From the astro to the nano scale: a learning by doing teaching pathway

Abstract

From the nano-world to solar systems length-scales span over several orders of magnitude. In young student it is therefore hard to fully understand the relative proportions among different objects even belonging to the same level of complexity. Resizing to humanrelated distances is an effective way to understand the relative distances in astronomic scales or the amount of information contained in a single cell. In general, the use of imagination is essential in educational research as well as the use of different skills in interdisciplinary works. Some appealing example will be given and the result of a pilot learning by doing teaching pathway involving hundreds of young students will be presented. Clues will give indications for future directions in educational research.