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About Bárbara de Aymerich

Licenciada en Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Graduada en Química, Doctora en Ciencias en la especialidad de Edafología y Química Agrícola, Experta Universitaria en Educación STEAM con Programación y Robótica Educativa por la Universidad de Burgos. Directora de la Escuela de Pequeñ@s Científic@s Espiciencia y del Bosque Escuela de Verano Ráspano, proyectos de innovación educativa rural, merecedores de reconocimientos a nivel regional, nacional e internacional. Profesora Asociada de Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales en la Facultad de Educación y en la Universidad de la Experiencia. Scientix Ambassador. Mentora en proyectos de empoderamiento de la niña y la mujer en la ciencia como Innovactoras, Technovation Challenge o STEM Talent Girl. Global Teacher Award 2020.

SCIENCE IN EVERYTHING AND FOR EVERYONE by Bárbara de Aymerich Vadillo (Spain Scientix Ambassador)

At every corner a new opportunity awaits us to discover something unusual, something incredible.

Science appears at the most opportune moment to speak in our ears and tell us how wonderful the world around us is.

To feel that call we must be attentive, turn on our curiosity, look at the world with the eyes of a child, with the heart of one who continues to be amazed with each sunset, with each butterfly, with each star.

Teaching science, telling science to those who want to listen to you, is one of the most exciting ways to continue feeling this call.

During this campaign, I have had the opportunity to explore new resources, new paths to reach my students sooner, to become a researcher teacher, a teacher who is amazed by their side, who shares the sparkle in their eyes, who delves into the why of things, that gets excited about them.

I have felt how each age, each member of the family, approached science in a different way, from their own perspective, their own interests.

I have experienced how science is capable of reaching every corner of us, every pore, every impulse of knowledge, wherever we come from, whoever we are, whatever our dreams.

I have inquired, I have investigated, I have experimented, I have known that science belongs to everyone, it is for everyone, it is in everyone.

Thank you, Science, for making each one better.

Performed activities:

  • Biodiversity Marathon (February 28): Educational walk to the surroundings of Mount Edilla (Espinosa de los Monteros) to quantify the biodiversity of the area, through applications such as ObsMapp from observation.org.
  • Family Science Workshop (March 12): Simple scientific experiences to share with the family at the Science and Technology Station.
  • Nature of Science Workshop (April 5): Introduction to NOS through dynamics proposed by the Lederman couple from the University of Illinois.
  • Home Experiments Workshop (April 19): Approach to various simple scientific phenomena explained with everyday materials at the San Juan Public Library.
  • “Science Saturdays” gathering (April 23): Excursion to the Science and Technology Station (Burgos) to learn to investigate and make engineering designs. In the afternoon, guided visit to the Museum of Human Evolution and workshop on the Neolithic.

LIVING ON A WAVY WORLD

The waves surround us, surround us, manage us, help us, seduce us, speak to us.
The waves are present in our lives from before birth, from the womb, and accompany us in our games, our dreams, our studies, our trips.
The wave nature of light, sound waves, pressure waves … Endless alternatives to discover the undulating world in which we live.

In order to unravel these sinuous mysteries, in our School for Little Scientists Espiciencia, children from 4 to 16 years old, we have carried out different low cost activities to make them visible.:
1.- Sound waves:
• Let’s have the resonance frequencies of PVC pipes and cardboard.
• We manage to make sound by applying heat by expansion and formation of currents due to temperature difference, inside a test tube with steel wool.
• We levitate porespan balls with ultrasound.
• We produced sound in an electric arc.
• We build monochords like Pythagoras’ and other stringed instruments with recycled materials.
• We observe sound thanks to a membrane made with a globe and a laser pointer.
• We do research on the transmission of sound by making telephones.

2.- Light as a wave:
• We made a device that produced waves to reproduce the double slit experiment.
• We designed a wave display with a bow, skewer sticks, and nuts.
• We use microwaves to synthesize rubies from aluminum and chromium oxides, thanks to the plasma that was formed inside them.
• We calculate the speed of light thanks to an approximation with a wet cardboard and a microwave.
• We play with colors to discover the visible spectrum.
• We became Herschel to experiment with infrared with a prism and some thermometers.
• We extracted quinine and chlorophyll to observe their absorption in the ultraviolet.
• We inquired whether the reading of our infrared thermometers was influenced by the fabrics of our clothing.
• We observe the polarization of light and its interference with sunglasses lenses.

We continue to investigate new experiences for our collection of the wave world and be able to show them in the next Science fairs: VII Science and Technology Fair of Castilla y León (Burgos, Spain) and XXII Science in Action (Murcia, Spain).
A hug and HEALTH.

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