This page reports the titles of the Italian projects that were presented at the National Event of Science on Stage 2.
32 of these projects are briefly described by a short abstract, that reports links to the e-mail address of authors and, in some cases, a link to details and educational material.
The main goal of this page is to promoting diffusion and sharing of scientific documents realised by the school or produced for schools. Remember that this page is always open to authors for updates. Any modify or update is reported in the News
section of this website.
The European flag near the title of a project indicates that this work will be presented at the International event of Science on Stage 2 at Grenoble. The Italian flag marks a project that was presented during the National event but that will not be presented at Grenoble, for various reasons.
A glance towards the sky
Animal behaviour: an experimental approach Beyond the blackboard Biology and chemistry of blood gases oxygen and carbon dioxide Discovering amylase, an accessible and surprising enzyme Drops of life E = mc². Visualizing relativistic spacetime Energy in your hands European pupils magazine Fermat's principle between optics and kinematics Galileo's clock Genetics... Because it will be not only a word! Grätzel's cell Hello, my name is Albert Einstein Let's prove the fourth Maxwell equation Look at the light: physics on show Looking for antioxidant food Meteorology in the school Model organisms in teaching life sciences Physics and magazines Plants from other worlds, other worlds from plants Precession of the equinoxes Robot to school Science and sport Science Menu
or
experiments à la carteamong pans and test tubes
Snacktime, what's in it? The air pollution The bottle of water with a sachet of mayonnaise The magic castle The shadow of the flame
and other hands-on experiments on the candle, inspired to Faraday and Leonardo The Small Science Centre Time in a mirror A bioinformatic gene hunting, A lovely atmosphere, Adultsteach to
children,
Christopher Columbus - A project for secondary school, Eurotitrationsa software application that emulates ionic equilibriums and computes pH of arbitrary mixtures,
From Galileo to Frauhnofer: from the observation to spectroscopy, Leonardo's anemometer, Light in pocket, Vegetable's garden children,The history of physics schools.
A glance towards the sky
A glance towards the sky
: this is the title of the project
by Primary School Direzione Didattica I Circolo -
Matteotti
in Gubbio - Umbria (Italy)- class 4C (full time organization), in school year
2004-05: children were 9-10 years old. Astronomy has got such a great fascination on children that it has been used as a means to learn by learning. Looking at the sky we can say
that the real environmental education is on field work, out of the classrooms where it is so unreal and limited. With a careful observation of nature, pupils learned to read it,
collect, classify, organize, put back in order and interprete the
data; they learned to investigate the causes of the phenomena and,
above all, to express the emotions and feelings they proved during the
observation of heavenly bodies. Teachers and pupils had a different
relationship with nature, they worked together on the field work, outside of the traditional school places; they chose to work in a meaningful and very peculiar space; they adopted a behaviour which is respectful and conservative of the
environment as a universal good.
Animal behaviour: an experimental approach
This project deals with the observation and description of the feeding
behaviour of insects; the activity for students is aimed at experimenting with scientific method and learning important concepts related to the evolution of behavioural patterns.
After a short bibliographic research, students formulate the experimental
hypothesis and decide upon the experimental method to be used to verify the
hypothesis. The entomological collection is carried out manually or by traps.
The insects are kept alive in special terrariums. The experiments consist in
supplying food in fixed portions, and in recording quantity and quality of food
consumed and food relocation procedure, intended as active separation between
the food acquisition and its use. Then data is analysed with simple statistical
methods. The students formulate their conclusions based on the analysed data.
Finally students create a CDROM and a web site.
Beyond the blackboard
How to teach and learn using the language of
videos. This project consists in a sperimentation to promote methods of
teaching cinematographic, audiovisive and multimedia language in
Primary School, producing videos and cartoons. It is a work which
introduces lot of information and communications technologies in the
process of education, aiming to encourage interdisciplinarity among the
different school subjects.
Biology and chemistry of blood gases oxygen and carbon dioxide
Based upon their previous knowledge about common evolution and structure of haemoglobin and myoglobin, partial pressure of gases, and main properties of chemical elements and solutions, students may focus key principles of biology and chemistry of blood gases oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2), and the mechanism regulating pH and hydro-electrolytic equilibrium of blood.
Key principles are the followings:
1) gas diffusion and exchange into alveoli and tissue,
2) chemical equilibrium carbonic acid - bicarbonate anion,
3) pH and buffer solutions,
4) physical and chemical properties of iron,
5) the regulation of blood pH: alkalosis and acidosis.
Furthermore this project is aimed at promoting use by the young of both common material and informatics technologies (PC, Internet, digital cameras and videos) to create models, hypertext, videos and any other useful approach to deepen into knowledge of key concepts in biology and chemistry of blood gases.
Discovering amylase, an accessible and surprising enzyme
Complexity underlying enzymes can be difficult for students to grasp because
enzymes cannot be readily visualized, and school texts tend to describe them
in abstract molecular terms. One way for achieving a good level of
understanding is to participate to an activity that mirrors the biochemical
practice. I have chosen amylases, two enzymes whose catalytic activity can
be detected without any instruments except the eyes, using the Lugol method.
Moreover they can be easily extracted from germinating barley or the
students' own saliva. Starch hydrolysis can be achieved either by inorganic
catalysts -which require extremes of temperature and pH- or by our extracts -which perform the same reaction under very mild conditions. By considering
this stark difference, students can hypothesise that in living organisms are
present special and powerful substances
, able to catalyse reactions. Then
with some easy, quick and inexpensive laboratory experiments, based on
enzymatic units determination (hydrolysed starch µg/min), students grasp
what the activity of an enzyme consists of. They can observe the influence
of environmental factors (pH, temperature, substrate concentration,
inhibitors presence) on activity, and realise that enzymes are molecular
sensors with catalytic power. The heuristic laboratory approach is
integrated with theoretical knowledge about amylases and starch, their
physiological meaning and biotechnological applications.
Drops of life
The project was developed by the IPSIA Institute in Legnano. From studying a Peltier cell, a thermoelectric component based on the characteristics of two semiconductor materials, Tellurio and Bismuto, a prototype able to extract water from humidity in the air has been created. Our hands-on
experimental study plan begins with the discovery of the physical phenomenon and results in the construction of the prototype. The step by step experimentation process gave way to desirable results, but sometimes also to disappointing results, given the mysteries of the laws of physics. As we ventured into the challenges of our research, we experienced the same intense emotions as do even the most celebrated scientists. The prototype is made up of a wooden box, a circular glass window through which one can see how frost is produced, an aluminum condenser which is connected to the cold side of the cell, and a heat disperser. Drops of life can provide half a glass of water per night from a 16 square centimeter cooling surface. After having created an original and well-working device, we expressed a great deal of satisfaction. Our students expressed their ideas regarding the common aspects of the different scientific discoveries, their utility to society and economic welfare. We would like to end with this message: Better half a glass of water than a full glass of sand
.
E = mc². Visualizing relativistic spacetime
Visualizing Relativity is a fascinating and difficult challenge, since it is far from standard experience. Motivated by UNESCO World Year of Physics
2005 we have realized a project devoted to explain Special Relativity in about five minutes, that has participated in the Relativity Challenge
of the Pirelli INTERNETional Award
being selected in the 10% best works among about 300 coming from all over the World.
The video (among the characters of which there is an avatar with the 3D-virtualized aspect of Albert Einstein) is embedded
into an interactive multimedia, cut into eleven separate parts -each one corresponding to specific parts of its scientific path- accompanied by in-depth texts that contain questions and answers referring to the specific topics covered in each segment.
The multimedia is the subject of a Special Report
appearing in the Portale della Ricerca Italiana
edited by CINECA on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Education. This Portal aims to present the most significant experiences of research and scientific communication in Italy.
Energy in your hands
Energy, in all its forms, is a subject of everyday discussion at all levels. Through the design and the application of innovative pedagogical strategies, with exhibits, hands-on, laboratory work and user-friendly multimedia packages in 5 languages, dealing with Energy and energy-related issues
, we will provide young students, teachers and the general public with a deeper understanding of energy, its exploitation, current problems and future scenarios, together with an appreciation of its impact on our society.
The objectives of the project are to explain the impact of scientific and technological advances and their applications, benefits and limits to the general public and to young students, in order to make scientific and technological knowledge more readily accessible to them, taking advantage of the effectiveness of an interactive approach, and to stimulate young people's interest in scientific careers. The project, indeed, will provide citizens in general with a deeper understanding of the nature of energy (its transformations, exploitation current problems and future scenarios) and its technology together with an appreciation of its impact on modern society.
European pupils magazine
The goal of this project is to stimulate the study of the history of science and technology in European countries. We believe that pupils will acquire a more solid acknowledgment of people rights and duties in our 21th century by studying the history of the scientific and technological development in Europe. We want to prosecute the project that our institute began on 2001 in Hull (England) during a universitary course by Dr. Bert Sorsby. This project is open to all European secondary schools. Teachers and students can contribute both by writing articles and by helping editors to realise the journal. The magazine is indicated for 14 years to 19 years old pupils.
Fermat's principle between optics and kinematics
The subject is Fermat's principle (light takes the path which requires the shortest time) as an example of a general principle which allows an unitary interpretation of different phenomena; a kind of reasoning typical of variational principles is introduced. The first step is a challenge: how to move from a point to another, with the same speed, in the shortest time, after touching a line.
The paths are shown by small rods, marked with small lines so as to show the covered space in the same portion of time: so travelling times become visible. By moving the slide, the fastest path is searched, which coincides with the shortest. A reflected laser ray follows the same path.
Second challenge: which is the quickest path to allow a lifeguard to reach and save a drowning man from the beach? Now speeds are different, the quickest path is no longer the shortest and it is angled according to Snell's law. An optical experiment is repeated with a refraction.
The work has been accomplished and presented by students at the exhibition Scienza Under 18 at the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia in Milano
(Italy).
Galileo's clock
The Vocational School I.P.S.I.A. Galileo Galilei
in Castelfranco Veneto (Treviso, Italy) has built Galileo’s pendulum clock, a clock that was designed but never built by the Italian scientist. The invention of the pendulum clock is attributed to Huygens who built and patented it in 1656 after Galileo’s death. Viviani, one of Galileo’s followers, challenged Huygens’s paternity of the idea, but Huygens made a scornful comment on Galileo’s project: It can’t work!
. The challenge issued in the 17th century has been accepted by some teachers who have decided to reconstruct the pendulum clock with their students, starting from Viviani’s description of the device and from a nineteenth-century copy of the drawing of the clock preserved at the Museum of Science History in Florence. The model that has been built not only works properly but it also looks nice. We have succeeded. We have won the challenge!
The project Galileo’s clock
involved teachers of various subjects and students from many classes. Moreover, many local companies contributed to the project by supplying advanced mechanical technology that was not available in the school.
Genetics... Because it will be not only a word!
I want to show a pathway to teach Genetics based on new methods who use epistemology and history to study the different models created by scientists in the century: the mendelian model (by the analysis of original papers and the historical and social situation in which Mendel lived), the model proposed by Morgan (who studied Drosophila melanogaster), the Watson and Crick’s model of DNA. Very important are also experiments in laboratory (such us to take off DNA from the fruit’s cells, the PCR of meat etc.) and the production of a performance named In-certezze
. The theatre is used to convey information but also the scientist’s attitude and the social and moral problems of the research. It is also a way to teach amusing and exciting. The message of the performance is that science is neither good nor bad by itself, but it depends by the use that man does of it.
Grätzel's cell
Speaking on sustainable development implies to speak about energy saving and renewable energies. Our school
has invested a lot on this subject, setting up a suitable laboratory. In this laboratory the Grätzel's Cell finds the right place, vanguard in this field. The Cell, known as Dye Sensitized Solar Cell
, transforms solar energy into electric energy by reproducing the photosynthesis work. Its peculiarity consists in using organic pigments extracted from raspberry, blueberry or from leaves of lemon in order to absorb light and create a couple of hole-electrons, to create a shell of TiO2 nanoporous, with a big surface as conductor of electrons and anelectrolyte as conductor of holes. Its structural simplicity is amazing. For this reason we love planned an educational program of sciences which involved physics, biology and chemistry in the building
of the Cell. This project has required a lot of work to find documentation and optimize the results in order to make a little
calculator or a little electric engine work. The active search goes on with the students and also with the Project of Science Degrees.
Hello, my name is Albert Einstein
Theatre can be used to involve in fact young students on scientific arguments. They produce a performance, being actors, writers and referees during the rehearsals. The piece we are going to present is entitled Hello, my name is Albert Einstein
. It has been written and interpreted by the students of some Florence's high schools. It deals with some significant aspects of the German scientist's life also related to the main historical events of the 20th century. So, the students are the authors and the protagonists of a story that moves through science, history, ethics and politics. Einstein represents an interesting point of view because during his human and scientific life many historical events and fundamental scientific results occurred, stimulating philosophical and ethical debates. Einstein is interpreted by an adult while the other characters (Newton, Bohr, Szilard, etc.) are interpreted by the students: this provides the real perspective to the representation and to the audience. Video and sound effects will help to give more information and to create the scenic atmosphere.
Let's prove the fourth Maxwell equation
Teaching electro-magnetism is someway not easy. Even if today it's possible to realise many experiments that prove a lot of laws, it's difficult to show that a time-varying electric field generates a magnetic field. We want to fill this hole by realising a cheap device that highlights this phenomena. The core of the system is a big condenser with two circular plates separated by a polystirene dielectric. By applying a medium frequency sinusoidal voltage, we compare the magnetic field near the dielectric with the magnetic field generated by the current flowing through the conductors connected to the condenser (at the same distance by the axis of the system) showing that its amplitde does not vary, according to the displacement current concept. For understanding the experiment it is necessary to know other electromagnetic phenomena (i.e. Biot-Savart and Faraday induction laws) that are reminded by a preliminary set of classical experiments. This lab activities were proposed to the students of a secondary school. The tests submitted to the students highlighted a well understanding of the displacement current concept.
Look at the light: physics on show
The project involves teachers and students of two levels of school, primary and higher secondary in activities which deepen physics subjects. This initiative is aimed at stimulating students of secondary school in studying science, by making them conceiving, planning and realizing a number of experiences to guide and assist peers and younger pupils in learning. The point at issue is to make students of both levels discovering together the physical phenomenon which regulate the everyday life. Teen-aged students are asked to play the role of tutors, in order to show to the youngest physics phenomena by means of simple and telling experiments. The primary pupils are leaded by their teachers to discover and experience How an object works
, whether it is a common object or a didactic object expressly created for the occasion. The main project’s steps are: a) separate parallel training sessions for primary pupils and teachers as well as for secondary students in order to prepare them for the common activities on a chosen subject; b) organisation of learning paths in which older students lead their younger colleagues through experimental activities to discover physic phenomena in a chosen subject. Some of the didactic objects have been included in the travelling exhibition, promoted by the Science Center of Torino.
Looking for antioxidant food
Oxidative stress, due to the very reactive molecules called free radicals
, is connected to many pathologies: atherosclerosis, myocardial
infarct, Alzheimer's desease, some tumors, senile cataract . These pathologies are common to the whole Europe, yet they are less common in those countries where a diet rich in antioxidant molecules (flavonoids and carotenes, as a rule) takes place: e.g the French Paradox
. The goal of this project consists in bringing up students to a responsible diet, that's aimed at limiting the foregoing deseases. A demonstration was set up, that makes use of the Briggs-Rauscher reaction: an oscillating reaction where differently coloured radicalic and non radicalic phases, alternate. Measuring time intervals, students were able to estimate which food (fruits and vegetables above all) is a good radical scavenger.
Meteorology in the school
The scientific project starts from study of atmosphere properties and environmental problems, like greenhouse effect and hole in the ozone layer
, gets to technique analysis useful to collect meteorological data. It is proposed the manufacture of simple tools, with easy availability materials, useful to measure meteorological parameters. At the present, we are proceeding so that we transfer on the Internet the data gathered by the weather stations which are installed in some schools of the area, so providing a service to the community.
Project's target is to vehiculate by very current topics subjects commonly treated in courses of mathematics, physics, earth sciences, biology, civics and English language.
The chosen matter permits to develop the research and the experimentation of methodologies for a successful didactic of science and to promote technical and scientific culture so as to make students aware of the importance of science and technology in everyday life.
Model organisms in teaching life sciences
Use of model organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster
, Arabidopsis thaliana
, Caenorhabditis elegans
, Danio rerio
, Paracentrotus lividus
, Rhizobium laeguminosarum
has proved to be an interesting and versatile teaching tool in the classroom approach to both basic biological mechanisms and more recent complex bio-molecular studies.
Didactic projects with model organisms, which are already been introduced at different school levels, are as follows:
inclusive of experimental protocols, student resource/observation files and teacher’s guide; organized in self-standing, graded experiments based on complexity of theme and laboratory techniques and the acquisition of cross-level skills; inclusive of a number of classroom friendly
activities which require neither sophisticated instruments nor fully equipped laboratory facilities. The organisms presented, though greatly varied, have the advantage of being small, cheap and easy to cultivate and well suited to an experimental life indoors.
Physics and magazines
To save electricity... to use warm air in all the house... to cook by induction cooking griddles... nanosomes... anti U.V. filters
. Advertising, images, themes and languages borrowed from the scientific world to non-specialized press. Could we derive ideas from newspapers and magazines to realise a laboratory which will lead students from initial curiosity to further motivation during the weekly path of physics and mathematics?
Could we take from non-specialized press daily experiences to put in evidence the links and achieve a closer examination in the field of physics and mathematics to stimulate reasoned study of the textbook?
A seven step path in the scientific laboratory will lead the students through preparatory tests, work sessions according to the methodology of cooperative learning, to achieve critical competences in reading and analysing a text or an image even in the scientific field, up to level 7bis of reading and understanding a simple article or a scientific one (lectio, meditatio, contemplatio). Written and oral tests, production of didactic material worked out by the students, and translation of the work produced into English, will allow a constant monitoring in itinere and an assessment of the results in terms of contents, teaching methods, acquisition of a specific language. The author thanks Ms Laura Zaccagnini for her great help in translating the related material in English.
Plants from other worlds, other worlds from plants
Plants are a theme that develops not only in the direction of science but also explores other disciplines finding the scientific aspect in them.
If the main purpose is to contribute to the construction of a solid scientific culture, an indispensable mean for conscious choice in the future, not secondary is the action for constructing a solid knowledge of the world of plants, from the single species to the evolution of the local population to the internal control mechanism.
Some terms that are the foundation of scientific culture (the concept of time... biodiversity... the dynamics of the landscape) emerge from the research, together with those that bring us to think again of the management of the resources of the Planet (globalization, sustainable development).
The work is not dictated only by epistemological statute, but rather it oscillates between it and the methodological statute offering young people also an experimental dimension which goes from exploring the territory to using microscope, from new technologies to the examination of documents in foreign languages, up to theatre.
Precession of the equinoxes
The Earth, since has a bulging shape at equator, behaves as a top that, when we try to change the way of its rotaxion axis, describes in the air a double opposed cone with the vertexes on the point of the top. In a similar way, the Earth reacts to the stress of Moon and Sun, spinning clockwise its rotation axis and keeping the same costant axial tilt of 23.5 degrees. It follows that, in time, the earthly axis not will point at Pole Star, but, step by step at a different point in the sky; besides the equinoctial axis which on 21st March 2006 is Earth - Sun - Constellation of Pisces will change within ages into Earth - Sun - Constellation of Aquarius. As Aquarius precedes
Pisces along the ecliptic, we speak about Precession of the Equinox of Spring. Alike Autumn Equinox not will happen in Virgo but in Leo. The exhibit which gives the name to the exhibition, wich is consistig of five instruments, visualizes the earthly axis, the astronomical precession circus and the dates and the ecliptical plane with the Zodiac areas, Ofiucus included. Moreover it visualizes the Equinoxes line, and the precession angle. Equinoctial motion (nodes line) and its correlation with the precession motion are immediately evident with great clarity. A tight instrument which can be sold to the schools.
Robot to school
The Robot to school
project deals with the robotics studying aimed at using it to acknowledge different subjects involved in this sector.
Our institute took part to the ministerial project Robot@scuola: 35 schools of different orders and levels are connected through the Robot@scuola website to create a practice and learning community.
The class that took part to the project in the school year 2005-06 was the 5th class of the Electronic and Telecommunications course (Course A).
They projected and realized a remote controlled robot through PC, by a camera which monitors its movements. By using a digital wireless receiving and transmitting card that can be an interface with the PC by RS232 and a micro-controller PIC card, by writing a software in Visual Basic and one in C language, we were able to command the robot movement, monitoring the path by a miniature wireless camera. The students could so practise some concepts related to the digital transmission, to programming and interfacing.
Science and sport
The study of mechanics is often boring for students. This course presents some themes of mechanics starting with a few recurring movements from the sphere of sport.
There are four work units:
1) The levers of the body: a study of levers with particular reference to those present in the human body, construction of models of parts of the body to simulate functions.
2) Movements of the human body: kinematics and dynamics are presented by analysing elements which concur to determine the movements of the human body (skeletal segments, skeletal muscles, etc.).
3) Jumps: after analysing the various techniques of jumping, the study is presented using the instruments offered by physics.
4) Leaps: the unit proposes the open and closed problems
inherent in this sector of light athletics.
There are stimulating laboratory activities to be carried out in the gym with the use of on-line measuring instruments.
The various units are complete with exercises, entrance and course tests; to study the movements of some sports the software COACH 5 produced by the AMSTEL Institute of Amsterdam is used.
Science Menu
or
experiments à la carteamong pans and test tubes
Kitchen has always been the ideal laboratory for applied sciences and scientists, with their contribution, have influenced everyday cooking up to modern molecular gastronomy
. As kitchen is familiar to students, it is useful for science teachers to exploit it as a resource to provide their students with different activities which are also interesting, informative and scientifically correct.
The project is aimed at: promoting the experimental approach to science even in schools without a lab; encouraging teachers to perform lab activities with the help of structured and indexed materials; issuing a menu
of didactical experiments that can be performed with ordinary materials and devices; linking the experiment menu to specific topics of science curricula from primary to lower secondary school; stimulating teachers’ creativity and providing them with a didactical framework for new experimental activities.
The project’s strong points are: the appealing approach to scientific subjects; the integration with curricula at different levels; the links with subjects from Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Science; the integration with the resources on the web (e-learning); the possibility to expand the materials.
Snacktime, what's in it?
The Snack time, what’s in it?
project was conceived and carried out with the general aim of stimulating the awareness of food consumption and the importance of healthy eating in students. The study was developed with a multi-discipline scope, putting the general aims of Food Education along side the specific objectives of chemistry and biology as school subjects while favouring an overall vision of the topic covered. Three themes were developed: 1) Food requirements and the digestive process, 2) The study of the foods eaten as snacks, 3) The reading of packaging and food additives. The experimental aspect strongly characterised the study: the students examined the presence of calcium in milk, fruit juice and bones; they checked the effect of bile and food additives, and they observed freshly prepared slides of yoghurt and mould through a microscope. At the end of the study an interactive exhibition was organised and a brochure, written by the students involved, describing the practical tests was published.
The air pollution
The goal of this project is to highlight how it is possible to determine the chemical and physical properties of the air. Another goal is to measure the concentration of some pollution elements, such as carbon dioxide, carbon oxide, and the various hazardous nitrogen oxides. The originality and the simplicity of the adopted methods are the two main aspects that characterize this work.
The bottle of water with a sachet of mayonnaise
The bottle of water with a sachet of mayonnaise
is a disciplinary project based on the concepts and the experiments of hydrostatics done in the first two years of high school. The project begins with an amusing experiment which has quite a difficult solution: a sachet of mayonnaise is made to float within a plastic bottle that is filled up with water. The sachet descends when the bottle is squeezed and when the grip on the bottle is released the sachet once again floats. When asking the students to try to explain the operation we go down a curious and fun road of knowledge where all the concepts of hydrostatics are met (also through other simple experiments). At the end of the project the students manage to give an explanation on their own, based on the laws of hydrostatics. The series of small experiments made with simple and commonly used material brings Physics into daily life and brings the study of sciences into discussion.
The magic castle
The project is included in the school year Interactive Science Exhibition
one. Last year it planned the creation of the Luna Park of Physics, where the visitors, moreover the scuola media
students of the local areas, could have fun by using games working by very important hidden physical laws. Since in no Luna-Park the Magic castle
is missing, my students turned some phenomena studied in the school year into magician games. The students thought of using people's curiosity stimulated during the game, in order to explain then in a complete and scientifically correct way. The themes were the rotation dynamics, the Coriolis force, the mass centre, the power-saving. Different games have been realized to tell about such themes, for example: two cylinders, moving differently according to inertia, roll along an inclined plan at different speed. If the cylinders turn into two monsters who want to eat a girl, from which of the two monsters will she have to save at first? Or then: during the target-shot to hit an apple by the arrow-bow, why don't you wander if there's a way to know the arrow-bow hitting speed?
The shadow of the flame and other hands-on experiments on the candle, inspired to Faraday and Leonardo
A science show of a collection of experiments on the candle. They are taken from the book The Chemical History of a candle
by Faraday, revised with the modern technology and the exceptional early work by Leonardo.
A candle: its flame and its cup. Why are the edges much cooler than the part within? The wick and the capillarity. The dark shadow
of the bright flame, how to see steaming upward the ascending current of hot air using the sun or a overhead projector light: comparison between Fadaray’s and Leonardo’s description. Three flame’s effects: water production up
, soot in the middle
; and wax vapour down
. Carbon dioxide put out progressively three candle flames. How to take soot from a candle with a caress and with the trick of the cork. The candle catches fire again. Mechanical and magnetic action on a candle. Analogy between respiration of livings and the flame of a candle.
The Small Science Centre
A small Science Centre was created at the Guglielmo Marconi
High School located at Vairano Scalo (Caserta, Italy). The project was performed with the ambitious goal of attracting the students to the world of science, and stimulating their interest by having them plan, execute and demonstrate their work to other students, schools and science centres. It consists of: a laboratory with experiments and games that have been accomplished by the students with simple objects, recycled material, and common commercial items; an external area with exhibits and interactive experiments; a big painting on the wall of the laboratory which is named The history of Science from Democritus to our days
.
The presentation of the project at the Science on Stage festival is performed with a CD-Rom and a few exhibits that are the most significant, original and interactive. The following are some exhibits that are demonstrated: The little train …. reaction
; How to inject ... experience
; The magic funnel
; The baby breathing toy
; Blow … and the light turns on
; From the compass…to the electric motor
; David e Goliath
; Arm wrestling with salt
; The two coins
; The hourglass with two speeds
.
Time in a mirror
Tempo allo specchio
(Time in a mirror
) is a virtual laboratory consisting of an observation point on Earth that reflects off an imaginary mirror placed two light years away and connected by a time tunnel
divided into 4 segments which are 1 light year long each. The laboratory gives a vision of time separated by 4 years from each action or event that happens at the Earth observation point. The mirror is also able to move nearer or farther away, up to and beyond the speed of light, causing time warp of the images. Tempo allo specchio
is mainly meant for art students who need to create images for scientific education. The striking, spectacular stereoscopic images lend themselves to the classic themes of astronomy. The 3-dimensional vision of the cosmos is created by 2-D to 3-D stereo-conversion.
With stereo-conversion, an ordinary 2-D image may be transformed into 3-D stereoscopy by manipulating the visual information as if it were modelling clay.
