Grant amount
NIS 200,000
Workshops for developing physics-based solutions to everyday challenges
Workshops for 300 Excellence Class Students to Develop Physics-based Solutions to Daily Challenges of Families Evacuated to Jerusalem during the War
Workshops for 300 Excellence Class Students to Develop Physics-based Solutions to Daily Challenges of Families Evacuated to Jerusalem during the War
After the October 7th attack, approximately 25,000 residents of Israel’s southern and northern borders were evacuated to Jerusalem. They were removed from their homes, staying in 51 hotels and guest houses, now for more than two and a half months. They are facing enormous challenges in all areas of life, receiving assistance from government authorities and volunteers. The Jerusalem community was recruited to help in various ways, including in education. Institutions such as the National Library, the Holocaust Museum (Yad Vashem) and the Bible Lands Museum opened temporary schools.
The Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem is one of those institutions which took action to help the evacuees. With support of a small grant from the foundation, the museum prepared a mobile kit of science experiments that were conducted at the temporary schools across the city for 500 students. The experiments included building a flying machine inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s principles of aviation, constructing musical instruments, and exploring sound features by building a harmonica while altering different parameters.
Now, the museum proposes to invite middle school students of excellence classes from Jerusalem, to join its efforts to support the evacuees. Three hundred 9th grade students from 10 schools will take part in a short-term program, in which they will learn about the daily challenges of the evacuees. The students will then be divided into working groups of 4-6 participants, to devise a solution based on their advanced knowledge of physics. The working groups will be advised by their physics teachers who will receive designated mathematics training, as well as by design experts from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.
The challenge the students will try to address is the limited space that the evacuee families have in their temporary residences. Their private rooms are very small, storage space is constrained, and the public areas are packed and noisy. The students will plan practical solutions, based on geometric and algebraic functions and calculations, taking into consideration factors of acoustics, lighting, structural strength, and isolation. They will create their prototypes at the workshops of Bezalel Academy, and when completed they will present them to a panel of experts. Successful prototypes will be offered as a contribution to the evacuee centers in Jerusalem.
* The text above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 559