Abstract
<p>Nowadays, science communication is considered as one of the major challenges that research institutions are required to face. The strategies to attract public interest, the choice of the correct language, and the tools to trigger curiosity are a matter of debate. Research claims a concerning disaffection in older students toward science, which suggests that children are one of the major targets to whom the world of science and research should appeal. “Scientist as a game” is an experience of a hands-on approach that is combined with game-related challenges in the field of geoscience, where effective teaching methods require extensive research. This activity was held for the first time in the ‘Giacomo Doria’ City Museum of Natural History in Genoa as an open day laboratory, and it was linked to an interactive exhibition realized by Italy’s Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). We set up four laboratory activities that were focused on: (1) where and why earthquakes and eruptions occur on Earth; (2) how volcanoes happen; (3) what the effect of shaking on buildings is; and (4) how to behave correctly in the case of an earthquake. Children were teamed up to score points according to the challenges included within each activity. The feedback of this experience was very positive, as shown by the questionnaires handed out to the participants immediately after each activity, and it reinforces the reviewed research on using games and hands-on activities in education.</p><div> </div>
Highlights
Earth sciences are of key importance in modern society, in terms of both the broader care of the natural environment and the consciousness of natural hazards
There is a demand by the general public to discuss and become informed about fundamental questions related to the environment, and to natural risk reduction and hazard perception [Bernhardsdóttir et al 2012, Musacchio et al 2014, Musacchio et al 2015ab, Solarino 2015 and references therein]
There is a large amount of literature that shows that the subjects we have addressed are strongly underestimated in schools, by both textbooks and teachers [Wisner 2006, Komac 2009, King 2010, Komac et al 2013, Musacchio et al 2014, Musacchio et al 2015ab]
Summary
Earth sciences are of key importance in modern society, in terms of both the broader care of the natural environment and the consciousness of natural hazards. Having a basic knowledge of the crucial themes can help every citizen to make decisions about the socio-economic issues related to resources, the environment and hazards. The communication of science is not an easy task, as it involves skills and techniques that are typical of a broad range fields of study, such as sociology of education and of knowledge, up to dialectics. The topic of effective teaching methods that can encompass broad geoscience studies is under development and still needs extensive research [King 2008]. The choice of the language and the tools (e.g., video, animation, handson models, enquiry-based learning approaches, and so on) are among the major issues that need to be addressed to make such communication effective, and these tools should be adequate to both the age and culture of the audience
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