Children get a handle on science

Festival gives youth a taste of medicine, space and dinosaurs.

Dr Lewis Hou, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh, gives young visitors to the Abu Dhabi Science Festival the lowdown on emergency procedures before allowing them to ‘operate’ on a medical dummy ‘injured’ in a cycling accident. Jeffrey E Biteng / The NationalShow less

ABU DHABI // From mock surgeries on an injured man to information about life on Mars, this year’s Abu Dhabi Science Festival went out with a bang.

In the operating room surgery workshop, children eager to delve into the unknown were directed by facillitator Dr Lewis Hou to perform mock surgery on a man who had fallen from his bike.

Once the extent of the patient’s injuries were clear, the audience were asked to clean and remove small pebbles from a leg wound using gauze and tweezers.

And there was more work to be carried out by the festival’s younger visitors, with the patient also suffering from a seizure, the result of blood clots in the brain, and gallstones.

“It’s amazing,” said Ahmed Ramadan, 13, who took part in the workshop with his sister, Aya, 12. “I liked it because we had to treat the patient. My favourite subjects are biology and chemistry and I’d like to become a doctor.”

One of the aims of the festival, now in its fifth year, is to encourage school children to become passionate about Stem (Science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects.

Close to home was the oil explorers’ workshop, which allowed participants to learn how to find oil through examining core samples and building their own mock oil rig.

And, one small step away, the space station workshop discussed the UAE Space Agency’s plans to send a probe to Mars by 2021, as well as details of the Red Planet.

Children also had the chance to operate model rovers and collect soil samples as a way to learn about the search for life on Mars.

Other workshops offered youngsters a chance to build circuit boards, hydrogen-powered model cars, and play the role of a paleontologist by taking part in a dig for dinosaur bones.

Dr Linda Silver, associate director of content at the Abu Dhabi Technology Development Committee, one of the organising groups behind the festival, described this year’s event as an “overwhelming success”.

“We’re thrilled with the feedback we’ve had from families, parents, teachers and students,” she said.

“We’ve accommodated the maximum number of school groups in our workshops and shows, and seen wonderful engagement from families during our public hours.”

The festival featured activities linked to industries expected to drive the UAE’s transition to a “knowledge-based economy”, said Dr Silver, including renewable and nuclear energy, space exploration, and engineering.

And this year, efforts were made to involve local organisations on a greater scale, with about 900 university students volunteering to help deliver the festival’s workshops, Dr Silver said.

Marwan Alkindi, who visited with his two daughters, aged 5 and 8, said the festival provided many opportunities for learning.

“This is very useful for scientific education. I wish we had something like this for the whole year.”

Organised by Adec and TDC, the festival took place at Mushrif Central Park from November 12 until Sunday.