The Abu Dhabi Technology Development Committee (TDC) said its ‘lema?,’ a science school outreach programme, has reached over 30,000 students in over 100 schools.

The initiative was designed to create hands-on experiences that support learning outcomes through a mix of engagement and education. The TDC ran 519 workshops.

The programme, which compliments the existing school curriculum, commenced in April last year with school tours in Abu Dhabi. While the second phase ran from September through November reaching even more students in Abu Dhabi as well as Al Ain and Al Gharbia.

It currently features two activities: the Body Builders show which explores the main organs of the body, describes their main functions and delves into the role of healthy eating in maintaining their function; and the Lego Mind Storm NXT challenge, which is a hands-on, interactive workshop that allows students to programme their own robots.

The lema? initiative is set to extend its 2014 period in order to visit additional public and private schools in regions outside Abu Dhabi, especially Al Ain, aiming to increase student exposure through the inclusion of other year groups later this year.

Mohamed Hassan Bin Braik, projects manager, Science and Technology Promotion at TDC, said: “We want to build upon the success we have already achieved in establishing the importance of STI to Abu Dhabi’s knowledge economy by expanding into the next phase of our strategy so that more Emiratis have the chance to develop their talents and ensure our future prosperity. lema?is a further demonstration of our commitment to making science popular among the youth.”

TDC organised the outreach initiative in collaboration with its education partner the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec), to further ensure that informal science education compliments the emirate’s education reforms, and engages Abu Dhabi’s school children and the education community.

It also partnered with members of the Abu Dhabi Science Festival Science Communicator Alumni group and the Edinburgh International Science Festival staff to deliver the programme. - TradeArabia News Service