As we start a new school year, we hope to start a new phase of joy and inspiration in our lives.
The summer, a time of relaxation, fun and joy, has come to an end. But that does not mean the end of fun and joy. The beginning of a new school year is a perfect opportunity to embark on a new adventure of joyful learning and inspiration.
Every season, ALEXploratorium specialists develop new ideas for the programs and workshops they prepare for the students. Their main concern is to make the workshops enjoyable, besides being practical and useful for students. Through direct contact with the students, the specialists have developed an extensive knowledge of their interests and the appropriate methods to approach them.
This season, the PSC once again offers a new range of workshops and activities. Among the subjects the students will learn of within this season’s workshops, the wonders of astronomy and the solar system, the secrets of the micro world, the nature of matter, the importance of adaptation and its influence on living organisms. The students will also learn some interesting facts about chemical reactions, how to conduct an electric current, as well as the importance of energy in our lives. Furthermore, they are going to acquire some biological knowledge of the human body, as well as some information about physical phenomena, such as density.
For a full list of workshops that will be taking place during the first school year semester, please visit our website at the following link:
http://www.bibalex.org/psc/ALEXPLoratorium/Workshops.aspx
Programs that will be taking place during the first school year semester include:
Science Club (ongoing schools outreach program)
An ambitious outreach project, the Science Club program has been adopted by the PSC to bring the hands-on concept to science learning within the formal education framework. It aims to establish scientific corners in different schools and train teachers to apply innovative communication methods through workshops and researches. The program aspires to stimulate curiosity, interest and enjoyment in science, in addition to enhancing experimental abilities and developing investigative skills.
- Target age group: 6-13 years
- Free of charge
- Participation is for schools only; for registration, please contact the PSC Administrator for details
Super Science Show – New Format (ongoing)
The PSC team introduces a new phase of excitement and science learning to students. The Super Science Show is a dynamic and highly motivational activity that gets children involved in exciting hands-on experiments in the fields of Physics, Biology, and Chemistry that stimulate infectious enthusiasm. This ever-intriguing show allows children to use a variety of materials, such as balloons, bouncing balls, balance board, water, liquid Nitrogen, dry ice and soda cans. Prior reservation is required.
- Target age group: 6-12 years
- Show duration: 60 min
- Maximum number of participants: 50
- Registration starts on 1 October 2009
- Show fees inside the BA are EGP 100
- Show fees outside the BA are EGP 300
- For reservation, please contact the PSC Administrator at least one week before the desired date
Fun with Science (ongoing)
In collaboration with the BA Young People’s and Children’s Library, the PSC offers the Fun with Science program, which applies a series of fables containing valuable messages that aim to provide children with a scientific basis, enabling them to make use of scientific facts as a creative tool. This season, there are three interesting fables: The King of Hearts, where students will gain information about the human heart and the heart of whales; The Strongest Tree, where they will discover the role of sunrays, ants, mushrooms and bacteria in growing trees; and Cold Feet, through which they will discover facts about humidity, as well as strawberries and radish. A major theme of the program is the introduction of "systems thinking"; children learn that everything is interconnected. The first part of the program is based on storytelling, while the second part focuses on hands-on scientific activities.
- Target age group: 6-12 years
- Number of sessions/week: Twice
- Session duration: 2 hrs
- Maximum number of participants: 25
- Registration starts on 1 October 2009
- PSC workshop fees are EGP 2 per student per session
- Young People’s and Children’s Library entry fees are EGP 0.50 per student per visit
- For reservation, please contact the PSC Administrator at least one week before the desired date
Chess Club (ongoing)
Chess is an exercise of infinite possibilities for the mind; one which develops mental abilities used throughout life: concentration, critical thinking, pattern recognition, strategic planning, creativity, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, to name a few. Chess is also a highly effective tool for teaching problem-solving and abstract reasoning. Learning how to solve a problem is actually more important than learning the solution to any particular problem. Through chess, we learn how to analyze a situation by focusing on important factors and by eliminating distractions. To that end, the Planetarium Science Center (PSC) is launching this new program that aims at developing the mental capacity and analytical skills of children.
- Target age group: 8-15 years
- Program duration: 3 months
- Number of sessions/week: Twice
- Session duration: 2 hrs
- Maximum number of participants: 25
- Registration starts on 1 October 2009
- Fees (following interview): EGP 150
- Program starts on 15 October 2009
- For additional information and registration, please contact the PSC Administrator
ALEXploratorium Contest (ongoing)
The ALEXploratorium contest is a science-related contest that helps students of different age groups interact with essential scientific topics through teamwork. The contest provides students with an opportunity to test their knowledge and mental abilities to explore the world of science. It also encourages them to participate in the process of science communication and share their knowledge with each other. The contest is divided into: the Human Body, Computer Games, and the Timeline.
- Target age group: 12-16 years
- Contest duration: 1 hr
- Maximum number of participants: 25
- Fees: EGP 2 per student
- For reservation, please contact the PSC Administrator at least one week before the desired date
History of Science Museum Contest (ongoing)
The History of Science Museum transcends the traditional museum concept of static display in its quest to simplify national and regional scientific heritage. The PSC team offers its visitors this energetic interactive contest that is based on games and quizzes about the information found within the Museum.
- Target age group: 8-16 years
- Contest duration: 1 hr
- Maximum number of participants: 25
- Fees: EGP 2 per student
- For reservation, please contact the PSC Administrator at least one week before the desired date
Darwin (ongoing)
Celebrating the Darwin Year, the PSC is organizing a variety of activities to commemorate the centennial of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his most important book “The Origin of Species”. The Darwin program aims at getting students to explore his life with all its disappointments, excitements, failures and successes. The program includes activities that familiarize students with Darwin’s way of thinking, and engage them in some situations that faced him; thus, helping them develop their thinking and creativity skills. Moreover, the students will be more familiar with the basic theories of evolution and natural selection, which are still the basis of modern science.
- Target Age Group: 12-16 years
- Duration: 3 hrs
- Number of participants: 15-30
- More information will be posted shortly on the Center’s website
- For additional information and registration, please contact the PSC Administrator
Space Technology (ongoing)
Understanding Space is essential to face 21st-century challenges, such as: climate change, natural disasters, security, communication, and scientific development in general. The Space Technology program offered by the PSC simplifies this field to students via multiple activities including lectures, workshops, fieldtrips, and research projects.
- Target Age Group: 15-21 years
- Duration: 3 hrs
- Number of participants: 10-20
- Program fees are EGP 100 per participant
- For additional information and registration, please contact the PSC Administrator.
Discover your Environment Camps
Within this program initiated in the winter of 2008, the PSC organizes a variety of environmental camps to various locations in Egypt, with the aim of introducing young students to the environment in Egyptian deserts and allowing them to interact with it. The program helps students identify wildlife patterns as well as the region’s biodiversity, in addition to offering them a diversity of astronomical activities. Discover you Environment Camps include Elbahareya Oasis, Siwa, Saint Catherine, among others.
- Target age group: 10-16 years
- Information about the camps will be posted on the Center’s website.
Save the Date!
From Earth to the Universe Exhibition (4 October – 5 November 2009)
This exhibition is a collection of astronomical images showcasing the most dramatic views of our universe. The images will represent the incredible variety of astronomical objects that are known to exist such as planets, comets, stars, nebulae, galaxies and the clusters in which they congregate.
- Target age group: Open
- Exhibition Ticket: EGP 5
Marconi's Exhibition (19 October – 5 November 2009)
To celebrate the end of Egypt-Italy Science Year 2009, the Library of Alexandria, in collaboration with the Italian Embassy and the Italian and American Friends of the Library, will host the "Marconi" exhibition in October 2009.
- Target age group: Open
- Free of Charge
Volta Exhibition (9 November – 3 December 2009)
The ALEXploratorium Discovery Zone will be displaying exhibits about the inventions of Alessandro Volta who discovered and specified several aspects of electricity, one of which is the Voltage and its measurement unit Volt, named in his honor and in appreciation of his efforts.
- Target age group: Open
- Exhibition Ticket: EGP 5
She is an Astronomer Conference (8-9 December 2009)
Promoting gender equality and empowering women is one of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. She is An Astronomer will promote gender equality in astronomy, and science in general, tackling bias issues by providing a web platform where information and links about gender balance and related resources are collected.
It is time for a new beginning and we hope to inspire you to join us in a renewed adventure of discovery, learning, fun and joy!