Title: Circus Show
Presenter: Konstancja Nowakowska
Country: Poland
The „Circus show” workshop refers to teachers who are looking for activating methods by combining different areas of life and exploring the role of physics. So we will move to the famous Copernicus circus to take part in the show and to admire the performances of acrobats, jugglers and trainers. In our show we will see how one group of students becomes circus performers who perform gymnastic pyramids, walking on the balance beam, plates and hoops juggling, and train the dragon. At the same time, the second group of students will do physical experiments referred to the show. The main purpose is to present the impact of centre of gravity, inertia, Magnus effect, centrifugal force or resilience on the circus show. The main aim of the project is answering the question whether tightrope walking, juggling, hat throwing and acrobatic shows are supernatural or whether is it just pure physics.
Title: Energy-scientists – 6-graders explore renewable energy
Presenter: Dieter Schmidt
Country: Germany
Our school, the Integrierte Gesamtschule Oyten, is an integrated comprehensive school with reform pedagogical approaches. The workshop will start with a short introduction of what „Theme Oriented Education“ means. Afterwards the workshop will focus on the basic and sophisticated experiments the pupils perform within these topics:
- Electrical energy from the sun
- Electrical energy from the wind
- Warmth from the sun
- Electrical mobility
- Low-energy house
The participants of the workshop will get an impression of the experimental and the corresponding working materials. The workshop will end with a short discussion and how we plan to improve the project.
Title: Engaging students with STEM learning through a magical substance: the water!
Presenter: Gabriel Pinto
Country: Spain
In this workshop, contextualized experiments and inquiries to investigate STEM topics are proposed. These topics include a variety of physicochemical properties (e.g. density, miscibility, boiling point, refractive index and heat capacity), chemical reactions, evaporative cooling, etc. Examples of questions to solve are: Where would an ice cube melt faster – in pure water or in saline water? What have the botijo (Spanish water cooling pitcher), the African pot-in-pot refrigerator, and the drinking bird toy in common? What happens when ethanol, oil or other liquids are added onto an ice cube? Can the osmotic hydration rate of beans easily be measured? Does it change with temperature? What happens when a drop of water is poured into hot oil? Why? How does artificial snow work? And self-heating drinks? Water is present in all cases and through these experiences we learn about other interesting facts as ocean thermohaline currents or applications as the use of condensing boilers.
Title: Light-interacting materials: Beauty meets Science
Presenter: Annamaria Lisotti, Rui Baptista
Country: Italy, Portugal
Materials Revolution is here! Engage and experiment with light interacting materials. An inspiring workshop mixing Physics, Art &Technology to boost students’ scientific knowledge and experimental skills while spurring their creative thinking and innovator’s potential.
Light may be considered as a “material” in itself . “Building with light” is now possible thanks to aesthetic and functional properties of new materials such as dichroic sheets, plastic micro-optics, fiber optic textiles and many more!
Light manipulation is behind many a key-enabling technology for a sustainable society. Explore fluorescent acrylic sheets and their mechanism of light transmission testing their efficiency as solar concentrators; evaluate cool roof paints potential to tackle the urban heat island issue; discover indoor photovoltaics for IoT; imagine rural streetlamps based on photoluminescent pigments.
From MoM-Matters of Matter: Future Materials in Science Education project www.mattersofmatter.eu
Title: Sustainable development and biofuel
Presenter: Stefan Preisig, Gjertrud Jenssen
Country: Norway
The participants will measure and calculate the volume/density of different types of wood using small samples (cubes). They will learn about the energy contents of the different tree types and then use this to calculate the total energy content of a given volume of wood. What is important for the volume calculation of a whole tree is the height. The participants will have the chance to try different ways to measure/calculate the height of a tree.
The workshop is an extract of an interdisciplinary day project; participants will understand the project plan and will be able to implement the project at their own school.
Hands on factor: high.
Title: Test and Taste
Presenter: Nelly Fare, Carine Vinsot, Anne Laure Balac
Country: France
The pupils, guided by three teachers, created a model to avoid dietary deficiency thanks to electronics, infrared rays and removable perforated cards, which correspond to recipes and are divided into three categories: starters, main courses and desserts. We will show you the steps of our invention and beside we will show you various activities to do at school.
With younger pupils you will be able to perform experiments, work on the food pyramid, understand the link between dietary deficiency and diseases and create perforated cards ( =recipes)
With older pupils you will be able to study the spectra of the visible light including the infrared wave, code information in binary and make a little of combinatorial logic.
Imagine your pupils performing experiments and drawing conclusions; imagine them welding electronic circuits, creating punch cards, and understanding how the electronic world works.
What about pressing a button and discovering what is lacking in your menu for dinner?
Title: Women Leadership & Entrepreneurship
Presenter: European Institute of Innovation & Technology
Panel discussion between participants from Education, Industry, NGO, and Government representing the following organizations: HeforShe, Junior Achievement, Skool, Ernst & Young, European Association of Teachers, and the European Institute of Innovation & Technology, and the interaction of attending science teachers in the audience.
Discussion topic 1: Skills in the 21st century – what skills our children need in order to succeed and not to be replaced by robots (digital, entrepreneurship, transversal?) STEM – skills shortage in Europe and growing employment potential.
Discussion topic 2: Women empowerment – what problems women face in their career/jobs, especially in areas with gender stereotypes (e.g. IT, engineering, executive management)? Who could help women and how – concretely what should be done and how the education system can help to prepare for that?