Students who arrived at Unicamp this week visited a special place, which offers a different experience from the one they had in these first days of in-person activities: the Exploratory Science Museum opened its doors for guided tours on site. Between Wednesday (16) and Friday (18/3), they can check out the facilities at Praça Espaço-Tempo, in addition to the privileged view of the campus that the viewpoint offers. Visits take place in the late afternoon, at 17:17 pm, 30:18 pm and 2022:XNUMX pm, by appointment, and are part of Unicamp's Calourada XNUMX program.
"We made a point of participating in the freshman year. We planned outdoor activities, prioritizing small groups. We are excited about the return", celebrates André Santachè, coordinator of the museum. The unit develops scientific dissemination projects aimed mainly at children and young people, and maintains the tradition of receiving visits from schools and families.
With the Covid-19 pandemic, the museum's activities were adapted to digital platforms. According to the director, despite the absence of face-to-face interaction, the projects developed during the period were rich and had a national scope. "We always wanted to strengthen our communication with society outside the museum space and expand our activities on social networks. We kept our activities at full steam, so much so that we achieved audience numbers equivalent to those in person, and in some cases even better", analyzes Santachè.
Therefore, the museum must maintain virtual projects and workshops in parallel with in-person activities. "The museum experience can be continuous, not restricted to physical space. The pandemic gave the impetus we needed to start this work. Many children followed the museum's workshops and became loyal to our content. We created a virtual community for sharing projects".
During visits, monitors guide visitors through the museum space and explain the functioning of instruments that throughout history have helped humanity understand space and time, such as sundials. "I thought the museum was beautiful! Today the weather is cloudy , but being here and having this panoramic view of the University is really cool", comments Isabela Abreu, freshman in the Biological Sciences course.
Born in Sete Lagoas (MG), the young woman celebrates coming to the University in person: "At home you don't have the support of colleagues, structures like libraries, direct contact with teachers. This is sorely missed in teaching", explains Isabela, who chose Unicamp because of its prominence in the development of scientific research. "I think the reception is incredible. Everyone was receptive and willing to help those arriving," she shares.
Even those who have been part of Unicamp for two years took advantage of the program to get to know the space and the view offered by the museum. Tyler Dutton joined the Geology course in 2020, but has only now been able to explore the spaces of campus. "I only had a week of in-person classes, I was excited to start, but the pandemic arrived and we went home. Now I'm excited to see my classmates and have contact with the teachers", he details.
In addition to exploring the different spaces at Unicamp, the young man also has plans to experience the University: "I want to be part of sports teams, the Athletics team at the Institute of Geosciences. I also like climbing, I want to take advantage of the wall at the Faculty of Physical Education, nearby to the IG".
Discover the visit schedule and other projects carried out by the Exploratory Science Museum.
Check out more images about the visit that took place on March 16th:
