Enrol your child in STEM workshops – the best of the best and many NEW STEM WORKSHOPS in this season!

15. September 2020.

A new school year has begun, with many challenges and uncertainties, but we hope that it will be peaceful and safe. As in the last 9 years, the school year is accompanied by Bioteka’s STEM workshops, with many new changes introduced this year!

The first news is the special limitation of the number of children and work stations until further notice and the careful compliance with all measures and recommendations of the Croatian Institute of Public Health: hand washing and disinfection, face mask worn by the educator, keeping a distance, ventilating and disinfecting the space and equipment, etc. The second big news is that we have prepared a special programme for this season – our best and most well-known STEM workshops have been improved and partially altered (approved not only by the Ministry of Science and Education, but also by hundreds of enthusiastic students, teachers and professors) in combination with brand new STEM workshops in the field of robotics, programming, astronomy, waste management, sustainable development, etc. With lots of new equipment and science kits to boot! More than half of the new season will consist of new STEM workshops, while the rest has been updated and improved! For that reason, we invite both new and old participants to join us and discover the allure and importance of science! In brief, we are very excited about our new season and cannot wait to meet our curious little scientists – naturalists, engineers and philosophers!

This season, in addition to making a blood model, a water purifier, a detailed analysis of food items and isolating their own DNA, our STEM participants will conduct new research about space, light, water and soil, the world of robots, sensors and programming, bug hotels and bird feeders, bridges, magnets, etc… and that is just the beginning! Many interesting scientific topics await our participants! The participants will carry out both project and problem-based research, which will develop over time and surprise them every time they participate in the STEM workshop, and the results of which will only be visible after a few months!

If you are still not familiar with the term STEM or wish to learn more about it, STEM education includes learning and combining four disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) while working on the solution to one problem. STEM is thus not just robotics or programming, but the use of knowledge from multiple fields in order to solve a problem. With nearly ten-year-long experience in STEM education, we wrote about STEM workshops in this article.

In Bioteka’s STEM workshops, children conduct experiments on their own, while we encourage them to start thinking outside the box of classical education. In general, it is very important for us to talk to children and to listen to their experiences and stories, but also to encourage them to learn how to think critically and analytically, to understand processes (instead of learning facts by heart) and to experience the fact that diligent work (which is sometimes not easy) may lead to success. We love questions starting with “why” and “how,” and children’s ideas about doing something differently are always welcome. We are as excited as they are when they can hardly wait to see the results, and it has almost become a rule that they wish to stay longer in the workshops because they have an idea about what else they could do.

STEM workshops are held on a monthly basis, and you can attend the workshops for one month or several months or during the entire school year, depending on your child’s wishes.

Through STEM workshops, children:

Develop skills to solve complex tasks and challenges;
Exercise patience and precision when working, think and conclude critically and, over time, develop a proactive attitude in searching for a solution;
Practice thinking outside the box and develop their imagination;
Get acquainted with research papers (from hypothesis to conclusion), which are important for all work in the field of natural or social sciences;
Think about and connect what they have learned through fun experiments and workshops;
Do not learn facts by heart, but understand processes or systems;
Freely express their opinions or ideas;
Work in teams with peers.

In the STEM workshops, children will:

Carry out more than 30 independent experiments in the field of biology (botany, zoology, anthropology, ecology), chemistry, environmental protection, geology and palaeontology, engineering, and will learn about robotics, basics of programming, sustainable development, waste management, etc.;
Handle different laboratory equipment (test tubes, pipettes, graduated cylinders, chemicals, mortar and pestle, Petri dishes, balances), microscopes, didactic games, sampling materials, nets, terrariums, picture dictionaries, LEGO bricks, different production materials, tablets, computers, etc.;
Learn to express their opinions and ideas and work as part of a team;
Meet new friends.

BASIC INFORMATION

Period: STEM workshops start on 2 October 2020 and last until the end of the school year, 18 June 2020

Length: STEM workshops last for two hours, for weekday groups from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Groups:

(choose between one of the following slots)

Group 1 – Friday, 2 October 2020, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Group 2 – Saturday, 3 October 2020, 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Group 3 – Thursday, 8 October 2020, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Group 4 – Friday, 9 October 2020, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Workshops in October:

In the first workshop, participants will learn about the notion of science and the steps of scientific research (hypothesis, materials and methods, results and discussion, conclusion). Using a set for hydroponic cultivation, participants will conduct their own scientific research in which they will choose a type of plant, form their hypothesis and study how such plants grow in different conditions throughout the following months. In the second workshop, participants will study food items using the steps of scientific research – the amount of vitamins, sugar and calories in the fruit and vegetables we eat, as well as in different snack foods such as potato chips, popcorn, pretzels, etc.

Workshops in November:

We have reserved November for everything that cannot be seen with the naked eye! Participants will learn how to use a microscope and different magnification offered by the microscope, and we will study yeasts, bacteria and viruses and the way they spread. How many bacteria can be found on my fingers? What about my tongue, mobile phone or the doorknob? Participants will grow bacteria on a growth medium, which we will stain and observe through a microscope once we see results.

Price:

Monthly package: HRK 250.00 or HRK 100.00 for siblings

The monthly package includes two sessions (two Thursdays, two Fridays or two Saturdays) in a month. For instance, if you opt for the Friday slot starting on 3 October, your child will be a part of Group 1, which means that you will attend workshops every other Friday. Your next session would thus take place on 16 October. You will receive the workshop schedule several months in advance. Occasional change of group in case of illness or for another reason is possible only with timely notification and arrangement.

Age: 6 to 12

Group: 5 work stations*

*Considering the current situation with the pandemic and the recommendations of the Croatian Institute for Public Health in regard to minimum required distance, there are 5 work stations available. Siblings may work at the same work station, so the maximum number of children per group is 5 to 10. The space will be ventilated and disinfected after every workshop and the educator will wear a face mask.

Payment method: exclusively by transaction to the Association’s giro account: IBAN: HR67 2340 0091 1104 2669 9, Privredna banka Zagreb, during the first week of the month.

APPLICATIONS: exclusively using the following form: APPLICATION FORM