The Contribution to Earth Science Outreach from the Staff of Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Italy)

Science outreach is traditionally committed to individual scientists, who communicate to the public to promote awareness of science. Becoming increasingly important to bring science to a wide audience, the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, shortly after its foundation in 2001, has organized a team of part-time outreach scientists aimed at promoting science education, with particular emphasis to volcanic and seismic hazard. We present here an overview of the science outreach activities developed by our Institute, which have schools and public as their target groups. There are several venues of these activities: the headquarters of INGV in Rome and its many departments in Italy, from Milan to Catania. The Neapolitan region, with Vesuvius and the Phlegrean fields, and Sicily, with Stromboli, Vulcano, and Etna volcanoes, are the subject of several initiatives of scientific dissemination we organize, sometimes with the contribution of local authorities and Civil Defense, to explain how volcanoes work. Aim of these initiatives is to convey public understanding of the many-facet risks of Italian volcanoes, from paroxysmal eruptive activity to the menace of lava flows and ash fallout to infrastructures and inhabited areas, to landslides and tsunamis. Our activities also encompass a wide variety of formats, such as the opening of our labs to guided visits, contributing to national (e.g., the Italian “Week of the Scientific Culture”, launched by the Ministry of Education and Research) and international (e.g., the European “Night of the Researchers”) events, editing educational videos, creating multimedia tools also available on web. In museums and academies, and in concomitance of expositions and science festivals, we also organize exhibitions with experiments, models and exhibits designed to teaching and learning geophysics. Finally, we offer guided visits to the control rooms run by our institute, which ensures the round-the-clock volcanic and seismic surveillance of the whole Italian territory.PublishedPuerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain5.9. Formazione e informazioneope

The Contribution to Earth Science Outreach from the Staff of Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Italy)

Science outreach is traditionally committed to individual scientists, who communicate to the public to promote awareness of science. Becoming increasingly important to bring science to a wide audience, the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, shortly after its foundation in 2001, has organized a team of part-time outreach scientists aimed at promoting science education, with particular emphasis to volcanic and seismic hazard. We present here an overview of the science outreach activities developed by our Institute, which have schools and public as their target groups. There are several venues of these activities: the headquarters of INGV in Rome and its many departments in Italy, from Milan to Catania. The Neapolitan region, with Vesuvius and the Phlegrean fields, and Sicily, with Stromboli, Vulcano, and Etna volcanoes, are the subject of several initiatives of scientific dissemination we organize, sometimes with the contribution of local authorities and Civil Defense, to explain how volcanoes work. Aim of these initiatives is to convey public understanding of the many-facet risks of Italian volcanoes, from paroxysmal eruptive activity to the menace of lava flows and ash fallout to infrastructures and inhabited areas, to landslides and tsunamis. Our activities also encompass a wide variety of formats, such as the opening of our labs to guided visits, contributing to national (e.g., the Italian “Week of the Scientific Culture”, launched by the Ministry of Education and Research) and international (e.g., the European “Night of the Researchers”) events, editing educational videos, creating multimedia tools also available on web. In museums and academies, and in concomitance of expositions and science festivals, we also organize exhibitions with experiments, models and exhibits designed to teaching and learning geophysics. Finally, we offer guided visits to the control rooms run by our institute, which ensures the round-the-clock volcanic and seismic surveillance of the whole Italian territory

“Scientist as a game”: learning geoscience via competitive activities

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.

On the tracks of the ancient harbour of Tindari (NE Sicily)

Historical sources testify to the flourishing maritime activity at the ancient town of Tindari, mentioning a harbour but not supplying information on its location, size or configuration. Because a town as important as Tindari must have had a landing place for ships, we examined new sources of information with the aim to localize traces of the harbour. Holocene uplifted and submerged notches, identified along the Tindari promontory, and the mooring iron rings, testify to past sea level changes. These elements are used to reconstruct the palaeotopography of Tindari Cape and the Oliveri coastal plain in the 4th century BC. The reconstruction reveals a safe landing place southeast of the Tindari Cape suitably protected from prevailing winds. Des sources historiques témoignent d’une activité portuaire florissante de la ville antique de Tindari et mentionnent un port sans préciser sa localisation. Comme la ville de Tindari a possédé un point d’abordage sûr et fonctionnel, nous avons recherché des indices de localisation du port antique. Nous avons identifié des encoches immergées et submergées ainsi que des anneaux d’amarrage en fer le long du cap Tindari qui témoignent de variations récentes du niveau de la mer. Ces éléments permettent de reconstruire la paléo-topographie du cap Tindari et de la plaine d’Oliveri au 4e siècle avant Jésus-Christ. Cette reconstitution permet de mettre en évidence un abri côtier bien protégé des vents dominants au sud-ouest du Cap Tindari.Diverse fonti storiche testimoniano la fiorente attività marittima dell’antica città di Tindari. Esse, pur citando l’esistenza di un porto, non forniscono tuttavia alcuna informazione dettagliata circa la sua effettiva ubicazione, estensione e configurazione. Poiché una città strategica come Tindari non poteva non essere dotata di un sicuro e ben strutturato approdo per le proprie imbarcazioni, abbiamo esaminato nuove fonti d’informazione con l’intento di localizzare l’antico sito portuale.I solchi di battente sia emersi sia sommersi rilevati lungo le coste del promontorio di Capo Tindari e la presenza di alcuni anelli da ormeggio, indicano consistenti variazioni del livello del mare. Questi elementi sono stati impiegati per ricostruire la paleotopografia di Capo Tindari e della pianura costiera di Oliveri al IV sec. a.C.. Tale ricostruzione ha messo in evidenza la presenza di un possibile approdo ben protetto dai venti di traversia nella zona a SE di Capo Tindar

Géoarchéologie de la péninsule italienne

Le n°112 de Méditerranée, consacré à la géoarchéologie de la péninsule italienne, aborde l’impact des sociétés humaines dans l’évolution des paysages et des modelés de la péninsule surtout à partir de la colonisation grecque à l’époque archaïque. Ce numéro fait suite au colloque international de Salerno qui s’est déroulé en septembre 2007 et a traité du thème « People/environment relationships from the mesolithic to the middle ages : recent geo-archeological findings in Southern Italy ». Il concrétise 10 ans de collaboration scientifique entre les chercheurs de l’université d’Aix-Marseille, du Centre Jean Bérard et de l’université Federico Due de Naples. Trois langues véhiculaires ont été utilisées, l’anglais, le français et l’italien. Tous les résultats présentés sont inédits et de nombreuses données sont importantes et doivent intéresser un public averti en Italie comme en France. Une courte introduction en l’honneur du professeur Aldo Cinque (Université de Naples) rappelle le cursus de ce géomorphologue talentueux, précurseur dans bien des domaines