Our pitch:
Children who are currently attending primary education will face great global challenges in their life time such as global warming, climate change, a constant increase in the demand for food and water, overpopulation (according to UN projections, by 2050 the world population will reach 9.6 billion people), among others. These problems will have to be addressed by people and scientists with the ability to research, learn and develop solutions in an agile manner and in coordination with others. Teachers as committed role models, have the responsibility of channeling through science the talent, skills and energy of children.
Educators do not feel confident teaching science. To improve the learning experience of children, it is necessary to dispel negative stereotypes associated with science education, such as the belief that it is more challenging than other subjects. It is necessary to make scientific learning a fun, attractive and accessible experience, in which children and teachers establish a new relationship with STEM disciplines, under the premise that everyone has the ability to explore and enjoy learning how the world around us works.
Sci4S is a civic and educational program that has a cutting-edge methodology centered on advancing teachers pedagogical skills, using the power of play as an innovative tool for effective learning. Sci4S aims to form better citizens from childhood through the emotional and experimental involvement of teachers and students with STEM subjects. Teachers are able to break the traditional dissemination of knowledge through collaborative play and guided reflection. This structure is highly effective for teachers and students, not only for teachers to implement in other areas, but also to share it with other educators. With Sci4S, science in and out of the classroom becomes a process of wonder and curiosity about the phenomena that surround us, which are debated and negotiated between children and their teachers.
At the onset, Sci4S trains local facilitators, young graduates from university who understand the most pressing issues in their community. Facilitators train teachers with new pedagogical tools, leaving installed capacities to strengthen their professional and personal growth.
During the implementation, project leaders and local coordinators maintain a close companionship with constant feedback between facilitators and teachers. These relationships provide teachers with the support to replicate the scientific ludic methodology with their students through playful and reflective sessions. Sci4S meaningfully engages and learns from teachers by improving their pedagogical skill set while making them active contributors of the methodology. Teachers disseminate STEM subjects to foster innovation and critical thinking skills; both tools of utmost importance for children to thrive in a fast changing world.
Among the global challenges outlined by the Un Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a quality and innovative education is noted as a catalyst to achieve maximum impact to solve the world’s greatest problems. Children, teachers, parents and the entire community join the transformational process with a profound practice of civic values and an awareness of SDGs. Thus, more agents of change will be solving the world’s biggest challenges.
Watch our elevator pitch:
Where our solution team is headquartered or located:
Mexico City, CDMX, MexicoThe dimensions of the Challenge our solution addresses:
What makes our solution innovative:
Sci4S has an innovative pedagogical method. Through the use of cooperative games and physical activity, teachers are trained to disseminate science in a friendlier and understandable way.
Sci4S methodology has been tested, is replicable and scalable. With a profound base in the practice of civic values and teaching of SDGs, teachers participate as though they were students, they are invited to remember why they became teachers in the first place. Sci4S provides all the necessary tools to leave installed capacities that empower them to not only carry out Sci4S lessons, but also to incorporate these tools in their professional work.
How technology is integral to our solution:
The teaching of technological subjects happen through playful sessions that uses play as a cohesive factor of all Sci4S concepts, civic values and SDGs.
Teachers get involved in the use of technological tools to integrate them into their curricula and in their professional work. In Sci4S, technology contributes to the process of forming children by strengthening citizen and cognitive practices through the use of technological resources. Teachers and children become familiar with digital tools, increasing curiosity and fostering creativity.
Our solution goals over the next 12 months:
Sci4S will increase the impact of the program by adding coding and robotics topics, emphasizing how they relate to the SDGs and social-emotional learning skills.
Sci4S will be the basis for the creation of the Digital Citizenship program, which will link topics such as the responsible and positive use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology), with the children’s rights in the digital age. Using the power of play, the participation of children in the promotion of the safe, responsible and healthy use of ICT is encouraged. Contents are aligned with SDG 9: Making technology and innovation benefit the world.
Our vision over the next three to five years to grow and scale our solution to affect the lives of more people:
Sci4S will work on scaling from all its aspects:
- New geographic regions
- Increase in the number of beneficiaries
- Content innovation
- Development of funding strategies that guarantee sustainability.
For the next few years, we will work on strategies that strengthen international scaling by designing an organizational structure that responds to the needs and management autonomy of each country. The structure that will promote the opening of new operations in Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
Our promotional video:
The key characteristics of the populations who will benefit from our solution in the next 12 months:
The regions where we will be operating in the next 12 months:
The countries where we currently operate:
Where we plan to expand in the next 12 months:
How we will reach and retain our customers or beneficiaries:
Sci4S has a methodology that adapts to any context, reaching thousands of teachers and children from different educational spaces in diverse contexts.
We retain our beneficiaries by creating educational environments that make them feel confident and excited to learn science. The use of play as the main tool to disseminate scientific topics, creates a strong bond between teachers and their students with Sci4S.
After a Sci4S implementation in Mexico, 9 out of 10 teachers affirmed that Sci4S granted new teaching tools which enriched their teaching practice and that they will continue to use what they learned, in the future.
How many people we are currently serving with our solution:
With Sci4S and its three partner programs, we have serve over 900,0000 teachers, children and parents.
Sci4S benefits teachers of any social, religious and political context, by providing them with innovative pedagogical tools.
After carrying out Sci4S in a school community in Mexico, 97% of the teachers surveyed said that the program increased the curiosity and interest of their students in science. In another implementation, Sci4S has increased the declared knowledge of children in engineering subjects by 81%, where 8 out of 10 students say they learned something new from science in a fun way
How many people we will be serving with our solution in the 12 months and the next 3 years:
Last
year our growth rate of beneficiaries was 12%, and we have consistently grown
our funding resources as we expanded, showing a sustainable growth model for
our future expansions
Thus, in the coming year, Sci4S aims to benefit 80,000 teachers, children and parents in the countries we serve, as well as expand to new regions.
Within the next three years, Sci4S will incorporate robotics and coding, and include a new partner program that promotes technology and innovation for the benefit of the world. Through both methods teachers and children will acquire 21st century abilities.
How our solution team is organized:
Non-ProfitExplaining our organization:
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How many people work on our solution team:
12How many years we have been working on our solution:
3-4 yearsThe skills our solution team has that will enable us to attract the different resources needed to succeed and make an impact:
We are convinced that a better education is possible. One in which each and every teacher and child learn science while being happy, feeling valued and participating as agents of change.
Sci4S team has been focused on the power of play to contribute and improve the work of educators in science fields. The 110 people who are part of Sci4S are leaders committed to social transformation. The civic values promoted by the organization, such as teamwork, responsibility and empathy, fosters an environment where teachers and their students can develop their maximum potential.
Our revenue model:
The revenue model is based on the diversification of the income of Sci4S. Sci4S will fund expansion and ensure sustainability through obtaining sponsorships for projects, acquiring donations of goods, increasing the database of recurring donors and conducting fundraising events.
Why we are applying to Solve:
SOLVE represents a great opportunity to broaden the reach of our allies who are committed entrepreneurs with the formation of better citizens from childhood. People who will help unleash teachers’ potential to become inspiring leaders for their students.
We have a deep interest in participating in a community that is dedicated to innovation and that has similar goals to Sci4S. This partnership with the Solve community, will nurture Sci4S program with cutting edge elements for a greater impact.
The key barriers for our solution:
Sci4S has worked successfully in the contexts where it is present, but we identify entrance to new educational systems as a challenge. SOLVE can support Sci4S´s expansion into different countries in a more organic way, through networking opportunities with organizations doing similar work.
We are also currently attempting to improve our assessment methods, specifically in the U.S. Working with Solver teams and MIT can help solidify our impact measurement tools which will allow us to continue to improve our programming.
The types of connections and partnerships we would be most interested in if we became Solvers:
Solution Team
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Alan Ayala Education for Sharing
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Dina Buchbinder Founder and President, Education for Sharing
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Our tagline:
Sci4S trains educators to develop children’s love of science with meaningful lessons based on play, civic values, and SDGs.