(Communicated by the Weizmann Institute Publications and Media Relation Department)
Blue Planet, a curriculum package for middle school students written by Weizmann Institute scientists on the link between man and the environment, has won recognition by UNESCO as a worldwide model in environmental studies. This international organization is promoting and financing the translation of this program into various different languages, as well as its distribution throughout schools worldwide.
The book Blue Planet was launched by UNESCO’s Deputy Assistant Prof. Andras Szollosi-Nagy, Director of the Division of Water Sciences; Weizmann Institute Vice President of Resource Development Prof. Israel Bar-Joseph; Prof. Nir Orion from the Science Education Department, who developed the program together with his former student Dr. Orit Ben-Zvi Assaraf; and the Weizmann Institute’s Prof. Dan Yakir, Head of the Environmental Sciences and Energy Research Department.
The program focuses particularly on the water cycle in the Earth’s ecosystems, and is intended for use as an effective learning tool through its wide and systematic approach, including various activities, experiments and field work that will help develop students’ thinking skills and understanding.
The ceremony was held in the EcoSphere - a unique educational glass-enclosed geodesic dome located at the Weizmann Institute’s Clore Garden of Science, where a Spanish version of the book was presented to the UNESCO representative. In the near future, the authors of the book plan to visit Latin America where they will help teachers implement this educational program into their own curriculums. The book will then get translated into Chinese and three other languages.