Leisure time science in society (Journal MILSET, nº 3, October) (1992)
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[Página de boletim/newsletter do MILSET — pág. 3]
================================================================
LEISURE TIME SCIENCE IN SOCIETY
================================================================
Science and technology are now an integral part of our everyday lives. Today,
science no longer belongs exclusively to our schools, research institutes and
universities. Thanks to popularization in the media, the basic concepts of
science are now accessible to one and all.
Who has not heard of the ozone layer and of the greenhouse effect and its
impact on global warming and the water cycle, or of the ethical and legal
implications of new artificial fertilization techniques.
Try to imagine what our world would be like — even for a moment — without the
computer, without television, without household appliances. These few examples
illustrate just how profoundly our culture has been shaped by scientific and
technological progress. To turn our backs on the reality would be to turn away
from the onward march of history and civilization.
Adolescence is a critical age, the age when young people forge their
identities and form relations with their peers — of both sexes. They develop
new intellectual abilities, shape their own value systems, acquire knowledge,
define their goals: in short, they chart their passage toward adult life.
In this context, a structured association through which young people can
practice and acquire such abilities, capacities and values represents a
significant contribution to the development of emerging young personalities,
and to their ability to take their place in society.
Obviously, I am referring to science clubs.
A successful science club should:
□ Be made up primarily of young people;
□ Engage in activities of a scientific nature;
□ Function during leisure time;
□ Have its own monitors or group leaders;
□ Have an organized structure;
□ Be involved in the community;
There should be no argument about the first four conditions; without them, no
science club can exist. Thus I would like to deal here with the last two.
Organized structure
Any organism, whether biological or social, must have a structure in order to
be viable. Llkewise, to reach its goals a science club must have a structure
which defines its overall objectives as well as the rights and obligations of
its members; it must also contribute to achieving these goals. The structure
is simply a regulating mechanism which the club employs, first to sustain
itself, then to grow.
The main components of this organized structure are its bylaws and its
leaders. Helping to draw up a science club's bylaws and seeing that they are
carried out are basic educational tasks, which help young people form
interpersonal relationships while preparing them for a wider role in society.
Elections to leadership positions can also provide an excellent occasion for
discussion among all participants, regardless of sex or belief, through which
they can help shape their organization's objectives and strategies. Through
the practice of democracy, all members can become citizens aware not only of
their rights, but of their duties.
Community involvement
All club activity should have a community dimension. Of course, young people
should do scientific projects, or duplicate experiments which have already
been performed. But their results should also be shared with the other club
members. The didactic and sociological value of presenting the fruits of an
individual's efforts is a key educational consideration which club monitors
should not neglect.
Science fairs are one part of this overall approach. But there are other,
equally important factors: people who are normally uninterested in science,
for example, can be reached through films or transparencies which describe, in
clear, direct language, the experiments performed and their impact on society
as a whole. Scientific programs on local media can also be used to publicize
the club's activities and accomplishments.
Sharing scientific knowledge helps motivate young people, gives them a feeling
of involvement, and builds group cohesion.
MILSET is an open movement which is concerned with both young people and with
science. I believe this concern must put humanity before science. Only when we
first instill human values will people work with dignity for science.
Mario Freire
Coordinator
Clube de Biologia et Geologia Serre de S. Mamede
MILSET Executive Committee member
----------------------------------------------------------------
[fotografia: grupo numeroso de jovens reunidos, em ambiente de convívio]
Legenda: Young people from Portugal and Morocco have had many occasions to
fraternize in recent years.
----------------------------------------------------------------
================================================================
LEISURE SCIENCE BUILDS INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING
================================================================
Most MILSET members are already well acquainted with the close ties linking
the Bouregreg science club of Salé, Morocco, and the S. Mamede Biology and
Geology Club of Portalegre, Portugal.
But last May 21-25 saw these ties further strengthened when a Moroccan
delegation attended festivities in Portalegre. Highlight of the visit was a
discussion on twinning two geographically similar but culturally different
communities by their respective mayors.
Members and monitors of the two organizations have been staging exchange
visits for several years now. The two clubs have drawn up a joint project to
study flora, migratory birds and minerals. And at ESI '91 in Prague they
shared a stand.
Readers will also recall that the Portuguese club won the 1991 MILSET Award
for its commitment to international cooperation, not only with Morocco, but
also in assisting four African countries whose official language is Portuguese
to set up science clubs.
Science clubs from Portugal and Morocco have proved once again that leisure
science is a force for international understanding.
================================================================
THE MILSET EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [caixa lateral]
================================================================
Chairman
Maurice Huppé
CANADA
Vice-Chairman
Cheik DEM
President, Fédération Internationale des Centres d'Entraînement aux Méthodes
d'Éducation Active (FICEMÉA)
SENEGAL
Secretary General
Jean-Claude Guiraudon
Vice-President, Association Nationale Sciences Techniques Jeunesse (ANSTJ)
FRANCE
Assistant Secretary General
Carole Charlebois
Executive Director, Conseil de développement du loisir scientifique (CDLS)
QUEBEC
Treasurer
Mohamed BENABDENBI
President, Association Bouregreg
MOROCCO
Advisors
Adnan Al Meer
Vice-President
Kuwait Science Club
KUWAIT
Guy Severs
Director, Les Jeunesses Scientifiques de Belgique
BELGIUM
Members
Sébastien Abgoton
President, Conseil des activités éducatives du Bénin
BENIN
Sam Aldouri
President
Club of Scientific Hobbies
UNITED STATES
Ibrahim Saleh Al Naimi
Qatar Science Club
QATAR
Ghazi Bennani
Vice president
Association Rihat El Fath
MOROCCO
Stanislav MEDRICKY
AMAVET — Prague
CZECH REPUBLIC
Abderamane El Aliq
Director, General Establishment for Youth Activities
SAUDI ARABIA
Mário Freire
Coordinator, São Mamede Biology and Geology Club
PORTUGAL
Mariangela Miele
Delegate, Arciragazzi
ITALIA
Gun Olsson
International Secretary, Swedish Youth Science Federation
SWEDEN
Enrique Padilla
President, Youth Science Association of Argentina
ARGENTINA
Jean-Pierre Trillet
Association des musées et des centres de culture scientifiques, techniques et
industriels
FRANCE
Albert Varier
Representative
Centre d'Entraînement aux Méthodes d'Éducation Active (CEMÉA)
FRANCE
• The first seven members of the Executive Committee make up the MILSET Board.
================================================================
LEISURE TIME SCIENCE IN SOCIETY
================================================================
Science and technology are now an integral part of our everyday lives. Today,
science no longer belongs exclusively to our schools, research institutes and
universities. Thanks to popularization in the media, the basic concepts of
science are now accessible to one and all.
Who has not heard of the ozone layer and of the greenhouse effect and its
impact on global warming and the water cycle, or of the ethical and legal
implications of new artificial fertilization techniques.
Try to imagine what our world would be like — even for a moment — without the
computer, without television, without household appliances. These few examples
illustrate just how profoundly our culture has been shaped by scientific and
technological progress. To turn our backs on the reality would be to turn away
from the onward march of history and civilization.
Adolescence is a critical age, the age when young people forge their
identities and form relations with their peers — of both sexes. They develop
new intellectual abilities, shape their own value systems, acquire knowledge,
define their goals: in short, they chart their passage toward adult life.
In this context, a structured association through which young people can
practice and acquire such abilities, capacities and values represents a
significant contribution to the development of emerging young personalities,
and to their ability to take their place in society.
Obviously, I am referring to science clubs.
A successful science club should:
□ Be made up primarily of young people;
□ Engage in activities of a scientific nature;
□ Function during leisure time;
□ Have its own monitors or group leaders;
□ Have an organized structure;
□ Be involved in the community;
There should be no argument about the first four conditions; without them, no
science club can exist. Thus I would like to deal here with the last two.
Organized structure
Any organism, whether biological or social, must have a structure in order to
be viable. Llkewise, to reach its goals a science club must have a structure
which defines its overall objectives as well as the rights and obligations of
its members; it must also contribute to achieving these goals. The structure
is simply a regulating mechanism which the club employs, first to sustain
itself, then to grow.
The main components of this organized structure are its bylaws and its
leaders. Helping to draw up a science club's bylaws and seeing that they are
carried out are basic educational tasks, which help young people form
interpersonal relationships while preparing them for a wider role in society.
Elections to leadership positions can also provide an excellent occasion for
discussion among all participants, regardless of sex or belief, through which
they can help shape their organization's objectives and strategies. Through
the practice of democracy, all members can become citizens aware not only of
their rights, but of their duties.
Community involvement
All club activity should have a community dimension. Of course, young people
should do scientific projects, or duplicate experiments which have already
been performed. But their results should also be shared with the other club
members. The didactic and sociological value of presenting the fruits of an
individual's efforts is a key educational consideration which club monitors
should not neglect.
Science fairs are one part of this overall approach. But there are other,
equally important factors: people who are normally uninterested in science,
for example, can be reached through films or transparencies which describe, in
clear, direct language, the experiments performed and their impact on society
as a whole. Scientific programs on local media can also be used to publicize
the club's activities and accomplishments.
Sharing scientific knowledge helps motivate young people, gives them a feeling
of involvement, and builds group cohesion.
MILSET is an open movement which is concerned with both young people and with
science. I believe this concern must put humanity before science. Only when we
first instill human values will people work with dignity for science.
Mario Freire
Coordinator
Clube de Biologia et Geologia Serre de S. Mamede
MILSET Executive Committee member
----------------------------------------------------------------
[fotografia: grupo numeroso de jovens reunidos, em ambiente de convívio]
Legenda: Young people from Portugal and Morocco have had many occasions to
fraternize in recent years.
----------------------------------------------------------------
================================================================
LEISURE SCIENCE BUILDS INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING
================================================================
Most MILSET members are already well acquainted with the close ties linking
the Bouregreg science club of Salé, Morocco, and the S. Mamede Biology and
Geology Club of Portalegre, Portugal.
But last May 21-25 saw these ties further strengthened when a Moroccan
delegation attended festivities in Portalegre. Highlight of the visit was a
discussion on twinning two geographically similar but culturally different
communities by their respective mayors.
Members and monitors of the two organizations have been staging exchange
visits for several years now. The two clubs have drawn up a joint project to
study flora, migratory birds and minerals. And at ESI '91 in Prague they
shared a stand.
Readers will also recall that the Portuguese club won the 1991 MILSET Award
for its commitment to international cooperation, not only with Morocco, but
also in assisting four African countries whose official language is Portuguese
to set up science clubs.
Science clubs from Portugal and Morocco have proved once again that leisure
science is a force for international understanding.
================================================================
THE MILSET EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [caixa lateral]
================================================================
Chairman
Maurice Huppé
CANADA
Vice-Chairman
Cheik DEM
President, Fédération Internationale des Centres d'Entraînement aux Méthodes
d'Éducation Active (FICEMÉA)
SENEGAL
Secretary General
Jean-Claude Guiraudon
Vice-President, Association Nationale Sciences Techniques Jeunesse (ANSTJ)
FRANCE
Assistant Secretary General
Carole Charlebois
Executive Director, Conseil de développement du loisir scientifique (CDLS)
QUEBEC
Treasurer
Mohamed BENABDENBI
President, Association Bouregreg
MOROCCO
Advisors
Adnan Al Meer
Vice-President
Kuwait Science Club
KUWAIT
Guy Severs
Director, Les Jeunesses Scientifiques de Belgique
BELGIUM
Members
Sébastien Abgoton
President, Conseil des activités éducatives du Bénin
BENIN
Sam Aldouri
President
Club of Scientific Hobbies
UNITED STATES
Ibrahim Saleh Al Naimi
Qatar Science Club
QATAR
Ghazi Bennani
Vice president
Association Rihat El Fath
MOROCCO
Stanislav MEDRICKY
AMAVET — Prague
CZECH REPUBLIC
Abderamane El Aliq
Director, General Establishment for Youth Activities
SAUDI ARABIA
Mário Freire
Coordinator, São Mamede Biology and Geology Club
PORTUGAL
Mariangela Miele
Delegate, Arciragazzi
ITALIA
Gun Olsson
International Secretary, Swedish Youth Science Federation
SWEDEN
Enrique Padilla
President, Youth Science Association of Argentina
ARGENTINA
Jean-Pierre Trillet
Association des musées et des centres de culture scientifiques, techniques et
industriels
FRANCE
Albert Varier
Representative
Centre d'Entraînement aux Méthodes d'Éducation Active (CEMÉA)
FRANCE
• The first seven members of the Executive Committee make up the MILSET Board.