Nature festival

The UAE national students of the Sharjah Higher Colleges of Technology build a mountain, carve out ponds and recreate the savannah for their annual Mosaic 2005 exhibition on the environment

Picture rainforests, savannahs, hot and cold deserts, wetlands and oceans all in one location.

And if this doesn't amaze you, then picture a seven-metre tall mountain in the centre of all this, with a waterfall, a cave and a volcano.

The landscape was part of Mosaic 2005: Know Your World hosted by Sharjah Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) recently.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, Mosaic is now in its third year.

"This annual event is an affirmation of the college's educational philosophy," said Dr Fareed Ohan, Director of Sharjah HCT, "[which] aims at instilling in our students a sense of curiosity about the world in which they live."

This year, the event was dedicated to Shaikh Zayed. The theme was Planet Earth: Our Natural World.

"We wanted to celebrate Mother Earth, and show students a variety of natural phenomena," said Dr Ohan, who had announced the theme at the end of the last academic year.

Students, staff and faculty began work last October to turn this idea into reality, said Sarah Reaume, Head of College Services.

The result was a recreation of ''Our Natural World'' in the campus sports complex.

A variety of landscapes

The exhibition featured informative and interactive landscapes, including rainforests characterised by their typically large tree trunks and low canopy of leaves.

The savannahs were recreated. It had a seven-metre mural of African scenes, a hut and acacia tree as well as a variety of animals found in the savannahs.

Hot and cold deserts included exhibits constructed with earth-friendly materials, life-size and miniature igloo sculptures and posters.

Other landscapes included oceans, freshwater bodies, caves and wetlands.

There was also a section on weather and climate, which informed visitors about natural climatic disasters.

An area had been set apart to screen films related to the topic.

Also part of this landscape area were "weather rooms" where visitors could experience cold and extreme winds.

Presentations, interactive games and quizzes were also held.

"There were innovative ways to involve students in learning more about a particular landscape," said Reaume.

The centre of attraction at Mosaic 2005 was without a doubt the 12x12x7 metre-high mountain, with a waterfall that actually functioned in the front and an active volcano in the back that would erupt every 10 to 15 minutes.

The "mountain" also had a hollow centre which depicted the interior of a cave.

The structure was built with durable materials including a concrete mix spray donated by ConMix.

"To make the mountain was no easy feat," Reaume noted.

A collective effort

This year's event was the culmination of six months of hard work.

All those who visited Mosaic 2005 gleaned a number of interesting facts about nature.

However, for Sharjah HCT students, real learning takes place throughout the academic year.

"An important part is not so much what you see - it is what happens in the classroom," said Reaume.

The theme of each Mosaic is integrated into projects and assignments that students have to do anyway.

Information Technology students, for instance, are required to produce a website, so "they are given a theme through Mosaic on which to focus their website on," she said.

For Mosaic 2005, final year electronics students created a seismograph.

"Our group was asked to come up with monitoring and measurement techniques for volcanoes and earthquakes," said Jasem Hamad, a senior student at Sharjah Men's College (SMC).

His friend Yousuf Al Shair said, "We had to research and use our knowledge to build an electronic system, something new for us."

According to him, one of the benefits of hosting Mosaic was that it encourages teamwork.

"A great event," Yousuf called it. And indeed, the "great event" had gotten the entire college up and running.

Yousuf Abdul Razzaq, a second year construction student, explained how his classmates and professor were involved in the building of the mountain.

"We started with sketches," he said.

The team had to use material that would hold the mountain up and yet be easy to dismantle later.

"It was complex," said Yousuf, "but I feel happy to be part of this event."

Foundation year students were not left out. Asked about his role in Mosaic, Sultan Majid Al Qasimi proudly said, "I'm building a hut for the savannahs." Sultan worked with wood, palm leaves, glue, nails and hammer to build the structure.

Omran Taryam and his group made "a practice igloo using white boxes". They later made a big igloo for the cold desert.

At Sharjah Women's College (SWC), Latifa Abdul Rahman and Shamma Mosabah prepared a presentation on preserving forests.

"We don't realise how important the forests are and we keep destroying them," said Latifa.

"It is important that we understand how to protect them."

The Student Council also played a part in organising the event. Rawda Abdul Qader, President of the SWC Council, said they worked on gathering information on tsunamis, keeping mind the recent disaster.

"We had a wave on display, we showed a video and also explained how a tsunami occurs," she said.

According to her, Mosaic is "a very important event for everyone and a chance to learn as much as we can".

Nouf Al Hammadi and Alya Mohammad, also members of the Student Council, were part of the team which created the Nature Network.

Alya said, "We focused on marine life and coral reefs. We worked for more than two months and it's been a great collaborative experience."

Nouf agreed, adding that Mosaic was a unique event, and this year's theme was both interesting and important because it focused on environmental issues.

Student interest

With so much enthusiasm in the air, one can only conclude that the college has succeeded in its objective of getting students interested in the world of nature around them.

"The concept is to promote general information and Mosaic is meant to show students the diversity of the world in which we live," Dr Ohan said.

According to him there are certain things students should know, and "it is up to us to present it in a way that is interesting".

He said, "I have no doubt that when they studied geography, they didn't study it in this manner. Mosaic provides a chance for a complete experience."

So how much of a student-driven event was this?

Reaume, a key player in facilitating Mosaic 2005, said, "Certainly it is a whole college-initiative but more so than any Mosaic before, in terms of the physical building of things - carving out ponds, building the mountain, deciding how to make the volcano work, how to make things look real - all of this has been very much from the grassroots.

"Over the past month, we've had activity day