Mobile Science Education in Somalia

The Africa Educational Trust works together with disadvantaged African communities helping them to access their rights to quality education, literacy and life skills. In response to the findings of a previous UNESCO/ CfBT Education Trust and AET collaboration, AET will be piloting a new approach to improve the quality of science education in Somalia, enabling secondary school students to participate in real science experiments and teachers to build up their capacity to conduct them. This approach involves the establishment of a mobile science unit, supplied with the necessary equipment for physics, chemistry and biology experiments. The mobile unit will deliver science lessons to disadvantaged schools with little or no equipment, visiting 10 schools within a nearby radius on a weekly basis.

A Science House Foundation grant will go towards purchasing science equipment, teaching and learning materials, teacher training and fuel and maintenance costs.

Science Library

A grant from the Science House Foundation has enabled a middle school in upstate New York to purchase science books for a classroom library. The library will provide 8th grade and honors science students, many of whom have limited access to public libraries, with books that will open their eyes to the wonder of science. The library includes a range of the best regarded children’s science books, including those by authors David Aguilar, Franklyn M. Branley, Mike Goldsmith and books from nationalgeographic.com and seymoursimon.com.

Museum of Mathematics

“Italy has the Garden of Archimedes. Germany has Mathematikum. The United States? In an apparent reflection of its low regard for the subject matter, the United States has zero museums devoted to mathematics. Until 2011.”

The Museum of Mathematics is the brainchild of a group of Long Island mathematicians including Math Ph.D. and former hedge funder Glen Whitney. Located in New York City it will be the first permanent museum of math in the US. A sampling of what the museum will have to offer could be seen at the hugely popular Math Midway exhibit at the World Science Festival in Manhattan in June this year (left). Science House Foundation funds will be applied towards the development of the museum.

School is Open in Afghanistan

The education system in Afghanistan is expanding fast, with the number of children enrolled in school increasing by almost 500% in the last five years. However, many educators do not get access to training and as a result, the students in these schools aren’t receiving the best education that they could. School Is Open (SIO) is a small non-profit registered in the US and Afghanistan, working to support the rebuilding of education in Afghanistan. Comprised of teachers who volunteer their time to share their professional expertise with Afghan educators, “School is Open” trains teachers and delivers science materials and school supplies to schools. Learn more on the website, or blog.

A grant from the Science House Foundation funded science resources for a teachers workshop in Parwan province, Afghanistan. The kits containing hand lenses, microscopes, slides, tuning forks, anatomy and xray charts and prism sets, were distributed to all local teachers who attended.

Math Scholarships with the Art of Problem Solvin

Six of the best mathematics students from South America and Central America will be awarded Science House Foundation scholarships to participate in the Worldwide Online Olympiad Training program (WOOT), run by The Art of Problem Solving. WOOT is a 7-month Olympiad preparation and testing program that brings together many of the best students from around the world to learn Olympiad problem solving skills.

This is the second year the Science House Foundation scholarships are being awarded. Last year’s recipients, from Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador, put up an exceptional performance in the 2010 International Math Olympiad in Kazakhstan, collectively earning 2 Honorable Mentions, 2 Bronze Medals, 1 Silver Medal, and 1 Gold Medal.

Solar Sprint

A grant to purchase solar panels is enabling a middle school in Illinois to participate for their first time in the Solar Car Competition hosted at Argonne National Labs. The students performed exceptionally well, and were recognized as winners for their car designs.