A teacher makes a butterfly specimen with three of her students during a science popularization activity held at a primary school in Lin'an district of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Sept 18. [Photo/Xinhua]
At a high-tech show staged recently at a primary school, students were captivated by a robot dog flipping over and dancing. It even bowed and shook their hands.
"I got to touch the robot dog, and it was so interesting. I will work hard and learn more about it," said Mou Yuejia, a student at the primary school in Tonghai county, Yunnan province.
The show was part of an activity to popularize science and technology at schools, and featured exhibits about ecological protection, sci-tech innovation and instruments demonstrating how to generate wind power.
"Next we will get closer in touch with schools and present the latest sci-tech results to students to inspire their interest and help increase people's knowledge of science," said Ding Chao, chairman of the science and technology association of Tonghai county, which organized the event.
Since mid-September, some 200,000 activities have been held with the theme of raising scientific literacy among the public and contributing to building a country that leads in science and technology.
Beyond the science popularization activities, Chinese schools are also springing into action on their own. This autumn semester, many schools adjusted their science courses to align with the frontiers of new technologies and explored ways to make such classes more attractive.
Pouring water, oil and effervescent tablets into a cup, Feng Jiaqi, a pupil at a primary school in Zhengzhou, Henan province, deftly conducted a scientific experiment simulating volcanic eruptions. "As the density of water is higher than oil, the two will be clearly divided, with oil on top of the water," Feng explained.
The school added practical scientific courses and arranged more science classes for its first- and second-grade students this semester.
In Fujian province, more than 300 university-based laboratories and science and technology museums were engaged in tailoring off-campus science classes for primary and middle school students. They customized the procedures of such classes together with teachers.
Children watch two workers demonstrating a magnetic experiment at the Shanghai Natural History Museum during a science popularization event on Sept 14. [Photo/Xinhua]
"There will inevitably be all kinds of problems in the process of exploring science, from which students can have a real experience of scientific practice," said Cai Minggang, a professor at Xiamen University.
In December last year, Fujian put forward 20 measures to improve science education, including deepening curriculum and teaching reforms, improving education resources and giving play to the public sites that are suitable for science popularization.
In particular, it required opening such sites as science and technology museums, observatories and memorial halls of scientists to primary and middle school students free of charge. Some research institutes were opened to the public for the first time, covering the sectors of science, agriculture and the environment.
These efforts were a response to a set of guidelines on strengthening the education of science for primary and middle school students that was released by the Ministry of Education and 17 other authorities last May.
The document encouraged universities, research institutes, children's centers, museums and libraries to open their venues, bases, parks or even production lines to students to help underpin scientific education.
The latest statistics show there are 1,683 sci-tech and related museums across the country, of which 1,090 are free to the public.
People's scientific knowledge to some extent determines the country's development in science and technology. China aims to become a global leader in science and technology by 2035. Taking education and technology as basic underpinnings for Chinese modernization, it is committed to the strategy of invigorating China through science and education.
"Social forces have rich resources for education in science and have widened the boundary of education," said Huang Xiao, dean of the College of Education at Zhejiang Normal University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, calling for greater efforts to build consensus, do a good job of top-level design and optimize resource layout to improve science education.
Xinhua
