Dubai: A strong chemistry is developing between students and the Nobel Museum at City Walk 1 in Dubai, say organisers.
Throngs of students are filling the halls of the Nobel Museum keen on exploring the world of chemistry and its relevance to their everyday life.
More than 600 university and school students are spilling into the temporary exhibition at City Walk 1 everyday since its opening on February 4 under the theme ‘The Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Connecting Elements’.
A learning platform that is proving popular for daily school trips, the museum offers a tangible connection to chemistry outside of the classroom.
Basel Abdul Razzaq Badran, an educational technology instructor at Sharjah Women’s College, the Higher Colleges of Technology, who was with a group of education students in their first year, said bringing them to the museum was an opportunity to spark their interest in the subject.
“What draws the students the most is when we show them how chemistry affects our lives and how crucial it is to many inventions and many appliances we use in our life. They are able to see real-life applications of chemistry and that’s the link that will get them excited to learn about how things are made and how they all come down to the main sciences, chemistry being one of them,” he said.
Touring the five different sections of the museum, each focusing on different areas of the field, Badran said his students had little knowledge about the Nobel Prize before visiting the museum.
“There is a big gap in their general knowledge — what they study in school doesn’t really cover the general knowledge of what is happening in the world. Since they will be teachers in the future, this is somehow relevant to what they are going to learn in college because they are not exposed to science as much as we want them to.”
Last Tuesday, the halls of the exhibition were full of students engaged with different interactive displays.
Gulf News spoke to students of different ages about what arouses their interest the most about chemistry.
Ahmad Nasser, an Iraqi student at GEMS Westminster School, said: “Chemistry is an important science. They sometimes call it the “central science” because it connects other sciences to each other, such as biology, physics, geology and environmental science.”
He added that everything is also subject to chemical reactions so it is crucial to understand these processes.
“I have always enjoyed learning chemistry,” said Nasser, 18, who wants to get into dentistry.
Similarly, Nuha Mahdi Sudan, a 14-year-old student from the same school, said experiments are her favourite part.
“Chemistry is one of the subjects that helped humanity understand the world around them. Whenever I look at materials, I can’t help but think about what these are made from; compounds, solids, liquid, gas.”
Emirati Mohammad Al Zeyoudi who attends Anas Bel Nathar School in Fujairah, said many things that we observe in the world are made of chemical effects, which is why he finds chemistry interesting.
“Chemistry makes us understand the different elements we use today and where they come from, for example, metal, gold, plastic and other elements such as oxygen and their importance in our life,” said the 16-year-old who wants to become an engineer.
Meanwhile, Hessa Al Hooti, an education student from the Higher Colleges of Technology, said she believed the museum brought the subject to life.
“The periodic table looked different and very basic when we studied it through books, but here it comes to life at the museum and with all the chemical elements shown inside the glass, this has encouraged me to learn more. All teachers should bring their students here.”
The museum is open daily until March 3.
