Blog: Ciência para Todos/ Science for All, by Haidi D. Fiedler Nome and Faruk Nome Inspire article
The ‘Science for All’ blog, associated e-book and printed book contain a collection of short essays on a series of topics designed to appeal to young students.
All three resources are free of charge. Written by academic scientists from around the world, the articles include topics as diverse as biofuels, fireworks, enzymes, fireflies, organic phosphates, animal intelligence and rubber. The ‘Science for All’ blog, associated e-book and printed book contain a collection of short essays on a series of topics designed to appeal to young students. All three resources are free of charge. Written by academic scientists from around the world, the articles include topics as diverse as biofuels, fireworks, enzymes, fireflies, organic phosphates, animal intelligence and rubber. The texts used in the books are extracted from the first 60 articles of the project. The use of colour pictures and photographs make the essays more fun to read than some standard school texts. Photos of the authors are included to help students appreciate that science is an active discipline pursued by real people.
The blog, from INCT Catálise, is an expanding collection of more than 75 texts written mainly by academics who wish to share their individual interests and experiences. The articles are written in English and Portuguese, with many articles also translated into Spanish and a few also in French and German. Accompanying short videos, in which animations are added to orated text, will appeal to younger secondary-school students. Recently submitted articles include work on the fragrance of roses, reactive oxygen species, calcium ions as chemical messengers, and the biology and practical applications of duckweed.
Both the printed book and the blog should be listed on the web-based resources of science departments in schools and colleges and brought to the attention of science-curious students such as those who attend science clubs. The texts are not designed to support particular curricula but instead to broaden them. There may even be a place for them in modern language departments as the short pieces are presented in at least two, and more often three, languages. There is nothing to prevent teachers from taking some of the articles or their associated videos and turning them into comprehension exercises should they so wish.
Details
You can download the electronic versions of the book.
You can read the blog.