ROOTS: "Ik ben Science!"
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Roots: Ik ben science!

As you walk into the room you see a group of 20 young children and six parents building a structure out of drinking straws. They all live in Beijum but they have roots in various places of the world, like Saint Martin, Aruba, and Jamaica. They want to test if their straws-structure can withstand an earthquake. In doing so, they explore concepts of force and engineering. Thandeka is guiding them. Thandeka, who was born and raised in Pretoria, is a geologist and she recently received her master’s degree in environmental sciences from the University of Groningen. Theila, the facilitator, prompts children to consider any uncontrolled variables in their design. Theila has a background in biology and education and she is originally from Jamaica. Eva, an undergraduate university student, is translating what Theila is saying to Dutch. After a while, an eco-justice activist walks in. Chihiro is a young woman with a background in Film Studies, born in Amsterdam with roots in Bolivia, to share her work and personal story with the children.  Hip-hop music is playing. The children are drinking lemonade with fresh mint from the community garden. 
This is the Trefpunt Center at Beijum on a Saturday morning. This is a group of scientists, professors, educators, students, activists, artists, community workers, and parents. 
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This is ROOTS.


what is roots?


ROOTS IS

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A science enrichment, interdisciplinary, multilingual, community-based programme that draws on disciplines in science, technology, the arts, the environment, engineering and mathematics (STEAM).

​ROOTS is used to refer to the call for environmental sustainability beyond geographic boundaries. “Ik ben Science” is used to refer to students’ self-identification with science, or put simply, seeing themselves as science persons.

Goal

The programme aims to engage young children living in underprivileged and ethnically diverse communities in science investigations rooted within authentic problems situated in their local contexts.

​Examples of such projects are measurements of the air and water quality and explorations of the environmental and social implications of earthquakes.
 
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WHY IS ROOTS NEEDED?


The program draws upon critical theory and intersectionality and it employs culturally relevant/responsive and sustainable pedagogy, which offers an opportunity to address educational inequalities and goals related to equity and social justice.
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​The choice of an after-school community program resonates within theories of learning and empirical evidence pointing to the fact that such spaces, unlike classrooms, provide personally relevant and motivating structures which have the potential to disrupt power dynamics and hierarchical relationships.
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When & Where

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Every Saturday, from 10.30-12, February 8 – June 20, 2020
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Trefpunt Center, Beijumerwek 17, Groningen
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ROOTS

ROOTS is done as part of the PhD project of Theila Smith at the Institute for Science Education and Communication, supervised by Prof. dr. Lucy Avraamidou (FSE), Dr. Monica Lopez Lopez (FBSC), and prof. Jennifer Adams (University of Calgary)

Interested in volunteering? Contact: t.s.smith@rug.nl

Interested in finding out more?
Check out our website: https://www.rug.nl/sciencelinx/maatschappij/roots_-i-am-science_

special thanks

The project receives additional support from the Trefunt Center in Beijum, ScienceLinX and the Community Building International Network.
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Theila Smith
t.s.smith@rug.nl
​06-38 142 757
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ROOTS: Ik Ben Science!
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