M.E. Firmino, B.J. Muniz, A. Muniz, M. Barbosa, Y.M. Gamez, G. Bertolino and Vanderlei S. Bagnato

“The intelligent heart acquires knowledge, the ear of the wise seeks knowledge”
[Proverbs 18,15]

Introduction

The need for scientific education is general and regardless of the geographic location where we live and in what conditions we live. Everyone takes advantage of technological advances, and everyone wants to preserve their deepest customs. The globalization of practically everything on the planet makes it impossible for any community to live exclusively based on ancient traditions. It is necessary to preserve tradition and prepare everyone for proper use that helps to preserve traditions. Climate change, diseases in general, and pollution affect everyone whether they live in isolation or not. The world is now one big community where everyone is affected by the irresponsibility of somebody else, and everyone can benefit from the technological advances that humanity are developing. Educating children scientifically is not breaking traditions; on the contrary, it is preparing them to enjoy the knowledge that will allow them to maintain their traditions and preserve their own people, while still enjoying technological benefits. The question is how to do this, since many communities live in conditions that do not contain traditional forms of education or resist acquiring it? Educational kits or theater performances are appropriate ways of bringing scientific knowledge almost anywhere. In addition to these aspects, there is a fact of extreme importance for different communities, including indigenous communities: teaching science is a way of preparing everyone to better understand nature and, consequently, develop ways of preserving it, even when it is necessary to explore it to obtain basic survival supplies. In this chapter we will describe some of our experience in teaching science to different types of communities and the results achieved. Almost all described activities are taking place in Brazil and it is par to the science diffusion activity of the University of São Paulo in São Carlos.

Educational kits: adventures in science

During the last few decades, there has been a great effort to establish quality university level education. Little or no effort is being put to improve basic education in general. Not even the best schools teach science to their students, when we refer to children’s basic education. As a result, great talents are lost or wasted when compared with the real needs. Many programs have been launched with the aim of promoting scientific education and motivation around the world: “Hands on” in France and “Os grandes cientistas” in Brazil, among others, are examples. Our experience began with a proof of concept, which was carried out with the support of CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), and was composed of the launch of a set of kits, with the purpose of teaching science in a non-school environment, with the character of a Pilot Project, in order to evaluate the content, adaptability, educational complementarity, ease of use, clarity of instructions, etc. For this proof of concept we used the Basic Education Programs of Capes – Pibid – Institutional Teaching Initiation Scholarship Program and Parfor – In-person – National Training Plan for Basic Education Teachers. We first developed the kits with members of the Brazilian Academy of Science. Around 6000 kits, distributed across five themes, were inserted into these programs and tested. Distribution was carried out in public high schools and basic schools located in different regions of the country. Assessments were collected and analyzed, creating input for a second corrected version of the five themes involved. Some of the kits in this proof-of-concept phase were the following: Adventures with light rays – Introduces basic laws of geometric optics, allowing you to verify them, visualizing and recording the path of light rays, and understanding how optical instruments work, including the telescope and other instruments. Exploring the skies – Using the Galileoscope, designed for the International Year of Astronomy, it allows to observe all the astronomical objects discovered by Galileo. The fact that the students had to assemble the device allows them to explore how it works and the power of optical instruments. The certainties of chance – Introduces the basic ideas of calculating probabilities, illustrating them with experiments involving throwing dice in different ways, drawing lots and applying them to genetics. Discovering the world of chemistry – It is a mini chemical laboratory, using small bottles of small volume and minimum doses of reagents, without risks for users. Various aspects of chemistry, physical chemistry and electrochemistry are practiced with this kit. The microscopic world – Uses a low-cost microscope but of sufficient quality to allow you to observe plant and human cells and other microscopic organisms. The group of scientists that developed the kits is shown in Figure 1.

Today, the collection of these kits contains 12 topics, including the Geophysics Kit, where students can experiment with natural effects that occur on the planet, such as the greenhouse effect, thermal zones, climatic seasons, etc. A Thermodynamics kit, a topic considered taboo for high school, where the student can understand the concept of temperature, fundamental to all sciences, deducing the gas laws, etc. The ARDUINO kit teaches hardware principles to students of all levels. The wonders of colors explores how the human vision works related to colors and how the brain makes interpretations. The exploration of optical illusions and stereoscopic image place students in contact with modern technology and its use. Over a period of 12 months, the initially designed kits were produced and distributed to schools, universities and groups of independent young students. We tried to evaluate all the positive and negative points of these kits.

The website www.aventurasnaciencia.com.br was created. It contains the program presentation, instructions for use, contact address, and evaluation forms. In addition, printed forms were distributed to all participants in this proof of concept.

The analysis of thousands of complete questionnaires leads to the following results: (i) the idea of the kits is excellent; (ii) their content is appropriate; (iii) they complement very well the practical teaching of science in schools; (iv) they have an appropriate level for students; (v) they will certainly have a good effect on the training of students. In addition to a large list of positive aspects, some points were highlighted that deserve to be improved. Among them are the way of presenting the program on the “Home Page”, which created problems with some parts of the instructions, time to carry out the experiments, necessary previous concepts, difficulty of parts of the practices, learning effectiveness on the part of the student, arrangement of parts, ease of assembly, and several other aspects. One of the most important lessons learned in the pilot project was that the teachers have to be involved from the very beginning and mostly be trained to be able to answer the students’ questions.

Even though it is an extracurricular activity, students get so engaged that they take the topic and their experience to the classroom. To have positive results, teachers must also be prepared with the material. Special training of teachers is now organized. Today the program is greatly successful and the number of students engaged with the kits and their scientific interest is growing. The problem is that the government should get involved in the initiative to make it a part of the education activity, but that is not happening. Science clubs in many schools and neighborhoods were initiated with kits.

Visits and theater in more isolated communities

In many situations, the infrastructure is inadequate for scientific practice, for example with kits, which are true laboratories, requiring another type of activity. Our experience involves forming a mobile unit that visits schools and communities, demonstrating science as a topic of interest. We chose the theme “water” and through it we propose teaching in different areas: mathematics through proportions, chemistry through the constitution of water and the occurrence of mixtures and solutions, as well as methods of purifying water. The phases of water and how it flows and the consequences of the gaseous, liquid and solid phases in our lives are explained. Physics is introduced through the topic of energy and the use of water to generate electricity. Inside the mobile unit, we have a micro hydroelectric plant to show how energy is generated. Biology is introduced through microorganisms that live in water, whether they cause disease or not. Biology is also taught showing how water can feed the different parts of the plant and carry nutrients, etc. The mobile unit, mounted on a bus, normally goes to communities and remains there for over two days, giving everyone the chance to interact with the exhibition.

Equivalent to the bus are the Planetariums, domed theaters that project images of the starry sky and countless spectacular objects we find in our universe, creating educational experiences that teach astronomy and related sciences. The star projectors that show the night sky itself are among the most durable, versatile, and cost-effective educational tools.

At a time when quality science education is more important than ever, a scientifically literate public is an essential part of the progress of any country. Planetariums around the world both inspire and educate people of all ages about our surroundings – the Earth itself and our place in the Universe – and they are often a place in which young people become enthused to follow a scientific career.

During the last few years, we have taken the Planetarium to numerous schools and public exhibitions. The Planetarium mainly featured the movie entitled The Birth of the Solar System, which brings the story traced from the Big Bang to the present day, through the existence and extinction of dinosaurs. The film’s projection is of the highest quality and the activity attracts people of all ages.

Another program to reach the young kids in school is called USP goes to your school, and it is one more possibility to complement the scientific education of students in underserving communities. In this case, an Itinerant Science Museum was built, through interactive panels. The panels were made in partnership with the Center for Human Genome Studies, collaborators of this project. Two main themes have been prioritized: optics and cells. During the exhibitions, the school's own instructors, trained at USP, explained the panels to students, staff and teachers at their schools.

Exhibitions and Public Places: Fantastic Sciences

The Circus of Science, held in public squares, aims to awaken, especially in young people, the taste for science. The event, which attracts many young and senior people in the communities where it is established, is part of the Brazilian National Science and Technology Week. During the exhibition, the thousands of children and adults who visited the exhibition were able to interact with the various educational equipment and panels, as well as numerous experiments, which demonstrated the work that is carried out in present research to understand the nature of atoms and molecules, their importance in producing new pharmaceuticals, as well the concepts of transforming science into products for society.

TV Channel Dedicated to Educational Complementation in Sciences

In general, people spend more than eight hours per week in front of a TV set. Even high school students in Brazil spend more time watching TV than on the internet. In view of this situation, TV is an excellent mechanism to disseminate science in general. The goal of this project is to diffuse science and technology to the general public, including students, using the TV channel run by the Optics and Photonics Research Center. We have six people fully dedicated to the activities of the TV. Our scientific TV channel broadcasts 24 hours a day, bringing lectures, classes, interviews and documentaries from various fields of science, entrepreneurship and innovation. Several scientific programs are recorded and edited monthly, either inside or outside the studio. Journalists and reporters also produce radio programs, newspaper columns, and classes on the internet, where scientific, technological, and innovation content is aired continuously. Article columns are maintained in two local newspapers (both online and print), on a weekly basis, resulting in several science outreach articles. Appearances in the local radio news and interviews have also been promoted regularly, reaching thousands of people per action. The content for the TV channel includes interviews, speeches, event broadcasts, science shows developed by the Optics and Photonic Research Center team and associated partners from other institutions. Programs are produced in our studio for the YouTube channel, and others. Today the YouTube channel has more than one million followers, mostly young people. Within the last year, dozens of programs were produced especially for the YouTube channel, currently with more than 183 thousand subscribers, released on a daily basis, for a total of 285 new videos released between June 2021 and May 2022. The 61 YouTube playlists collect varied content, including science news, events, live broadcasts, and interviews, along with productions aimed at fostering interest in science, technology, and innovation. These programs are also broadcast on the TV channel, in addition to the already produced material, resulting in a 24-hour broadcast of scientific and cultural content.

Among the activities developed during the last 12 months, the TV and YouTube channels received new episodes of successful programs such as Chemical Elements (Elementos Químicos), exploring basic aspects of the Periodic Table elements, Science Workshop (Oficiência) where Prof. Luiz Antonio Nunes explores fun aspects of physics in homemade experiments, Educational Kits (Kits Educacionais) where a program started from a collaboration of professors from some of the main universities of the country created educational science kits that allow students to explore phenomena by themselves and has now been turned into a national educational program. New programs were also introduced, such as Biphotonics in Entrance Exams (Biofotônica no Vestibular), where questions present in university entrance exams exploring Biophotonics are discussed and resolved, Science is News (Ciência é Notícia), where new advances and current discussions on science are explored in an accessible language, and Fun and Fantastic Math (Matematica Divertida e Fantástica), which explores fun situations where mathematical logic can help solve problems or deal with real-life situations.

Main TV and Internet Programs Available in the Collection:

Basic Science courses (417 videos):

Physics (362 videos): Basic Course on Mechanics, Basic Course on Electricity and Magnetism, Radiation-Matter Interaction, Basic Course on Modern Physics, Introduction to Atomic Physics, University-class Basic Physics (two modules), Structure of Matter, Introduction to Atomic and Molecular Physics, Physics for Engineering, Fundamentals and Biomedical Applications of Quantum Science, Optics Spectroscopy, Computational Electromagnetism, Computational Classical Mechanics, Introduction to the History of Physical Sciences; Mathematics (13 videos): Mathematics, Mathematics Review – USP waits for you program; Chemistry (42 videos): Chemical Elements; Science Fostering Events (291 videos):

- Events: International Day of Light, Optics Weeks, seminars, workshops, science fair and awards, local Science Museum activities, among others

* Science Fostering Productions (343 videos):

- Science News (31 videos): Science means News, FAPESP Scientific News

- Science Fostering Shows (210 videos): Biphotonic on Entrance Exams, Educational Kits, Fun and Fantastic Math, Education for All, Science for All, Science Workshop, Life and Science Tips, Science Tips, On the Path of Scientists, Science in the Cathedral, Light. All this material is fully available at http://cepof.ifsc.usp.br