A teacher training on Geosciences in Virtual Worlds

Today the education environments, in which training takes place, are various and this aspect has allowed the creation of different learning ways according to the different styles of students' learning. The virtual worlds can be an innovative approach to training experience for science teachers, in order to respond to different styles of students' learning in their classrooms. The virtual worlds are multiuser environments, three dimensional, in which an immersive experience takes place through a simulation of the physical presence online with an avatar, a digital representation of a user. In this type of environment we obtain an immersive learning which represent a learning with a technology in which the user, through a computer screen, feels to live a real experience, of "being" there. Today, the effectiveness of the use of 3D environments for science education is share in the literature as well. These environments have a high degree of immersion and presence. Their features are the elarning by doing and situated learning, so they represent a new strategy to innovate science teaching and to improve motivation and the scientific skills of the students

Pressure-induced coordination change of Ti in silicate glass: a XANES study

The effect of pressure on titanium coordination in glasses, with composition K2TiSi4O11, quenched isobarically from liquids equilibrated at high pressure (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 kbar respectively) and T=1600° C has been investigated by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The XANES spectra collected at the Ti K-edge clearly show a variation with pressure that is related to changes in the geometrical environment around the Ti atoms. By comparison with spectra of standard materials, the XANES spectra of the glasses suggest a relatively low average coordination number (near 5) in samples quenched at low pressure and a higher coordination number (near 6) in samples quenched from the highest pressure. The combination of XANES data with density and compressibility measurements supports the idea that a mixture of 6- and lower coordinated (4- and/ or 5-coordinated) Ti geometries are present in the 1 bar glass, and an increasing proportion of 6-coordinated Ti occurs in the glasses synthesized at progressively higher pressures

X-ray absorption study of Ti-bearing silicate glasses

Ti K-edge XANES spectra have been collected on a series of Ti-bearing silicate glasses with metasilicate and tetrasilicate compositions. The intensity of the preedge feature in these spectra has been found to change with glass composition and varies from 29 to 58% (normalized intensity) suggesting a variation in structural environent around the absorbing atom. The pre-edge peak intensity increases for the alkali titanium tetrasilicate glasses from 35% to 58% in the order Li < Na < K < Rb, Cs whereas for the metasilicate compositions there is a maximum for the K-bearing glass. The pre-edge peak intensity remains constant for the alkaline earth titanium metasilicate glasses, Ca and Sr (34%) but increases slightly for Ba (41%). As the intensity of this feature is inversely correlated with coordination number, a comparison of the pre-edge intensity data for the investigated glasses with those of materials of known coordination number leads us to establish a regression equation and to infer that the average coordination number of Ti in these glasses ranges from 4.8 to 5.8. Large alkali cations appear to stabilize a relatively low average coordination number for Ti in silicate melts. The Ti structural environment results appear also to vary as a function of SiO2 content within the K2O-TiO2-SiO2 system. A number of physical properties of the melts from which these glasses were quenched and of other Ti-bearing silicate melts, have been determined in recent years. Clear evidence of a variable coordination number of Ti, consistent with the interpretation of the present XANES data is available from density measurements. These and other property determinations are compared with the present spectroscopic observations in an attempt to relate structure and properties in these melts which contain a major component with variable coordination number

SoilQuest: an IBSE approach with Computer Class Role Playing Game

SoilQuest is a class Role Playing Game to teach Earth Science in First Cycle of Education Schools. The educational technology is based on the idea of using language which is closer to pupils to improve the teaching/learning process. The game seems to be a perfect vehicle for education, even more when cooperative, since the acquisition of knowledge and enhancing skills now requires more actual approaches. The use of tablets, smartphones, social networks, etc. is more comprehensible and funny for young people compared to traditional media. The several roles allow everyone to enhance their own skills and are perfect for a full inclusion of Special Education Needs (SEN) students. One of the authors has already realized two role playing computer games called GeoQuest [1] and GeoQuest Vesuvius [2] creating at the same time a Role Playing Engine [3] which involves all students to the game through their personal mobiles or tablets giving a total interaction of the whole class to the game. The outcome of the class experimentation were excellent, both for didactic and educational results obtained [3]. This article is focused on our new computer class role- playing game based on soil, and specific for children 9-14 aged. Students are guided through a virtual journey from the city across agricultural fields to the woodland. In the role game progression pupils, guided by questions and simple experiments[4], learn the different crossed soils characteristics: urban soil, wood soil, agricultural intensive and organic farming soils. The features to be investigated are related to: the soil color, the pedogenetic structure and soil fauna [5]. Different channels of perception will be stimulated with those activities and will be used multiple communication codes. In order to educate young people on environmental issues it is necessary to encourage diverse styles of learning: cognitive, emotional and pragmatic one through the 3H- Head, Heart and Hands

Circular economy: the case of the ecological production of "terrazzo" tiles, Questions & Answers

The Eco Tiles project fits well within the objectives of the life topic. It fosters the reuse/recycling of high quantities of Construction & Demolition Waste: ▪ today one of the biggest volumes of waste discarded in Europe. Construction and demolition are among the sectors that generate higher volumes of waste in Europe. Each year it produces one ton per capita, or 500 million tons in the EU; ▪ and also products of energy-intensive processes needed to fire/treat the original raw materials. The Life Eco Tiles project will demonstrate the possibility to produce recycled (up to nearly 70%) high-grade pre-casted cement-based products (Terrazzo tiles) using recycled glass (approximately 50-60% of total weight) from urban and industrial waste, ceramic and Construction & Demolition Waste (CDW). Main innovations are related to the adding of CDW and/or construction waste precursors (up to 15% weight of the tile) to the traditional commercially available cement with the purpose to reduce cement intake although maintaining the properties