The Hong Kong Jockey Club has approved over HK$265 million through its Charities Trust to initiate Hong Kong’s first large-scale inquiry-based learning project, JC CoolScience, to cultivate students’ interest and literacy in science from a young age.
The project, running for four years and a half, brings together local and international expertise, combining in-classroom and beyond classroom science learning and structured teacher training to provide support for primary school teachers and students. It aims to spark students’ curiosity through hands-on scientific exploration both inside and outside the classroom.
JC CoolScience will benefit 30,000 students from 120 primary schools and assist 500 teachers through professional development, targeting to foster students’ science literacy and cultivate a spirit of scientific inquiry among the next generation. It is currently being piloted in 45 schools.
With the Education University of Hong Kong as its strategic partner, the project features modules that enrich core curriculum lessons of Hong Kong’s new Primary Science Curriculum Framework. Each 300-minute module includes learning resources and experiment kits that guide students from observation and inquiry to exploration and discovery, cultivating scientific thinking and investigative skills.
In addition, the project also connects classroom theory with real-world experiences through field trips, with exhibitions, competitions and workshops to foster students’ and the public’s interest in science.
