The "recreational science from school to home" project arrives in Torrevieja

Thanks to the collaboration of UNED Torrevieja, sixth-grade students from CEIP Habaneras and secondary and high school students from IES Mare Nostrum will meet next Wednesday, January 14th, in the classrooms of the aforementioned institute to participate in a series of science outreach workshops. Nearly 200 students will gain hands-on experience as part of the project entitled “Faraday and Fresnel Travel to Your City: Recreational Science from School to Home.”

In the classroom, university scientists present engaging experiments to motivate students, spark their curiosity, and demonstrate the relatively simple natural laws that underlie them. The first workshop, focused on Electromagnetism and Optics, is aimed at primary and secondary school students, while the second, dedicated solely to Optics, is for high school students.

On this same day, students will receive materials to conduct research at home or in the school laboratory: a Faraday kit or a Fresnel kit. At home, students will create a short video documenting their research experience; older students will then create a scientific research project. These videos will be submitted to the competition, with two prizes awarded per participating grade level.

The awards ceremony will take place in an iconic UNED building. A program about the project, produced by UNED Media, will be broadcast on La 2, RTVE's television channel. In addition, a virtual exhibition of the submitted works will be held in a specially created space to give the project the widest possible exposure.

The activity, designed by science communicators from the non-profit association ColArte in Madrid, is a collaborative effort between the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the Interdisciplinary Physics Department-UNED.

The objectives they pursue are specified as follows:

1. -Increase the scientific, technological and innovative culture of Spanish society through the design of different activities and materials related to science.

2. - To promote public participation in science outreach activities and knowledge generation through citizen science projects. We aim to create an environment, both in schools and at home, where science takes center stage through experimentation.

3. -To promote scientific vocations among schoolchildren and the family public, fostering their interest in science through direct contact with the research method and practice through the implementation of fun and practical workshops.

4. - To promote critical thinking among young people, providing them with the knowledge and training necessary to question information coming from social networks or pseudosciences.

Regarding the selection of topics, these were chosen for their direct connection to electricity, magnetism, light, and optics, which are familiar to schoolchildren and their families in their daily lives. The subject matter, studied by the participating scientists, offers the opportunity to define practical activities to encourage experimentation among schoolchildren and families. Its everyday relevance facilitates the understanding of scientific concepts and phenomena, presenting numerous possibilities for practical application. It allows for verification, risk-taking, error, and success as integral parts of the scientific process. It is also a topic in which several highly relevant female scientists have worked throughout history, highlighting their contributions to these fields and including one of the few Nobel Prizes awarded to a woman in Physics (Donna Strickland, in 2018), thanks to her studies in the development of ultrashort pulse lasers, and the work of the Spanish scientist Susana Marcos (King Jaime I Prize, Leonardo Torres Quevedo National Research Prize).

For Jesucristo Riquelme, coordinator of UNED Torrevieja, “this is an excellent opportunity to promote scientific activity among our students and, at the same time, to introduce UNED to prospective university students.” Regarding the participation of local schools, he states that “we are very fortunate to have organizations and individuals in our municipality who make projects a reality. Both the principal of IES Mare Nostrum, Abel Moya, and the principal of CEIP Habaneras, Salvador Calderón, have been enthusiastic about the project and have facilitated the procedures so that the workshops can reach the classrooms and, therefore, the students' homes.” Riquelme concludes, “In short, we are facing a magnet for science. Science that they will witness and experience live, as if they were in person on El Hormiguero with Marron (Jorge Marrón), a physicist and technical architect who makes science enjoyable.”

Undoubtedly, in addition to what they learn, the possibility of winning a prize after recording their research experience on video, and the chance to appear on quality television, is a highly attractive and stimulating incentive for our children and young people. The power of science, hand in hand with UNED Elche-Torrevieja.”