Youngsters are being encouraged to don lab coats and innovate as the annual science festival celebrates its fifth year
Abu Dhabi Science Festival has turned into one of the capital’s most anticipated events. This year’s instalment, which will be hosted from 12th to 22nd November, is graduating to a bigger and more public location just in time for its fifth anniversary. We take a look at how the event has been a catalyst for a wider appreciation of science in the capital.
Events to keep an ion
With the aim of producing the next generation of professors, the festival has chosen Mushrif Central Park as the venue for this year’s award-winning event.
Offering a unique opportunity to explore the world of science, visitors can create their own festival experience and select an individual programme based on the activities that interest them most – it’s all up to you. But don’t wait around; grab tickets to the events you want to see before they’re gone.
There are lots of fun things at the festival to keep the little ones busy and inspire children to get positive like protons about science.
Budding biologists can explore the depths of the ocean with the secret life of coral, turn Mushrif Park into Jurassic Park by digging up a dinosaur and even scrub up and try to save some lives in the lifelike surgery zone operating room.
If physics is your thing, you can get your hard hat on and build in the construction zone, have an electrifying experience creating circuits, let out your inner Banksy run wild with some eco-friendly LED graffiti and get on track by making your own freight train.
Not to worry child chemists, you’re not being left out. You can create the perfect bubble mixture, step inside a giant bubble, turn a round one square and creating some incredible new shapes of your own.
For the full packed programme of investigation and inspiration visit abudhabisciencefestival.ae/whats-on
But the activities don’t stop at the festival. If that’s not enough science for you to immerse yourself in, there’s also a range of fun tasks suggested by the organisers for you to try at home or in school.
So get those neurons firing and understand the wonders of the human body by making a model lung, understand the laws of attraction by exploring magnetic fields, discover DNA and much more with the festival activity sheets. Get your science on at home with the full list here: abudhabisciencefestival.ae/science-for-you
Schooling the soon-to-be scientists
With the aim of causing a chain reaction throughout the capital to ensure that scientific development continues year-round, special care has been taken to develop the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) schools across the emirate.
Promoting critical thinking, encouraging innovation and developing understanding of the building blocks of the universe have become a key part of the Abu Dhabi school curriculum.
ADEC and the Technology Development Committee
(TDC) are keen to give youngsters the opportunity to learn more about science and investigate, experiment and undertake creative thinking regularly at school.
Dr Linda Abraham Silver, associate director at TDC, says: “Since the festival began five years ago, we’ve seen changes to the school curriculum that enhance and strengthen STEM education in Abu Dhabi.
“After the success of the first festival, we began the development and launch of a number of other innovative informal science education activities.
“We launched the lema? (‘why?’ in Arabic) school outreach programme into the schools in 2012 that now reaches 35,000 to 40,000 students each year. The programme engages children in key STEM subjects through fun and exciting interactive workshops and shows aimed at children in grades 3 and up.
“We also developed and launched the Innovator programme which facilitates the creation and realisation of home-grown inventions throughout the different stages of their development – from inspiration to creation.
“All of these initiatives have harnessed the excitement that people showed for science and sustains that excitement year-round.”
Science is a discipline that is held in high regard in the region and through ADEC and TDC initiatives and the expansion of the festival, the aim is to foster a new era of scientific innovation and discovery for
the UAE.
Dr Silver continued: “To face and solve most future challenges, we need inquisitive people with curious minds. Basic science knowledge is important for everyone – even those not selecting careers in STEM – because understanding how science works helps everyone think critically, observe carefully and make rational decisions. These are valuable skills for all people to have.
“One of the primary reasons that we started Abu Dhabi Science Festival and have invested so much effort in developing informal science education programmes is to develop enough individuals with the skills and interest in science to feed the industries of the future.
“Out-of-school experiences tend to have a greater impact towards exciting children about science. We also need parents to encourage their children’s interest in science and to value careers in science as more prestigious than those in management.”
Science Central Park
The venue for this year’s event is a place of scientific intrigue in its own right. First opened in 1982, Mushrif Central Park was launched to be a hub for generations to enjoy the outdoors. After closing for redevelopment in January 2013 for 24 months, the green space has been upgraded to feature a range of state-of-the-art attractions, many of which will help fire the neurons.
Shade House
The Shade House, the park’s signature attraction, provides an opportunity to study a range of shade-loving palm trees, cycads and other warm climate forest species. Designed to perfectly orientate elements of its structure, the broad selection of plant life thrives in the carefully curated open-air environment it allows.
The structure, over 40 metres in length, has an east to west orientation to minimise morning and late afternoon heat gain. The louvres, which form the structure’s façade, regulate the sunlight and overall pattern of shade within.
The 30-metre structure is constructed from over 350 tonnes of steel and over 14,000 linear metres of fabricated aluminium panels, all of which were custom fabricated in the UAE.
Ampitheatre
The Amphitheatre is the central element within the park and offers a unique venue for concerts, musicals, plays, and cultural and educational performances. The stage offers a canvas for large-scale art and lighting displays, while the lawn can accommodate over 1,000 visitors.
The sculptured steel incorporates a complex, compounding bend for each of its three main chords. The structure is approximately 90 metres long and eight metres high, weighing a total of 200 tonnes.
Botanic Garden
Mushrif Central Park’s Botanic Garden provides a unique opportunity for young botonists to explore the amazing collections of plants kept for the purposes of research, conservation, display and education. The design features a series of gardens linked by pathways that allow visitors to explore different landscapes.
The Botanic Garden includes over 200 regional plant species, many of which have cultural and historical significance. Home to many species from the UAE and surrounding countries, the Botanic Garden also includes samples from all corners of the world.
WORDS: Colin Armstrong
