Only two months of hard work to go before it is summer time again and the fun begins!

The school year is coming to an end, but not without leaving us unforgettable achievements. The Planetarium Science Center (PSC) is currently focusing on reinforcing its successes by emphasizing its annual activities.

In the past months, the 4th FIRST-LEGO League (FLL) in Egypt competition, under the theme “Climate Connections”, was concluded with the “Triple Legend” team, from Alsalam Language School in Asyout, taking first place with an impressive high score of 431 points; the winning team will be representing Egypt in the international competition in the USA.

More recently, the ALEX Science and Engineering Fair was held for the first time to prepare students from Alexandria and neighboring governorates for the Egypt Science and Engineering Fair (ESEF), where the winning teams will represent Egypt in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in the USA. The ALEX Fair 2009 first place prize went to Sara and Yousr Alshaarawi, and Ahmed M. Hassan, in the Biochemistry category with their project entitled "Biological Treatment of CO2".

The third annual Science Festivity; a huge public event that gives science a presence in the community and offers people of all ages and backgrounds the opportunity to question, discuss, and explore; was celebrated on 1 -3 April 2009 with the overarching theme of “Energy”. The event was held under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum, and in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Education. The hub of the Science Festivity is the “Science Village” hosting a diversity of interactive exhibits, the Super Science Show, lectures and presentations, as well as the “Science Cafe”. The Egyptian band “Massar Egbary” also performed at the Science Village on 2 April 2009.

In two months time, the PSC will start its most anticipated annual event, the Summer Program. Acombination of innovative hands-on, interactive, and pleasurable activities grouped according to age group, the Summer Program offers exciting packages tailored to give PSC young visitors a memorable vacation and a unique experience of fun learning.

At the center of the Summer Program is a large diversity of workshops, each related to a different field of science; each workshop comprising a variety of hands-on experiments. The Program also includes a series of lectures and contests, in addition to the Super Science Show. The 2009 children also get to attend science shows and documentaries, in addition to a number of camps and fieldtrips to different locations and with different purposes.

Soon, the PSC will also be celebrating the annual events of the World Environment Day (20 June) and Eratosthenes (21 June). Other exhibitions and events to take place in the near future include the Astronomy Day, an International Year of Astronomy 2009 activity (7 May); “The Arctic-The Antarctic” and “Antarctica, a Desert of Ice” exhibitions, held within the Egypt-Italy Science Year 2009; and Flight Day, on 9 August 2009.

Unfortunately, the Planetarium will be closed to the public most of the summer time as it will be undergoing a huge upgrading that was made possible thanks to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism. However, we still promise our visitors another eventful and unforgettable summer!

Following is a list of the Summer Program 2009 activities:

Stars Workshop

Brain Teasers Workshop

In the Bubble Workshop

Energy WorkshopFossils Workshop

Communicate with the Universe Workshop

Much More than Sports Workshop (Parts 1 and 2)

The Solar System Workshop

Micro-Organisms Workshop

Engines Workshop

Design and Creativity Workshop

DNA Workshop

Measurements Workshop

Getting Closer to Our Environment Workshop

ALEXploratorium Contest

History of Science Museum Contest

History of Science Museum Research

Empower your Research Skills

Electronic Board

Videoconferences

Discover your Environment Camps

Fieldtrips

For additional information and registration in the different Summer Program activities, please contact the PSC Administrator