STEM on Wheels

To our Wonderful Donors,

Thanks to you, our STEM on Wheels project has started its journey! Recently, we traveled from Zagreb to Osnovna škola Sela, a primary school in a small village near Sisak, Croatia. Sela is home to just 886 residents and has faced significant challenges, including two major earthquakes in the past four years. These disasters have left many without proper housing, and reconstruction is still ongoing. The community is in desperate need of basic amenities, as well as uplifting experiences and positive news.

On June 17, 2024, at 7 am, our STEM mobile laboratory and our team, led by educator Katarina Horvat, arrived at the school. You might recognize Katarina as the smiling driver in our photos. After an hour of setting up our equipment, the schoolyard buzzed with excitement! Our van carried over 50 STEM units, including microscopes, robots, interactive measuring devices, telescopes, drones, environmental fieldwork tools, lab chemicals, health measuring tools, and more. The students didn't know where to look or what to try first!

Witnessing this joy and enthusiasm is a privilege and a heartwarming reminder of why we do what we do. These moments are filled with sheer happiness and a shared understanding among team members of the impact we're making.

Sixty-five students from the second, third, fourth, and sixth grades, aged 7 to 12, had an incredible STEM experience and didn't want to leave our site! For many, it was their first-time using magnifiers, microscopes, bug-catching nets, or navigating robots. The sight of children focused on using 3ml pipettes and test tubes is truly delightful. Although some were initially hesitant to touch the "unknown science stuff," we encouraged them with phrases like, "Of course, you can touch/rotate/turn that on," and "You can do it, try it!". Teachers from the school said that they would probably  never have had the opportunity to use all this equipment and explore such a diverse range of STEM topics if it weren't for this project.

Thanks to your support, Bioteka is confident that we have sparked curiosity and inspired future STEM experts!  Below are some heartfelt comments from the students that truly capture the impact of your contributions:

• "I didn't know I like STEM."
• "Can our school day look like this every day?"
• "This is so much fun!"
• "Can you be our teacher?"
• "I could do this all day, every day!"

Our mobile STEM lab brings science and technology to remote areas, igniting curiosity and STEM careers.

YOU made this happen!

We can’t thank you enough.

All the best from Bioteka team,

Jelena, Kristina and Katarina

Links:

• Find out more about our organisation!
• News

• A_word_from_Principal_OS_Sela.pdf (PDF)