Zero Waste Project in 5 Questions

1- What Does Zero Waste Mean?

Zero Waste is a goal defined as a waste management philosophy that includes waste prevention, more efficient use of resources, reviewing the causes of waste generation, preventing or minimizing waste generation, and in case of waste, collecting it separately at its source and ensuring recycling.

2- What are the advantages to be provided by taking the zero waste approach as basis?

❖ Increased efficiency
❖ Increased performance due to clean environment
❖ Reducing costs as waste is prevented
❖ Ensuring the reduction of environmental risks
❖ Ensuring that employees have a “sensitive consumer” feeling as they contribute to the development of environmental protection awareness within the organization.
❖ Ensuring that the institution has the title of “Environmentalist” in national and international markets, thus increasing its reputation.

3- Can a waste tracking system be installed?

The institutions and participants involved in the Zero Waste Project are curious about how wastes contribute to the economy.
At this point, it is very important that a waste tracking system is set up and that the citizen is able to distinguish it precisely at home and follow the fate of the waste it takes to the waste collection point with great effort.
In this regard, there are municipalities that project the systems where waste will be tracked on site and deliver it to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.
Within the framework of university-public cooperation, it is also promising to carry out studies that measure the level of awareness and knowledge of people on the regional basis.
The Zero Waste Project has increased awareness of the environment, making it much easier for municipalities to start their recycling journey .
In addition, financing opportunities for environmentally friendly projects continue to increase with this project.

4- How to Install Zero Waste System?

While establishing a zero waste management model in an institution, primarily determined 7-stage road map is followed.
These stages are as follows:

  1. Determination of focus points
  2. Current due diligence
  3. Planning
  4. Identification and supply of needs
  5. Education and Awareness
  6. Application
  7. Reporting

5- What should be done for the Zero Waste system to work more effectively?

As of 2019 in Turkey, the number of institutions involved in the project known as Zero Waste is 18,750. These institutions or companies deliver the waste they have separated at their source to the municipalities and in return, they receive a signed receipt showing the amount of waste. This amount is entered into the waste management system by the institution itself, and an automatic calculation and graph such as how many trees saved the waste collected over time, how much raw material it provides to the economy are obtained. However, these data do not provide information about exactly where and how waste collected from the institution is used in the field.

At the beginning of the project, a training is given to the institutions by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. However, in the coming periods, the Ministry may inspect and control the institutions, solve the problems faced by the practitioners at the source, and reward those who do their job well.

The Most Important Project in the History of Science: CERN

The European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) is an abbreviation of the French words “Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire”, which means the Council of Europe for Nuclear Research.

Located on the border between Switzerland and France and close to the city of Geneva, CERN is the world’s largest particle physics research laboratory. The founding purpose of CERN is to jointly carry out research that member countries cannot realize with their own budget opportunities. CERN is a center where very important scientific discoveries were made, which were also deemed worthy of the Nobel prizes.

CERN was founded in 1954 in cooperation with 12 European countries (Belgium, Germany, France, Denmark, Netherlands, England, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, Yugoslavia and Greece) so that Europe can catch up with the US in the field of physics after the Second World War. Since its establishment, the Center has served as a successful example of international cooperation with wide participation. The number of CERN member countries is 21 as of 2014.

In addition, the European Commission, UNESCO and JINR are represented as observers at CERN. Turkey has maintained its observer status until 2015. On May 12, 2014 in Geneva The Agreement between Republic of Turkey and Cern is signed and Turkey became a Partner Member of CERN.

One of the world’s most prestigious research centers, CERN’s core business is physics. The basis for this is to find out what works the universe, where it comes from and where it goes. At CERN, some of the world’s largest and most complex machines; It is used to examine the smallest building blocks of nature, basic particles. These tiny particles of matter collide to solve the fundamental laws of nature. The laboratory provides the most advanced scientific opportunities for researchers to use.

What is the founding purpose of CERN?

W and Z bosons, atomic symmetries, and the boson resembling the Higgs boson have been discovered in RN so far. Not only for their discoveries, but also for the experimental reveal of many theoretical physics. Cern not only sheds light on the amazing world of particle physics, but also draws attention to international cooperation, purpose and progress.
It was founded to learn more about how the universe works by studying the forms of energy and matter. It benefits from the world’s most advanced equipment, including the Large Hadron Collider.


Have You Ever Heard…?

1- The Large Hadron Collider is colder than space and is currently the largest machine on earth.
2- Famous scientist Stephen Hawking spoke the following for CERN; “The God particle found by CERN can destroy the universe.
3- Complex devices for particle physics in CERN and similar facilities have led to many other uses, including PET scans, the most common tool used in cancer diagnosis.
4- More than 12,500 scientists from more than 110 nations are working at CERN.

How can STEM Education be applied in Lessons with Twin Sets?

 TAHA MUTLU | Atabey 75. YIL Middle School Computer and Technology Teacher

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education is an educational approach that includes the integrated teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and covers the whole process from preschool to higher education. Individuals who are raised with this education will adapt to the qualifications expected in the business world more easily. In this context, STEM education is considered important for leadership and economic growth in the scientific field.


THE AIM OF STEM EDUCATION

The STEM education system proposes a project-based and practical education approach. Goal; to raise innovative, creative and productive individuals who can transform their thoughts to real world. It enables students to apply creative solutions in their daily lives to solve problems related to these disciplines by increasing their basic knowledge levels in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.

STEM EDUCATION IN EARLY AGES

In pre-school and primary school levels, generations that question analytically, think creatively, and have high communication skills are trained with an early STEM approach. With an early STEM approach, students between the ages of 4 and 10 have the chance to receive an education without memorization from a young age.

The Advantages of STEM

Students who develop mathematical thinking skills also increase their capacity to work in science. The strengthening of the mathematical thinking skills acquired in the primary and secondary education period and the addition of production processes to the project-based education gives students the ability to transform their thoughts into production throughout their lives.

STEM APPROACH WITH TWIN SETS

Twin sets are one of the rare resources that can be used to include early childhood children in stem education, because Twin sets describe the working logic of a system, not code writing to children. Our children, who create the algorithm of the project they will make, can design it very easily with their Twin sets. They can find solutions in groups, which increases their ability to work in groups. It is aimed to gain competencies in developing and implementing original activities and projects. These sets are not only prepared according to the Information Technologies course.Since they are prepared by considering the stakeholders for all courses such as Science, they allow children to practice their imaginations.

Accessibility in Education and Educational Technologies

Accessible Education is the process of designing a course and developing a teaching style to meet the needs of people from various backgrounds, abilities and learning styles. Just as there is no single way to teach, people learn in a variety of ways; The use of different teaching methods will help meet the needs of a large number of students.

It takes into account various student characteristics such as ethnicity, race, abilities, disabled people, age, gender, language skills and preferred learning style. It does not compromise academic rigor. It is a proactive and inclusive way of teaching and designing courses and curricula.
It removes the barriers to learning before it affects anyone. It identifies and expresses the basic course content while accepting that students can express their understanding of basic course content in various ways. It is consistent with the universally recognized good teaching principles.

Accessible Education is not a goal. It is a process that continuously cycles in 3 steps:
1) Anticipating obstacles

2) Finding ways to mediate these obstacles

3) Increasing reach for everyone.

Technology can play an important role in removing barriers to education. Using technology, students around the world will help balance the playground with those who currently have access to educational opportunities by accessing tools tailored to their needs and situations.

How can we further support the growth of Educational Technologies?


Eucational technology is a set of information obtained by applying the science of teaching / learning to the real world conditions through the classroom environment. All methods and tools developed in this process are also intended to help this practice.

Despite the clear social benefits of using educational technology, more needs to be done to support its increased intake. Take the example of financial technology. The UK has become a global fintech center, in part because of the government’s actions to promote innovation and growth. Edtech, which is undeniably more valuable to a wider community, does not have the same support. Therefore, any incoming training officer should prioritize ending the discrepancy of the past few years by allowing the industry to develop.

All companies need financing to survive, but in this respect edtech often falls by the wayside. By changing the Seed Venture Investment Plan to give tax cuts to early stage companies, we can ensure that the edtech industry continues to grow, allowing more people to have access to good education.

Despite its importance in a better quality of life, there are still major differences in access to education worldwide. Educational technology can help with this and improve the delivery of education to some of the most non-privileged groups. However, if this becomes a reality, the industry needs more support. This will help develop innovative ideas by allowing as many students to reach their potential as possible.

Ways to Prep You and Your Kids for Back to School

Cemile Göçmen | Hadiye Kuradacı School of Science and Art | Math Teacher

Going back to school after the holidays or extended breaks can be quite an adjustment. With an unregulated schedule and more time focused on play or TV than learning, kids might feel unready and unwilling to re-enter school after the holidays. For parents, trying to restore order to your child’s lives may be a struggle, so, we made a list of recommendations for you to help make returning to school easier. Let’s take a look! 

1. KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR CHILD’S HEALTH

Oftentimes the holidays are filled with so much excitement and time around friends and family that your kids might not be paying attention to how well they are feeling physically. Keeping an eye on their health and ensuring they get a check-up before school starts can save you and your kids the trouble of taking any unnecessary sick days. 

2. REGULATE MEALTIME AND SLEEP SCHEDULES

 
Ensuring your kids have enough sleep and are ready to refuel their brain and tummies with nutritional food on a regular basis will be key to their transition back to school. We recommend that you maintain your child’s sleep and mealtime hours as close to their school time schedules as possible. For extended holidays where that might be harder to do, like summer and winter breaks, plan ten to fifteen days in advance to transition back to a regulated schedule. 

3. LIMIT SCREEN TIME TO AFTER SCHOOL HOURS

It’ll be necessary to set some rules and limits for games, computers, telephones, and television hours. We recommend splitting their play time between constructive educational activities and socializing events to better reflect how they’ll spend their time back at school. 

4.   INTRODUCE THE TOPIC OF GOING BACK TO SCHOOL EARLY

Children don’t operate on schedules and deadlines like grownups do. To them the back-to-school date will seem far off and arbitrary. So, when it is time to go back to school, they might feel like they’ve been abruptly awakened from a good dream and will most likely be grouchy as a result. To save yourself from any temper tantrums, be sure to talk about school regularly and remind them of the good times they had and can have at school. 

5. FOLLOW OFFICIAL PROCEDURES

Be sure to examine any official forms sent home from the school and deliver requested documents on time. Documents may contain important information such as required immunizations, the presence of holiday homework, and materials needed for before heading back to school.

6.   ENSURE YOUR KIDS HAVE THE SUPPLIES THEY NEED

Make sure you don’t leave your back-to-school shopping to the last day. Ensuring your kids have the right books as well as notebooks, pens and pencils can keep them from falling behind in the important first days back. 

7. MAKE A WORKSPACE FOR YOUR KIDS


An easy way to facilitate a good work routine is creating a good workspace. If you haven’t already, create a study corner for your child in their room or in a suitable place in the house and keep all school related material there. That way when your child is ready to get down to business, they’ll have a quiet place to focus and have everything organized and ready to go.

8. MAKE SURE CHILDREN ARE READING AND WRITING A LITTLE EVERY DAY 

The brain needs some exercise to stay sharp. Reading and writing help get children’s minds working and can be an activity shared by the whole family during the holidays and extended breaks. Getting back into the habit of reading and writing a bit each day will help maintain key school skills and get your kids ready to hit the ground running on their first days back to school. 

What Can Be Done to Overcome School Fear in Children?

CAN TERLER | Karaisalı Atatürk Middle School English Teacher

The first day of school – we’ve all been there and seen it. Since school is oftentimes the first step kids take outside of the nest, it’s only natural that the first day is filled with mixed emotions ranging from excitement and joy to fear and anxiety on the children’s part, as well as the parents’. 

Some kids run from their parents’ arms and into the classroom filled with other children without a second glance to their (most likely) misty eyed parents. Then there are the kids that resist going into the classroom, somewhat forced to leave their parents’ arms to enter school weighed down by fear and apprehension. Sometimes this experience can turn into a type of dread that keeps them from overcoming this particular fear. 

Bouts of irritability, introversion, crying, and stomach aches are just a few of the many symptoms a child might increasingly experience if they don’t learn to conquer their fear of school. The roots of your child’s fear could be wide ranging – some children might be simply overwhelmed with the change or some feel homesick, while others might carry certain anxieties about not being picked up at the end of the day. Ultimately, however, their fears and anxieties are real to them and may in the long run shape a child’s experience and perspective about school and affect how well they adapt and excel in life.  

So, what can be done to help children overcome their fears? 

Well, the answer may be simpler than you think. It starts with talking to your child and listening to their fears. Sometimes a child won’t communicate what they are feeling until they are asked. Only until you and your child identify what’s bothering them can you start tackling them together. 

There are several at home strategies a household can take that can help a child manage their fears, including: 

  • Introducing the topic of school as a positive experience to learn and make new friends. 
  • Increasing a child’s exposure to school and school-like environments. 
  • Attending school related activities. 
  • Discussing and acknowledging what issues your child might have with school. 
  • Encouraging the expression of feelings and teaching coping skills. 
  • Providing play dates with classmates to encourage friendships. 

Rest assured, you and your child aren’t alone in this fight either. There are several other pathways to solving whatever issues your child faces about school. Teachers have a wealth of tools to empower your child and help them overcome their fears. All it takes is reaching out and communicating to them your child’s issues to get the support you and your child deserve. Here is just a small fraction of what your school could do to assist your child: 

  • The teacher or other faculty could establish a caring relationship with your child. 
  • A school staff member could greet the parent and child at the door and take the child to the class. 
  • They could monitor bullying activities that may be taking place. 
  • The teacher could facilitate a friend group to include your child in. 
  • The teacher could adjust work assignments to match the student’s academic skills. 
  • The teacher could create a reward system for class attendance and participation. 

The first days of school are some of the most exciting; however, these feelings might not be shared by every child. If your child is feeling uneasy or even fearful of going to school, it is important to identify what they might be feeling and take steps to ensure that they learn how to manage and overcome their fears. Accomplishing this will undoubtedly increase your child’s interest and progress in school and will be the building blocks for their successfully managing other challenges later in life. 

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