The 13 edition of the program began this Monday (2020th) "Museum Vacation", carried out by Exploratory Science Museum from Unicamp. Until January 24th, children and teenagers aged 7 to 14, children of university teachers and staff, will be able to participate in fun and educational activities that promise to raise awareness about the care we must all take for the planet and, also, liven up the remaining days of vacation.
This year, the program's theme is "Earth 2.0" and aims to make children and young people learn more about the work of scientists and also reflect on what planet they want for the future, in addition to what needs to be done today for this world to be possible, such as rethinking the way natural resources are explored and ways to produce energy in a clean and renewable way. "We are going to encourage children to think about a new Earth. In fact, we chose this as the theme of the year for the museum. On each occasion, we will work on an aspect of this theme. The idea is to reflect on the Earth and think about what it would be like in the future", explains André Santachè, director of the museum. He explains that the activities are in line with what the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) defines it as the water-food-energy nexus, and the biggest challenge for the future is to keep it in balance.
Those enrolled will participate in activities that involve learning about the characteristics of cells, how machine learning can help combat ecological imbalances, water purification processes and new ways of producing clean and renewable energy. They are held at the Exploratory Science Museum on two days of the week, one class on Mondays and Tuesdays, another on Thursdays and Fridays, totaling four classes. The program also includes visits to the biofuels laboratory National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) and the solar energy production equipment of the Faculty of Electrical Energy and Computing (FEEC).
In favor of scientific literacy
André Santachè explains that, because the activities are carried out without the commitment to formal assessments common in schools, the program manages to show participants science in a natural and attractive way, awakening interest in knowledge. "Our main goal is to make children understand what a scientist does, why this is cool, how a scientist understands phenomena in the world, how a method works. This is very valuable, we hope and believe that this will awaken these children a perception of science that we call scientific literacy, that they learn to judge, make decisions and understand the importance and role of science. This is one of the modern problems that we are combating, the lack of scientific literacy" , comments.
For him, the great highlight achieved by Férias no Museu is the concern with keeping the programming up to date, in tune with the world of children and the demands of science and the planet. "One of the factors that show the success (of the program) is that many people return. In this group, perhaps 80% have already participated before. Why? Because we never repeat the themes, we always offer a new program, so the child They know they're going to see new things. That's why the public becomes loyal", analyzes the director.
"What did you like most?" "Of everything!"
During the afternoon of the first day of the program, the themes were clean energy and the world of cells. While one team thought about projects that could generate energy from the movement of water or winds, another group investigated the structures of plant cells. Murilo Clemente (10) enjoyed this year's activities. A participant in Férias no Museu since he was six, he is already thinking about the possibility of working in science when he is an adult. "I come every time. Last year there was an activity about space, and I really like space, it has a lot of secrets. I don't know if I'll want to be a football player or a scientist", says Murilo.
Friends Giulia Silva (11) and Júlia Santos (11) also like having science around them. "I think learning science is really cool. My uncle is a chemist and he always shows me some things", comments Júlia. They were careful when preparing the slides that would be observed under the microscope, an opportunity they don't have every day. "I'm enjoying everything!", celebrates Giulia, discovering a new world to be discovered.
