Page 7 - ZAMURD Jun-2015

NOISE MAKER : MIDDLE EAST

UAE plans to probe
mars atmosphere in
2020

School replaces
textbooks with iPads

JEDDAH — Sultan Bin Salman Elementary School
has told students to come into school with only
their iPads after digitizing all their textbooks and
making them available as soft copies, Al-Hayat
reported.

Yousef Al-Hazmi, a teacher at the school, said
he proposed the idea to the school management
and they agreed to implement it after obtaining
permission from Jeddah Education Directorate and
parents of the students.

“We always aim to rival international standards.
The use of technology in education has become a
necessity. Many children suffer from neck and back
pains from carrying heavy backpacks filled with
books double their weight.”

“The children have been very welcoming to the The UAE says its planned 2020 mission to Mars
idea. They can even do their homework on their will study the planet’s atmosphere and will be
iPads. The idea is not only implemented in Sultan appropriately named “Hope.” Or “Al-Amal” in
Bin Salman but also in a number of other schools Arabic. It will be Arab world’s first space probe to
in Jeddah after obtaining parental consent.” Mars and will take seven to nine months to reach
He added his idea was chosen among the top seven the red planet, arriving in 2021.
ideas for education in Jeddah and he received a Emirati scientists hope the unmanned probe will
plaque of appreciation from the directorate. provide a deeper understanding of the Martian
atmosphere, and expect it to remain in orbit until
at least 2023.