Thousands of Dubai students from Innoventures Education schools achieved the Guinness record for ‘the world’s largest STEM lesson across multiple venues’. Earlier this week, 2,299 students from Dubai International Academy Emirates Hills, Dubai International Academy Al Barsha, Raffles World Academy, Raffles International School and Collegiate International School join the lesson from their classrooms. In what is probably another record of sorts, the students belonged to 108 nationalities.
Poonam Bhojani, CEO, Innoventures Education, said: “Innoventures Education has always believed in providing world-class education and bringing NASA astronauts and world-renowned scientists to Dubai is aligned with that vision. We couldn’t be prouder of all our students who participated in this record-breaking lesson; and we hope it has been a memorable, enriching learning experience.”
The students were mentored by celebrated names in space exploration and science, including Commander Susan Kilrain, a veteran astronaut of two space shuttle flights; Dr. Michaela Musilova, astrobiologist, analog astronaut and writer; Joel Gilmore, professional science communicator; Michael Holmstrom, CEO & Co-Founder STEM Punks Ventures; and Damien Aldridge, Education Director of STEM Punks.
Hitesh Bhagat, principal, Dubai International Academy, Emirates Hills said: “We are so excited to see our students enter the record books with a truly incredible achievement. As educationists we can hope that being mentored by world-renowned achievers will also inspire our students to reach for the stars. Our intention with this initiative was to create an immersive and experiential learning environment for our students.”
Mars rovers like Opportunity and Perseverance were designed for exploration, but once humans arrive on Mars, what kinds of jobs will rovers need to do? Would they do more exploring? Or building, transportation and mining for ice instead? What would they look like so they can perform these jobs? Applying design thinking skills, Innoventures Education students designed their versions of Mars rovers during the lesson and peer evaluated it. Next, they will prepare to prototype the rover.
This unique lesson took place during Space Camp 2101. Innoventures Educationpartnered with award-winning company, Starlight Education, to offer students aged 12 to 18 years the unique opportunity to design a sustainable habitat together with real astronauts and high-achieving scientists from around the world. Space 2011 was held from 17 to 21 October at DIA Al Barsha.
The five-day program helped students build critical thinking, leadership and teamwork, presentation techniques, new STEM skills as well as in-depth knowledge of designing space habitats that are fit for human wellbeing.
