This program will reinforce four areas of study that are part of the students' curriculum: 1) The Science of Materials-the makeup and use of materials, changes in materials, natural resources, and the cost to the environment of the use of these materials; 2) The Science of the Earth and the Solar System-the makeup of the planets and man's impact on the earth's natural resources; 3) The Science of the Environment-the makeup of the environment and man's impact on it; and 4) Technology-the world created by man.
Interested students from participating schools will attend weekly three hour sessions. For the duration of the commitment, junior high level students from sixteen schools in Jerusalem will attend the program for a full school year.
A two-pronged approach has been developed, which will connect classroom learning with visits to the Hebrew University campus. Before arriving at the campus, a staff member from the Science Museum specially trained in the topics at hand will visit each class twice to lay the groundwork for the program at the Museum and the Meyerhoff Center. This will be followed by two on-site visits where students will engage in hands-on experiments and observations, in addition to one or two tours of facilities around the city that engage in the process of Sustainable Development.
An additional element has been added to the program. Because this topic is so new and cutting edge, most classroom teachers have not had the opportunity to develop curriculum materials. The staff of the program will do this for them and provide support for continuing the studies in the classroom in the form of a teacher's study guide and an internet site for ongoing and up-to-date information as it develops.