Author: Laercio Ferracioli – Department of Innovation and Science Outreach/Federal University of Espirito Santo, Brazil

Co-authors:

  • Wagner Barja – Republic National Museum – Federal District, Brazil
  • Gilberto Lacerda Santos – University of Brasilia – Federal District, Brazil

During the 2018 National Science Technology Week in Brazil, the National Museum of the Republic-DF Board opened the ACT Exhibition aiming at promoting the confluence between Arte.Ciência.Tecnologia. The artworks included dynamic and immersion elements, with music, artefacts for manipulation and experience with augmented reality. Although the idea that art installs doubt and imbalance as opposed to science, doubt is the archetype of science, coupled with questioning, requires the subject to act to understand this confluence.

The combination of Art.Science.Technology does not mean a myriad of concepts, but a course of surprising discoveries and approaches by an audience with a sense of perception and cognition of scientific-artistic-technological objects, in confluence. However, it’s reading is not trivial: out of a multiplicity of artwork, a wide range of visuality is grasped which leads to the discussion of the relationship of vision and its readability.

What is visible refers less to what has become a visual image and more to that visuality which, through societal play and communication strategies, is recognized as endowed with symbolic exchange value and communicative relevance. Visibility, finally, is only realized at the moment of consumption-reception-codification-interpretation-translation. In conclusion, visibility refers to a visuality that bears readability.

In order to scrutinize the audience experience through the exhibition a sample was interviewed and asked to write 5-or-more words expressing it. Analysis of the collected words with word cloud technique came up with citations such as, “creative”, “curious”. Preliminary interview analysis reveal a surprised audience with manifestations such as “is that art?”, or “where is science in it?”.

These preliminary results point that museums of art might be natural loci to promote the Art.Science.Technology confluence through scientific communication, as the greater the understanding of artistic, scientific, technological and cultural roots, the greater the public’s ability to build their own readability process.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Time

Author: Laercio Ferracioli – Department of Innovation and Science Outreach/Federal University of Espirito Santo, Brazil

Co-authors:

  • Thiago Pereira – State Secretary of Education, Brazil

According to Einstein “The question my mind asked was answered by Brazil’s sunny sky”. On May 29, 1919 photographs of solar eclipse at Sobral, Brazil proved the 1915 Einstein’s General Relativity, stating massive bodies deform the fabric of space-time, causing a light beam deviation. It could only be observed through a total solar eclipse. The prediction of this eclipse led scientists to the ideal places: Sobral, Brazil and Príncipe Island, Africa. Africa observations were compromised by a storm.

Considering Sobral Solar Eclipse Centenary, recent publications about gravitational waves and black hole “photographs”, science communication events were organized in Brazil for promoting public understanding of Einstein’s ideas and the historical importance of Sobral Eclipse. In doing so, Einstein’s ideas will be natural to future generations who will grow up with them, as Bertrand Russel said, 1925.

This paper reports an activity promoted within Seminar on 100 Years of Sobral Solar Eclipse at Federal University of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Since high school students have only 2-hours-of-physics-per-week and there is a new full-time school politics being implemented with very broad guidelines, a theoretical-experimental elective-course was offered focusing on Science-as-human-enterprise; historical-scientific-chronological analysis of Einstein’s ideas; the impact of Sobral observations.

Among other tasks, students built PVC-circular-structures covered with elastane to simulate space-time curvature; light deflection simulators using cardboard-box, highlighter-pen, black-light-bulb; and Einstein’s-life-timeline.

Evaluation questionnaires answered at the end and four-month later students were asked to write 5-or-more-words expressing their course experience and to draw solar eclipse sketches. Analysis of the collected words with word-cloud-technique came up with citations such as “informative”, “cultured”, “science”. The solar eclipse sketches revealed distinct representations of space-time.

These results lend support for elective courses proposal for implementing full-time school politics based on Science Communication of recent outcomes for preparing citizens for Science and its impacts in their lives.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Roundtable discussion
Theme: Technology

Author: Laercio Ferracioli – Department of Innovation and Science Outreach/Federal University of Espirito Santo, Brazil

Co-authors:
Laercio Ferracioli – ModeLab/Federal University of Espirito Santo
Marcely Rodrigues – ModeLab/Federal University of Espirito Santo

Science Square, located in Vitória, Brazil facing the sea was opened in 1999 and is one of the four Centres of Science, Education and Culture linked to the Municipal Department of Education. The collection is exposed in an open area of approximately 7,500 m2 with gardens and free circulation for visitors and accessibility for wheelchair users. The collection consists of equipment such as Solar Scale System, Sundial, Sound Mirror, Swings, Levers, Inclined Plane and Hand Lift.

Science Square mediators are mostly undergraduate students in Physics and develop centre activities. There is a continuous training process of new mediators for promoting the adequate attendance to visitors: besides interactivity based on a exploratory attitude focusing on discussion and dialogue with the visitor, activities include exploration of the scientific concepts involved in each equipment focusing on “opening the black box” strategy for each device and avoiding the classic division between theory-practice.

This presentation reports results of a conceptual approach for training mediators on the Hand Lift equipment. An Explanatory Guide was produced in the form of a plasticised insert using front and back and previously submitted to the evaluation of three judges to verify the existence of conceptual, diagram and grammatical errors.

Results revealed that the Hand Lift Explanatory Guide was positively evaluated by the new mediators, being better accepted than the current hand-out in use. Even non-physicists mediators reported that it was possible to understand the Explanatory Guide approach covering their conceptual doubts about the equipment. The analysis of mediators’ performance in presentations after the training activity corroborated these results.

These results reaffirm the classic responsibility of training mediators of science centres and museums that must be a built-in and continued action on daily basis of these loci so that they can operate in resonance with their mission.

Presentation type: Visual talk
Theme: Science
Area of interest: Applying science communication research to practice