Among other Science Day events: the World ORT Kadima Mada organization will celebrate Albert Einstein's birthday in schools in the periphery and a young scientists competition at the Science Museum
As part of a new initiative by the Ministry of Science and Technology, male and female scientists will come to kindergartens with the aim of promoting early childhood science education and exposing children to the science profession. The initiative, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, will begin this week on National Science Day, Albert Einstein's birthday on March 14, 2012, in approximately 100 kindergartens across the country.
"Science education does not begin in the academy, but in kindergarten," said Nobel laureate Prof. Dan Shechtman upon winning. As part of its activity to bring children and youth closer to science, the Ministry of Science and Technology initiated the "Scientist in the Kindergarten" project, which aims to promote interest in the fields of science at an early age, to inspire and raise awareness. The purpose of the scientists' visit to the kindergartens is to expose the children to the profession of scientist, to the fields of science, to the principles of scientific thinking and to open their eyes to the fact that science exists in every field of life.
The Minister of Science and Technology Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz, himself a respected mathematician, will also come to kindergartens and give the children eye-level science activities. "The children's first encounter with a figure of a scientist will affect their perception of the scientist's occupation and their positive attitude towards the field and will certainly stimulate a discussion on the subject that will continue at home as well," said the minister.
About 80 scientists from universities, colleges and regional research and development centers of the Ministry of Science and Technology located in the geographic periphery are participating in the initiative. The scientists will come to kindergartens throughout the country and present to the children the role of scientists, tell about National Science Day and Albert Einstein and experiment with them in science activities that demonstrate basic scientific principles. The activity will be carried out on the basis of a special program developed for this day by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education.
"Scientific literacy begins at preschool age," said today the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Prof. Ehud Gazit, who will arrive at a kindergarten in the Sharon region. "Scientific thinking is a language. Beyond the specific knowledge provided by the world of science, the concept that our understanding of the world is based on observation, research and drawing conclusions is also important. The internalization of the way in which new knowledge is built on top of a long-standing tradition that can be challenged. Although scientific literacy seems seemingly complex, it is amazing how easily children internalize its essence, like their amazing ability to learn a new language quickly."
"The initiative is integrated into the science and technology curriculum for preschoolers, which aims to establish and strengthen the practice of these subjects in kindergartens." says Dr. Anat Sela, the supervisor of early childhood science and technology education at the Ministry of Education. "During the school year, each child experiences one full research process and one full high school process. The meeting with a scientist as a person and as an expert is another layer that has the potential to arouse curiosity, identification and interest in these fields."
In the first phase, the project will be implemented on the National Science Day in about 100 gardens. Depending on its success, the possibility of expanding it to other scientists and genes will be examined. The Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education hope that both parties, both the boys and girls and the scientists, will benefit from the project.
Science Day in the periphery
The World ORT Kadima Mada organization will celebrate on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - Albert Einstein's birthday, the International Science Day, among dozens of schools in the periphery working in cooperation with the organization. This is the third year in a row that the organization celebrates Science Day in Israel.
The activities on Science Day are planned by the scientific teams in the schools and educational centers in coordination with the educational teams of the World ORT Kadima Mada organization, who also approve the activities and budget them. Close to Science Day, various scientific events are held in schools, with the peak of activity taking place on International Science Day. On this day, a special judging committee of the organization World ORT Kadima Mada, visits the schools and the educational centers in the hospitals, observes the various products and decides on the winners. The school whose activity meets all the scientific criteria wins the award.
Avi Ganon, CEO of the organization World ORT Kadima Mada in Israel: "Science Day is an important step in our activities to promote science and technology in Israel. The cooperation between us and the educational teams in the various schools is fertile ground for fascinating and challenging activities."
Young scientists and developers competition final
The closing event of the "Young Scientists and Developers" competition will be held at the Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem between March 12-13.3 in the capacity of the Minister of Education, the Minister of Science and Technology and the President of Intel Israel
A robotic nurse that knows how to give medicine to the elderly at the right time and in the right dose, a medicine patch that is automatically released into the patient's body and saves the need to swallow them, a robotic absence control system for a high-tech factory that helps manage resources such as time, cost and quality of an organization, a system that can be used to optimally distribute electricity during a load. All of these and more are works that made it to the finals in the Young Scientists and Developers Competition in Israel, which will be held for the 15th year at the Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem between March 12-13.3, under the auspices of Intel and the Administration for Science and Technology at the Ministry of Education.
Hundreds of boys and girls aged 15-20 from all over the country submitted papers on various subjects: physics, chemistry, mathematics, history, technology and more. 46 works written by 57 boys and girls from all over the country made it to the finals, and they will present their works at the Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem before the judges, headed by Prof. Hanoch Guttfreund from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who will praise the presenters' knowledge of their work and the issues related to it, and will "challenge" them with questions difficult and will check who are the presenters whose inventions and research are the most deserving of the prize. Monday, March 12, will therefore be a day full of tension, excitement and lots of bright young minds.
The tension will be maintained until the moment of the announcement of the winners which will take place on Tuesday, 13.3, at 14:00 in the Science and Technology Committee of the Israeli Knesset, in the presence of Minister of Education Gideon Sa'ar, Minister of Science and Technology Daniel Hershkowitz and President of Intel Israel Maxine Fassberg.
The winners will receive scholarship awards for higher education in Israel donated by Intel, and will also represent Israel in the European Union's Young Scientists competition and the Intel ISAF competition in the United States.
