that's the case, then at least say it instead of evading and blaming, but I have to warn you - if that's what you're claiming, I'm definitely going to check if it's true.
5. "Blame me for daring to disagree with your review." I didn't blame you, I drew your attention to the fact that you didn't address it at all but only cracked a series of straw men, distractions, evasions and personal attacks (yes, to argue that I didn't read after I wrote to you explicitly that I did, is a personal attack. To tell me that I decided in advance what It is true that I "will not come down from this tree" even before you have heard even one argument from me, this is a personal attack).
6. "Your criticism is legitimate, but you should expect that there are also answers." So please, give them. So far you've just dodged. Please explain how the efficiency of the project would be affected if your plot was not the size of a football field, but "only" a quarter? Explain to me - because I really don't understand - what is the justification for looking for funding for 3000 institutions when in the meantime you don't even know how effective your project is (and correct me if I'm wrong, but it currently exists in three institutions according to your website, and based on this or based on the knowledge of your children's friends cannot be evaluated effectively). But really, the main criticism is about the size (and this, because the size is the main reason why you have to spend close to NIS 2000 for the institution).
7. "Your efforts to discredit and spoil". Shame on you. Spoil? How exactly did I screw up? Wait, the fact that I don't roll out a red carpet for you and say that you are the best thing that happened to humanity is spoiling it? I came with a super-legitimate criticism, which you only prove more and more that you are not able to deal with it. Plus, I didn't slander one bit. As I already said, you are the one who dragged the debate from a legitimate criticism of inflated costs to the personal level.
8. "You could be of help". My dear, I'm willing to bet that in one year I contributed more to science education than you will contribute in your lifetime. At the moment I am not in Israel, but for years I have worked (mainly on a voluntary basis) with science-seeking youth and other organizations working for the benefit of scientific advancement among the gifted sections of the population, as well as among those who are struggling. Maybe that's why I understand how much you can do with five million shekels, and how ridiculous it is to take a project that at the end of the day is nothing more than a project and inflate it into something that requires such huge funding. That's why I understand what you refuse to understand (probably because of your emotional connection to the project and the investment you've invested in it that blinds you to reality) - to spend such an amount on such a project is simply absurd. I claim that a *similar* project can be built with much smaller costs, mainly by cutting the monstrous size which will not only lower the printing costs (simply because the cost is proportional to the size), but also will not require you to go to special materials and special printers. Such a project, with a reasonably sized plot, will have a similar efficiency, only that you will be left with a few million shekels that can be invested in other things.
8. "There are also negative people." Obviously, anyone who doesn't immediately proclaim you as the savior of science education is a negative person. It is not possible, God forbid, that there are people who simply see that you take a good cause, and a project that may be good, and simply inflate it without any connection to reality into something that needs a small country to budget for it...
9. "Sometimes the question is not the price. Ask any person who has goals." Okay, so like I said, what you're saying is a cute feel-good cliché, but it doesn't work that well when you're trying to criticize the financial side of your project. So as a person who has goals, and who is probably a little more knowledgeable about scientific advancement in Israel than you (with all due respect), I can tell you that there are sometimes projects that, because of their importance, are worth doing, regardless of the price. But between these projects and your project there is a fundamental difference: they are as cheap as they can be (or they are financed from an independent pocket). That is, the State of Israel can decide on health insurance for every citizen (a non-trivial expense, which a large part of the world's countries are not prepared to do) because of its tremendous importance. But this health insurance will be managed as efficiently and cheaply as possible, and will not include unnecessary surgeries, or a personal chef who will make you a truffle omelette when you are dehydrated. Your project - and God help me understand what you don't understand about it - seems like it is unnecessarily expensive. Just because in your head there is a huge plaque in every school in Israel. I'm not saying to throw the project in the trash, I'm trying to understand why it can't be significantly discounted (for example, by reducing your super-massive plaque). Meanwhile, you dodged (rather pathetically) and refused to comment. You attacked me personally, tried to change the subject, accused me of spoiling the project and what not.
And why? Because of ego?
Again, elbentzo, instead of asking questions you attack, state facts and fiercely defend them, offer suggestions unrelated to the essence of the program because you do not know the reason for any technical or graphic or financial characteristic, but you already state that "you can cut", start with a hundred institutions , reduce the table and so on and more blame me for daring to disagree on your review and I'm not trying to have a dialogue. Come on... your criticism is legitimate but you should expect that there are also answers.
Perhaps, if you took your efforts to discredit and spoil in the other direction, you could be of help. But there are also negative people, this is expected, known, and not surprising. And yes, sometimes the question is not the price. Ask any person who has goals. You will find that there are many projects with an "astronomical price" and not economic, and still people put aside the economic thinking in favor of the goals.
Joash,
Two years ago I started uploading versions of the table for people to download and comment on. You are talking about version 1, today's version is 27, and the home version is 8. You, too, have no idea about the project beyond the number you see on the funding website.
Lol
The table was ready for printing already two years ago.
What has changed is the style of speaking from altruism "I made a table with a lot of work, my son's school has a high quality PDF file for printing"
For capitalism "I made a table with a lot of work for my son's school. I am raising $1200000 and in return I will print for everyone at a small profit for me"
elbentzo
You, like everyone else, are welcome to send comments and clarifications because this is a social project.
And also: the proton and neutron consist of up and down and not top and bottom. In the institutional table you separated correctly, but at home you wrote that they consist of "upper" and "lower".
Again, without having anything to do with the financial audit (which I hope my response to will be released soon), it is highly recommended to take the chart to a physicist. I know on the website it says that you did a "peer review" on the Internet, but if you really want the table to be used to educate children, it is important that there are no mistakes in it (and I'm not talking about reasonable accuracies like the one where you wrote that the photons were created at some point when in fact they were just released from coupling to matter, I'm talking about sharp factual errors that there is no reason to make because they do not come from the need to simplify and make knowledge accessible to children).
And by the way, without having anything to do with my response which is currently awaiting publication, there are several mistakes in the home table (or at least in the version of it that is on the website). Most of them are trivial, but the two that must be corrected is a repeated mistake about the electron being a quark (it is not, it is a lepton) and about the fact that DHA is a third generation star. The sun is a third generation star, so it is not a star at all, but a planet.
You make fun of yourself.
First, I did read. I read everything you suggested. You can say no, but that's a cowardly way to delegitimize what you say.
Second, I didn't say the amount was unfounded. I said he was ridiculous. I didn't blame you for taking a project that costs a thousand shekels and asking for five million shekels for it. I said that five million shekels - money has an absolute value, I remind you, and not just relative (well, well, relative globally, absolute in relation to what you can buy with a shekel) - it's a ridiculous amount.
Third, where did you get "You will not come down from this tree?"? did you talk to me you know me? Have you tried having a dialog? Again, it's amazing how when you wrote this you didn't see that this was the claim of a coward looking for a way out before the debate started.
"The question is not the price"... well, well, what else can be said? Really you sound just like a politician in a shekel. In your next response, I recommend that you answer me that you "don't forget life itself". I legitimately criticize the astronomical cost of the project, and you answer me "the question is not the price". A poor attempt to turn a criticism of the cost into a question "Why doesn't Albanzo believe in educating our children in science?"
Finally, I don't know of any other projects. But I do know that the ratio between the money you want and what you offer is absurd, and it won't change depending on what others offer. My review is what is called self contained. For example, on your website (which I didn't read, of course...) you have a picture of two children barely holding an enormous poster... and underneath it an inscription that it is "only" a quarter of the size of the planned placard, that is, two and a half meters by a meter. By how much could you have cut the costs of the project if you hadn't set yourself the goal of turning the placket into the spiritual center of the school, an intimidating presence the size of a football field that dominates the dome? What would happen if you were "just" content with a quarter-sized poster? What would happen if you started a project in a hundred schools and did not seek direct funding for 3000 institutions?
It seems you just didn't understand what I was telling you. I'm not saying I wish you didn't get the money. I'm not saying you're corrupt or a businessman. I am saying that you are trying to create a project with a fantasy cost, and it is clearly inefficient, in the sense that the efficiency of the project can remain similar even with smaller costs. And the money left can go to other important things. Maybe you just don't understand what you can do with five million shekels. Successfully.
elbentzo
You didn't read because you don't know what the project includes, you didn't make any calculations for the cost-per-institution, you don't know what the technical characteristics of the table are and you may be starting from the assumption that I threw away a baseless amount. But you've already decided that it's an "imaginary amount" and you won't get off that tree and you also "don't feel like starting an internet debate"... the question is not the price, but whether you're interested in the project's goals. Also, I invite you to locate projects that offer things like I offer, and show me what their reasonable price is for you.
And you assume I didn't read based on what…?
I went through everything on the site that is reached by clicking on the table, including most of the table itself. Never mind the reality - NIS 4.7 million is an imaginary amount. If you ask me - clearly not justified either, but I really don't feel like starting an internet debate right now. The bottom line, if there are people who want to give you almost 5 million shekels, let them and you be blessed. In my opinion you lost proportions to say the least.
elbentzo
Read first, then decide.
1.2 million dollars is simply a ridiculous amount. It's hard to read it and keep a serious face. Successfully.
Answers:
First of all, download the table from the website. Click on the picture here, it's a link.
1. 1.2 million dollars to finance 3000 schools + dedicated website + continued program development (+ project financing expenses). There is a list of participating institutions on the project page. Whether it is implemented or not, it already depends on how important scientific education is in the eyes of the public. Please at least watch the video. Detailed what to do.
2. Yes, I am the father, the thinker, the graphic artist, the photographer and the editor and everything else.
3. There is no purpose to specifically teach chemistry, but to expose the children to the world of thinking and self-exploration. The contents in the table are the motivation to ask questions and be interested.
4. There are no more or less "important" elements, and there is a limit to how much content can be included, so the texts are basic and there are more illustrations and illustrations.
5. Children in the XNUMXnd grade are not attracted to programming websites and there is no assimilation of skeptical, scientific and critical thinking in programming. You can implement these values in grades XNUMX-XNUMX only (and in fact almost any other educational value). Beyond this age, you are not listened to that much anymore.
6. Indeed, I created the project on my own initiative. For two years I worked voluntarily without anyone asking.
7. There is no problem for small children to read the upper elements if the table is hung according to the recommendations - 15 cm from the floor.
8. There is no explanation of the importance of the columns, there is an explanation of each group of elements
Great interview
A noble cause
An important enterprise
For the benefit of the people and the country
For our future and the future of our children
To the glory of the State of Israel
however…
Who is the initiator, the creator of the interview?
Is it possible to get some information about him? past present Future
Under the illustration it is written in "weak", "Courtesy of Asaf Avraham"
Is Assaf Avraham the one who came up with the idea, or maybe he is the graphic artist
And maybe he is neither this nor that, but... who will ?
And finally a case that really happened:
I fell into a "pit" that was full of "carbon".
When I was finally able to get out, I no longer had any "form"
But a girl who passed by turned me into a "guy"
I swear to you... everything is "truth"...
In the end, everything is political
right,
thanks for the correction
Shmulik,
One of the things that should be taught to children and adults (probably mainly in Israel) is to differentiate between sarcasm and sarcasm and also to learn the term "Sagi Nehor language".
Haim,
And where were you when they learned about cynicism?
By the way, do you have children? You know, children learn to recognize sarcasm much faster than it seems
Shmulik
Woe betide us if children learn even a little cynicism. Don't you think it's too early to require a 7 year old to know what sarcasm is? Cynicism is good for older people who have already been through something in life and not for children. You are growing them up too fast.
Haim,
Another thing that children (and adults too need to learn) is to read sarcasm.
Shmulik
What's wrong with children knowing a little chemistry. Such a project is blessed. What do you prefer, baba dolls? I understand that Baba Sally and the X-ray mother Maor smiled.
Oded
And if the idea was conceived that he deserves all the blessings in the world to receive funding for such an important enterprise, then what? Look at it in the following way - a private person who owes nothing to anyone on his own initiative and at the expense of his own time comes up with such a blessed initiative. Shouldn't we help him financially? The mohel who did your circumcision also got paid. Rabbis who get married, don't get paid? So what are you complaining about?
Really a very beautiful project
But is someone willing to explain why he demands 1.2 million dollars for an impressive plaque and a website with activities.
Either I don't understand something basic about the price of printing posters or I missed something
It's really a shame that the website publishes such a project related to learning science for children and dares to interview the project's creator.
shame
It is sad that the editor of this website so consistently uses his position and the platform to make it clear to us what his political, religious, etc. positions are.
First, a nice idea, and looks very interesting.
Second, the cycle campaign is full of elements that are not very important or interesting to the target audience. The problem with this huge poster is that the most important and interesting elements are in the second and third rows, far above the heads of the target audience. If he doesn't equip himself with some chair or a small ladder, he won't reach the carbon and oxygen, not to mention the hydrogen.
Thirdly, is there an explanation in the table about the importance of the different columns, what are noble gases, halogens, alkali metals, etc.? I remember clearly that I learned this in elementary school in the XNUMXth or XNUMXth grades.
Fourth, young and inquisitive minds are always there. They used to be attracted to chemistry, physics, biology, etc. They are drawn to computers, and at best to programming websites (sorry for the generalization). A solution to the problem of youth interest in some scientific subject should start from this point.
Fifth, on another site there is a discussion about the lack of scoring studies in schools. It turns out that they are not taught scoring even in the most minimal way. There is also a discussion of the destruction of literature studies (while blaming the left, of all the possible factors in the world), not to mention the sabotage of mathematics and physics studies in recent years. As the years pass I appreciate the prehistoric education system more and more.
We need to add another element - Shas. The atomic weight changes from election to election. Hoping that he will disappear from the landscape of our districts.
to cheer
How did you get greedy?
Looking at the project page, you can see that financing one school costs about NIS 2000.
In a short calculation - 2000 per school, multiplied by 3000 schools
And we reached 6,000,000 NIS
Divide by the dollar rate and you got the answer to your question.
I don't understand the greed - such a beautiful project - and he wants to be financed with no less than 1.2 million dollars....
Unless I misunderstood the link to the project on Indiegogo.
It probably won't work
Among other things, because they did not listen to my proposal from 2009
https://www.hayadan.org.il/knesset-speach-avi-blizovsky-2010095
Whenever you don't turn on the TV, all you see are stupid reality shows, "big brother", cooking shows that are already coming out of all holes, musical "talent" competitions... no content of real knowledge and thinking, no content in the directions of science. They don't even try to attract the public (especially the young) in these directions, all they care about is ratings.
Just sad and frustrating.
Great idea.
I only lacked one thing that could illustrate the atomic weight (and make it possible to understand the number given to each element): in the first elements (the first two lines?) it would have been appropriate to draw the basic structure of the atom (while emphasizing the number of protons and neutrons found in its nucleus).