IMCD and TEGV Reach 2,500 Children with Science Truck

IMCD has added a new module to support education to the Science Firefly Educational Truck project, which it has been running with Turkey Education Volunteers Foundation (TEGV) since 2022. Targeting the conversion of unused rooms into Science Rooms in schools without laboratories, IMCD plans to add a new school to the project each year.

IMCD, which set out together with Turkey Education Volunteers Foundation (TEGV) to give children knowledge of science and scientific thinking from an early age, has brought 2,500 children together with science over three years. Supporting TEGV's Science Firefly Educational Truck since 2022 within the scope of the "Equal Opportunity in Education" social responsibility project with children from all across Turkey, IMCD has toured the Marmara, Aegean, Southeast Anatolia and Black Sea regions under this project.

TOMORROW'S SCIENTISTS WILL EMERGE

IMCD aims to ensure that more children engage with science in a sustainable manner through permanent science rooms. IMCD Turkey General Director Aylin Zakuto said, "We will continue to carry the light of science to different regions of Turkey with our truck. The Permanent Science Room project will strengthen our goal of equal opportunity in education even further. With the Science Room, hundreds of children will have the opportunity to conduct experiments in their schools and tomorrow's scientists will emerge."

BROUGHT CHILDREN AFFECTED BY THE EARTHQUAKE TOGETHER WITH QUALITY EDUCATION

Noting that IMCD pays attention to contributing to social development as much as economic development in every country where they operate, IMCD Turkey General Director Aylin Zakuto stated, "In our view, every child should be able to continue their education under equal conditions. Based on this philosophy, we redirected our route to the earthquake zone last year. Our Science Firefly Truck visited container cities in the region, bringing children affected by the earthquake together with quality education. Additionally, in honor of the Republic's 100th anniversary, we included Samsun in our coverage area. During our school visit in Samsun, we first painted worn garden walls. We drew environmental-themed pictures on the walls and brightened the school's appearance by painting these pictures together with our children. Our Science Firefly Truck hosted enjoyable experiments and activities. We discussed sustainability with animation. We shared the excitement of conducting experiments for the first time together. We learned what environment-friendly paints and construction materials are through interactive experiments. Children experienced VR for the first time and explored the depths of space. They prepared environment and sustainability posters with recycled materials. Finally, we danced to our heart's content at our DJ garden party, had lots of fun, and celebrated our Republic's 100th anniversary enthusiastically. We felt the happiness of both celebrating the festive spirit together and enabling children to learn while having fun."

INVESTMENTS IN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN EDUCATION WILL CONTINUE

Noting that IMCD, which will add Science Rooms to the Science Firefly Truck, will continue investments in equal opportunity in education in line with the company's mission, Zakuto added:

"This year, we also added to the project the goal of converting an unused room in primary schools with limited resources into a Science Room. Together with our colleagues, hand in hand and working directly, we established our first science room in a school in Istanbul. We painted wall illustrations made by a talented high school student all together. In the science room, under the leadership of IMCD employees, we conducted fun and educational, interactive experiments with students from different classes and age groups. Children learned a different scientific method in each experiment and gained unique knowledge about life. It was rewarding for us to witness the children's happiness during the experiments and their intense curiosity about science. Additionally, we implemented the 'sustainability awareness' module that we have been carrying out in our Science Firefly Truck for the past year and which is one of the foundations of IMCD's business processes in the Science Room. We talked with children about recycling and sustainability, and made suggestions about how we can apply them in our daily lives."

IT ALSO COVERED SAMSUN IN THE REPUBLIC'S 100TH ANNIVERSARY

The Science Firefly Truck, which aims to make children in 2nd and 8th grades of primary schools love science, has continued its activities with IMCD's support since 2022.

The project, developed with Turkey Education Volunteers Foundation (TEGV) to create equal opportunity in education for children, was addressed within the framework of IMCD's "Creating a World of Opportunity" motto. To date, 2,500 children have benefited from the project, which visits schools without laboratories in different provinces of Turkey and gives children the opportunity to conduct hands-on experiments on many topics they have read about in textbooks.

The basic objectives of the Science Firefly Truck were stated in a statement from the company as follows:

"To enable children to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes related to science, to help them discover that scientific phenomena can be explained through simple, learnable and fun activities, to develop their ability to make predictions and ask questions about an event, to enable them to think about cause-and-effect relationships in information or events, to facilitate the development of their ability to gather information and test knowledge through observation and experimentation, to enable them to make inferences on an event using different thinking skills, to help them discover different ways to access information, to encourage them to think about developing new products, ideas, strategies and solutions, to help them recognize that daily events or situations they encounter may have scientific explanations, to enable them to establish relationships between events and situations and science, to support them in creating creative designs, to encourage them to express their feelings and thoughts and participate in group discussions, to enable them to interpret images, events or situations and develop predictions about them, to help them recognize different thinking styles, to increase their awareness regarding scientists."