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Science Across the World in Egypt
Mariam El Agamy joined Science Across the World in April 2006. From the very moment the programme was introduced to her, she was enthusiastic to start with a trial with 7 different topics in her school: El Nasr Girls College (5000 students in Primary and Secondary Education) in Alexandria, Egypt. Mariam is a Science teacher and also the manager of the learning centre in the Arab Environment Association, so she runs the programme in collaboration with this NGO (Non Governmental Organisation). Science Across the World at El Nasr Girls' CollegeAfter a meeting with the principal Mrs  Enaam El Defrawi, a full chemistry lab with 26 teachers and 9 students was waiting for Lida Schoen (April 2006). We started with a short explanation about the Science Across the World programme and we worked on an activity from the Science Across the World topic 'Chemistry in our Lives'. The task was, in groups of three, to design, produce and market a new Egyptian cosmetic line. After finishing, all groups presented their marketing tools: creative TV commercials with product lines like 'Arabian nights' and 'Nile flower'.  Follow up: June 1 – July 31, 2006After the presentation Mariam El Agamy, science teacher and deputy head of environmental affairs at El Nasr Girls' College and in charge of the talent school,  related to the Arab Environment Association, showed interest to join the programme. During the summer holidays she initiated a project, tutored by two Science teachers and an English teacher. Students in the junior department started with 3 topics and students in the middle department with 5 topics. Many additional related activities, like field trips and lectures, were organised. At the end of the project the students presented their results in a PowerPoint presentation to an audience of participating students, parents, interested partners in education and the decision makers from the Ministry of Education. Students' feedbackSays Mary Ann Soheil Mansour about taking part in the topic Biodiversity: "The field trips were enough to start our research and show it on a PowerPoint presentation. As  simple as it may be, since simplicity is much preferred, we hope to be able to communicate to our readers/audience the importance of our research". Amira Ayman Ahmed Shehata about 'Talking about Genetics around the World': "I liked searching about information by my self, so I learned many things, I knew how to work as a team work, I learned how to make a presentation PowerPoint, I got many friends, I knew the meaning of GM, how does GM affect our live, and I knew many things about genetics, at last I got an excellent conclusion."   Janna El-Hadad also about 'Genetics': "We improved our English as we were able to practice it, we knew what a team is and how to manage as a team and we made a lot of friends. In my opinion everything has its negatives and positives and in this program I think the positive things beat the negatives.  I'd really like to repeat this opportunity. I really gained knowledge about Genetics, especially because I like this field of science. We have exchanged with a school in Germany, which was called "Friedrichs Gymnasium", which there teacher was Egbert Weisheit and we have really been pleased to have this contact. We had recently exchanged some very important information for our presentation." All participating students got a nice certificate of recognition, signed by Marianne Cutler (director Science Across the World), Prof Magdy Al Sharkawy (chairman of AEA) and Mrs Mariam El Agamy. September 2006 Text: Lida Schoen
Pictures: Mariam El Agamy, Lida Schoen
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