MUSCAT, NOV 7
The Oman Science Festival attracted large crowds over the weekend, with visitors from different segments of society exploring its diverse activities and interactive zones, which offered families engaging opportunities to experience science through hands-on experiments, demonstrations and real-life simulations.
The Ahmed bin Majid Theatre was among the popular attractions, drawing large audiences to science games and interactive competitions organised by private-sector institutions, including Abjad Tech and Knowledge Network Academy.
The Civil Aviation Authority presented a scientific segment titled 'Secrets of the Weather', while Oman Flour Mills organised a series of interactive competitions. Be'ah hosted 'Play and Learn with Be'ah', an activity aimed at promoting environmental protection, net-zero goals and awareness among children of sustainability and the circular economy, which focuses on transforming waste into useful resources.
The Artificial Intelligence Zone and Programming Hackathon were among the festival's major attractions, offering visitors an introduction to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, augmented and virtual reality, and the Internet of Things.
Visitors could explore practical applications of these technologies in education, business, digital security and road safety, while taking part in activities involving programming, sensors and robotics.
The festival experience also included an interactive store designed to raise awareness of consumer protection and a Digital Financial City, where visitors could learn about payment methods, investment and financial security. These activities combined learning with practical experiences.
The Artificial Intelligence Zone featured competitions tailored to younger children, using touch-based controls and colourful programming cards to introduce the fundamentals of logic and coding. Through simple, guided exercises, children learned to create basic programmes while developing early computational thinking skills in an engaging environment.
The zone also witnessed strong participation from young visitors in engineering challenges involving programmable robots competing along designated courses. The daily competitions encouraged teamwork, problem-solving and engineering skills, while demonstrating the practical application of scientific and mathematical concepts.
In another activity, children assembled advanced metal robots designed to tackle engineering challenges requiring precision and technical skills. The competitions provided participants with opportunities to apply their knowledge of science, mathematics and programming in a practical setting.
Such activities also introduced young participants to potential career pathways in technology, particularly in programming, robotics and smart manufacturing.
The Ministry of Education zone hosted several interactive activities, including 'The Philosophy of Continuous Assessment and Its Tools', designed to explain continuous assessment and demonstrate its role in supporting student learning and developing skills.
The programme featured digital games and interactive activities, including 'Super Omani', 'The Assessment Tools Table', 'Match and Discover', 'Assessment on the Mic' and the 'Ten-Minute Challenge'. Visitors could also experience 'Immortal Days VRI' through virtual reality.
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