The School for Science, Nature and Environment formulated a curriculum that reflects, to the pupils, a holistic image of the natural world by means of:
- reflecting connections and links in science, nature and the environment; the ties and reciprocal influences among the scientific disciplines: physics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences.
- human activity and its influence on society and the environment
- finding a balance between scientific thinking and knowledge, and moral and value-focused thinking.
- providing opportunities to choose content matter from the different disciplines of knowledge, taking into consideration the subjects taught.
- placing the students at the center of the educational act, preparing them to become autonomous learners who control the learning process, possess skills in teamwork and various types of communication, and develop as an integral part of their community and as its leaders.
A bit of history
Pinhas Cohen was a teacher, an environmentalist, scientist and nature lover. In 1908, Cohen founded “Avtalya”, the first Hebrew school in Haifa. In 1913, The Hebrew Reali School in Haifa was established on the foundations of “Avtalya”, in the Hadar Hacarmel neighborhood. In 1936, “the Mechina” (grades 1 – 4) was established in Mercaz Hacarmel (the CarmelCenter). It was the first branch founded by the Reali as an extension of the school in Hadar. Eventually, the “mechina” evolved into the primary school (grades 1-6). In 1971, the junior high school classes were built. In 1998 the primary and junior high classes merged and a school for Science, Nature and Environment was created, exactly at the same location where Pinhas Cohen, the founder of Avtalya, had set up a science laboratory and a petting corner sixty years earlier.
