Educational and artistic fun teaching tools for science outreach

The aim of scientific dissemination is to spread interest and knowledge of scientific issues by trying to reach 9 people of all ages and social backgrounds. Simplifying, (without trivializing,) scientific concepts and making them 10 attractive to the general public is therefore essential to achieve the previous objectives. For this purpose, it can be useful 11 for scientists to work in close collaboration with artists, implementing new tools that can positively influence the 12 emotional sphere and capture the attention of the people involved. Playful educational activity and visual language play 13 a key role in this process, to convey interest and facilitate learning. An example of this approach are the educational 14 laboratories structured as group games, in which great importance is given both to practical activities and to the 15 transmission of concepts through their visualization in the form of images. Over the last eight years, the Istituto Nazionale 16 di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, INGV), the Istituto di Scienze Marine 17 del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council, CNR-ISMAR) 18 and Historical Oceanography Society (HOS) have collaborated in the organization of science dissemination events 19 involving students from schools of different levels in educational experiences based on games, characterized by an 20 essentially visual approach to the concepts presented. In this work, we would like to give a brief overview of these didactic 21 educational tools, retracing the choices made while ideating them, thanks mainly to the close collaboration with some 22 artists and illustrators. 23 24


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The role of visual language in the translation and synthesis of scientific content 26 Inspiring young people to take part in the discovery and delivery of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 27 (STEM) has been proven to contribute significantly not only to their well-being, but also to their future human  technology (Maltese et al., 2014). In recent years, with the advance of the digital age and the use of technological tools 31 (smartphones, tablets, etc.), now pervasive especially among the new generations, great importance has been given to the 32 development of strategies to promote their use in schools: an attempt has been made to convert them into useful means to 33 promote information and knowledge, especially those related to STEM, and so to overcome the difficulties observed in 50 (such as those of Hooke R., 1665) for their uniqueness can be considered works of art (such as those of Hooke R., 1665).

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Moreover, in recent years, two strongly conditioning factors have taken over in modern communication: the speed and 52 amount of information we are exposed to. In this fast-paced world, not only for adults but also for of childhood, it is clear 53 how much more effective a message conveyed by the image is than the text and how much faster its learning is. By now, 54 in fact, it is universally recognized the effectiveness of images not only in the communicative-advertising field, where 55 they have always been widely used and even more so in modern society, constantly exposed to visual information in the 56 form of video or images, but also in the world of scientific communication.

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For sixteen years now, on an annual basis, the Science Technology and Observa Science in Society Monitor 58 (www.observa.it) has been monitoring the development of so-called "scientific literacy", i.e. the level of scientific 59 knowledge of citizens. Much less studied is the so-called visual scientific literacy. In 2016, an empirical survey (Bucchi 60 and Saracino, 2016) was conducted on this topic on a representative sample of the Italian population: the interviewees 61 were offered three classic images related to science and technology, in regards to a series of questions of scientific 62 competence (Bucchi and Saracino, 2016). With regard to the matter under investigation it emerges that the level of 63 scientific literacy decreases with increasing age and increases with increasing education. From the point of view of the 64 effectiveness of the visual approach, the results show that 80% of respondents were able to recognize the images correctly, 65 compared to 60% who were able to answer the equivalent questions. Moreover, the images, unlike the questions, aroused 66 emotional reactions such as "curiosity", but also "beauty" and "fear". This highlights the enormous potential of the visual 67 component in scientific communication, whose characteristics, dynamics and means of dissemination must be fully 68 understood in order to obtain even more significant results.

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The cooperation of such different worlds, such as art and science, and the exchange between the two points of view, 70 allows the disseminator to develop a new approach to scientific issues, generating a common language that transforms 71 complex concepts into visual messages that can be understood by all. In particular, in order to capture the attention of 72 children, the goal is to create games that convey, through images and oral explanation, in an emotional and non-rational 73 way, information related not only to scientific knowledge but also to the learning of virtuous behaviorbehaviour, which 74 will allow new generations to become adults more aware of the environment in which they live, how to use it and how to 75 preserve it.

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This document is organized as follows: Section 2 addresses the problem of teaching and dissemination of scientific 77 culture, and presents a description of the methodological approach we propose; Section 3 describes the characteristics of 78 the different edutainment tools implemented, with particular attention to the different graphic choices adopted according 79 to the aim to be achieved; Section 4 describes, as a case study, a "work-related learning internship" that we carried out 80 3 using one of our educational tools, and reports the result of a questionnaire that we submitted to the students at the end of

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indicates, especially for the Italian population, a low interest in science and therefore a lack of confidence in the potential 97 of research (Special Eurobarometer 419 Report, 2014). In particular, the large part of European (79%) and Italian (69%) 98 people, are very interested and confident in new scientific discoveries and technological developments, however there is 99 a part of respondents who do not feel as well informed (52% Italians, 50% Europeans). In particular, although the results 100 on the one hand are rather encouraging and show Europeans (79%) and, to a lesser extent, Italians (69%), very interested 101 and confident in new scientific discoveries and technological developments, however there is a part of respondents who 102 do not feel as well informed (52% Italians, 50% Europeans). A low percentage (31%) of Italians and even fewer 103 Europeans (22%) believe that science can solve any kind of problem; a part of the population (52% Italians, 58% 104 Europeans) would like researchers to be more involved in the transmission of scientific discoveries and new technological 105 developments. Another important fact is that 75% of respondents believe that science prepares future generations to act 106 as aware citizens, and many citizens (65% Italians, 66% Europeans) think that the government should stimulate more 107 young people's interest in science to a greater extent. Finally: a high percentage of Italians (71%) and Europeans (75%) 108 agree that if women were more represented in positions of power in research institutions, research would be conducted in 109 a better way.

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The Eurobarometer, therefore, confirms a situation of "disconnection" between civil society and science, which, being 111 one of the most remarkable expressions of the realization of human culture, should, instead, be shared with everyone, 112 especially when the high level of complexity of the results could further increase this gap (Wilgenbus and Léna, 2011).

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How to act, therefore, effectively? Fostering education, awareness and dissemination through simple and attractive 114 channels capable of reaching every level of society and different age groups, with particular attention to the younger 115 generations. As already said in the previous paragraph, currently it emerges that the level of scientific literacy decreases 116 with increasing age and increases with increasing education (Bucchi and Saracino, 2016); therefore, the importance of 117 planning a process of scientific literacy from the early school years is evident. Unfortunately, in several countries, such 118 as the United Kingdom, STEM topics do not appear on the timetables of pupils of primary or lower secondary school 119 (Bianchi and Chippindall, 2018). This gap could be filled by giving schools the opportunity to be involved in 120 extracurricular programmes, promoted by researchers or educational trainers with scientific expertise, always taking into 121 4 account the prerogatives of children of that age. Kids are an important vector for messages aimed at social change: it is 122 therefore unthinkable not to take into account attitudes and decisions that will inevitably affect the environment and

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By playing, we learn to learn. This concept was introduced in the 1970s by Gregory Bateson (Bateson, 1970) and is 129 generally used to indicate the acquisition of a learning method that produces a change in the person. The game can 130 therefore be thought of as one of the simple and attractive channels mentioned in the previous paragraph. It is necessary 131 to underline the importance of the relational factor of learning, which implies the interpretation of the experience lived 132 through patterns learned in contexts of communication and interaction with others (Vygotskij, 1933).

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In this context, playing with an expert, whether an adult or a peer, takes on great educational importance, and is the very 134 driver of the child's development. Moreover, through play, we learn that we can give different interpretations of the world 135 around us (Braglia, 2011), and this helps children to grow up critical and more aware of the problems they will have to 136 face. For this reason, it is important to introduce, among the school teaching methods, also the involvement of students 137 in educational activities through a playful-scientific approach.

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These activities must not replace the classroom lessons, books, and tests (Shapiro et al., 2014), but have to provide another 139 parallel and sporadic learning strategy: a way to provide the differentiated learning experiences that students require to 140 find their inner motivation and fulfil their potential. In this framework, it is important to include visual and tactile stimuli, 141 to encourage and enhance the ability to observe, pay attention and memorize concepts (Renninger and Su, 2012).

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Moreover, it is important to focus on the visual aspect of the proposed tools, as emotions deeply affect our cognitive 143 aspects: a welfare state has positive effects on learning ability, memory, creativity (Ellis et al. 1984). In fact, several 144 studies have underlined how the human capacity to understand is based not only on the faculty of reasoning, i.e. logic, 145 but also (and above all) on emotional mechanisms (Kahneman, 2012). Life experiences create somatic markers related to 146 emotions that guide us in decision making for successive events (Damasio, 1994). Affective neuroscience -that studies 147 brain emotions through non-invasive techniques of "imaging" -has shown that positive emotional states are developed 148 (such as optimism and joy) when the amygdala and the right prefrontal lobe raise their activity levels (Davidson 2002).

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Similarly, studies on the brain biochemistry locate in the forebrain most of the neuropeptides and neurotransmitters 150 activities as well as the receptors responsible for the physiological sensations of well-being (Pert, 1999). Daniel Goleman 151 (Goleman, 1996) clearly defines "emotional intelligence" and social-emotional learning as a balanced mix of motivation, 152 empathy, logic and self-control. This should be taken into account in order to develop much more effective and 153 appropriate methods of science communication/education, depending on the interlocutors (age, nationality, previous 154 knowledge, gender, etc.). By way of example, we can consider that of the stereotypes used, in too many cases, by teachers 155 and/or syllables, to represent scientists and generally those working in the scientific field, which inadvertently discourage 156 potential female STEM students (Petkova K. & P. Boyadjieva 1994, Newton and Newton 1992).

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If, as we have seen, the game can be useful from a relational point of view, especially among children and teenagers, it is 162 also necessary to establish a language that is common to all involved, if we want our teaching methods and tools to be as 163 sharable as possible. A common and comprehensible language for everyone can be found in visual arts, but however 164 translation of concepts in images which everyone can understand and memorize, also under an emotional point of view,

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can be a quite challenging task, especially when the objective is suggesting changes in mentality or building a learning 166 process. In fact, it is difficult to assess and predict some key aspects related to human vision. For example, how visual 167 information is perceivede is affected by the specific training of each one and contingent upon historical, geographical and 168 cultural circumstance. Moreover, the personal experience allows to emotionally differently interpret the images 169 (Geymonat, 2011). In any case, graphic art has become effective in many different situations, and this has made it the 170 preferred language of the new generation.

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For this reason, we decided to strongly characterize our didactic educational tools focusing not only on the contents, but 172 also on the graphic aspect, trying to express as much as possible the concepts and themes proposed through visual 173 approaches, and making them pleasant and suitable, from a graphic point of view, to an audience of children/youngsters.

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The choice of drawings, layout and colours followed these considerations, leading to the adoption of different 175 graphic/artistic techniques, depending on the target audience and the mean of communication. In the following 176 paragraphs, we would like to present 4 of the products currently made, namely three educational games and a graphic 177 questionnaire.

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3 Inside the tools: educational purpose and visual approach

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The four activities that we present were developed during 9 years, (from 2011 to 2020). These are:

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3 Customized games to achieve specific learning goals (for Edutainment Activities);

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The first Edutainment Activity (OCTOPUS GAME) is specially designed for reaching children and students of Primary 187 Schools. The second one (INGV-MEMORY GAME) is designed for students of low secondary school (middle school), 188 and the third proposed game, MAREOPOLI, for the content presented, proves to be more suitable for high school student 189 of the high school. This division by age is to be considered strict if the game is played by the students at home alone or 190 with their parents, but it is more elastic if the game is played directly by a skilled facilitator (researcher or teacher) who 191 can modulate the difficulty of the questions and answers but not changing the content. The last tool, the graphic 192 questionnaire, is intended for very young children: it is based on the game of paper puppets with interchangeable clothes 193 and furnishings, and allows the player to freely create and invent its own "scientific character" and the work/creative 194 environment in which it is placed.

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The starting point, for each designed tool, has been the definition of the educational goal, which was different in the four

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Once we defined the educational goal, we chose the type of game to be inspired to develop the structure of the didactic 205 tool. For the 3 board games, we have chosen "The Goose Game" for the first one, "MEMORY ® of Ravensburger" for 206 the second one and "MONOPOLY ® of Hasbro" for the last one. In all three cases, we added, to the standard structure 207 of the game, specific scientific information and questions, and planned it so that it could be played by two teams.

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We have considered important to divide the players into teams, in order to establish a competitive dynamic among 209 children, but without mortifying a single player in case he can't answer the questions correctly. The games have been 210 designed and built in two formats (laboratory mode and game kit), in order to consent to be used, by students, in two 211 ways: under the guidance of trainers (researchers, teachers or suitably educated young people during peer education 212 approaches) during the didactic workshops, or independently (or under the guidance of their parents) at home. For the 213 first purpose (laboratory mode), therefore, boards and related play-cards have been realized in a very large format, suitable 214 to be placed on the floor, in order to give the opportunity to children to feel more involved during the activity and better 215 visualize the drawings without losing attention. At the same time, also "table-top" formats (game kit) have been prepared, 216 to be distributed as gifts to the participants of the workshop participants, inviting them to disclose, in turn, the information 217 acquired during the activity to friends and relatives. Moreover, for MAREOPOLI a dissemination book to deepen the 218 information was made (Locritani and Garvani, 2020).

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The realization of the materials was made thanks to a close collaboration with the graphic designers, who have translated 221 into images the researchers' ideas.

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For their part, researchers initially had to simplify (but without trivializing) the concepts and devise understandable, but

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In fact, a scientific concept or argument can already be intrinsically not easy and immediate to understand, and trying to 232 express it through a static image is not immediate, but it is precisely here thatin this contest the expressive capacity and 233 universality of art comes into play, which often manages to reach where words do not arrive. In some cases, the images 7 only had to be the background to the scientific theme; but even in this case, the choice of how to represent it and make it 235 attractive stimulated the minds of researchers and artists involved in this task. In other cases, (the most difficult ones) the 236 graphic itself had to indicate and help to understand the concept or the application submitted: the teamwork between the 237 two different skills (scientist and artist) was, so, particularly important and essential, made of continuous adjustments and 238 corrections, until obtaining a final product that could meet the graphic and conceptual requirements.

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The educational laboratory is organized as a competition between two teams, to be carried out under the supervision of 260 an expert, who holds the ranks of the game, asks the questions and guides the teams towards the correct answer ( Figure   261 3). It takes place in about one hour. The children, using large dice, extract numbers to advance the placeholder boats

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What happens if respondents don't understand a or read our questions? In this case, the conductor of the game starts 273 asking other questions related to the first but simpler ones, trying to refer to practical examples, easily referable to 274 everyday life. In this way the group always, or in most cases, manages to give the right answer.

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The role of the "conductor" during the educational laboratory is therefore important, but it does not necessarily have to 276 be a researcher or a teacher. In fact, the game has also been experimented during peer education courses, with students, 277 older than the involved children, properly trained. The peer education has proved to be an efficient method to stimulate 278 learning. The conductor students experiment an increase in self-esteem and self-confidence, which in turn conveys a 279 greater retention of the concepts acquired during the experience. Moreover, the verbal and not verbal language of the 280 conductor of the game is similar of that of participant, consequently more attractive.In this case, the experience has a 281 double objective, because the learning by teaching mode has proved to be an efficient method to stimulate learning, as it 282 leads to an increase in self-esteem and self-confidence, which in turn conveys a greater retention of the concepts acquired 283 during the experience. Since the topics dealt with in this game are quite simple, it lends itself well to be used in peer 284 education mode, since it does not put students in difficulty and, instead, leads to strengthen their knowledge in the field 285 and also to discover new things. The playful aspect of the experience is stimulating not only for the children involved in 286 the workshop, but also for the peer educator himself. A game-kit is available by the INGVambiente website 287 (https://ingvambiente.com/2020/01/17/il-gioco-del-polpo/).

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The INGV MEMORY GAME is a board game based on the classic Memory ® of Ravensburger and have the same game 292 rules. It has been especially designed to help to improve concentration and train visual memory by turning over pairs of 9 matching cards; at the same time children must also associate images with some basic concepts on Vulcanology,

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Geophysics and Environment, with particular attention to natural hazards: Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis. A small 295 version of the game, game-kit, is available (Figure 4)

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The game consists of 48 cards (size 40 cm x 40 cm cardseach) with icons depicting the gamecovered topics: Earthquakes,

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Volcanoes and Environment. Also in this game, the dynamics during the educational laboratory mode is that of a team 305 game: the cards are initially shuffled and laid out covered on the floor. The players are divided into two groups and, in 306 turn, reveal two cards. If these forms a "paircouple" of matching cards, the researcher/conductor asks a question, 307 established by the game, about the theme depicted on the paper. If the answer of the team is correct, the cards are cashed 308 by the player on duty, who can uncover two more; otherwise, they're placed back in their original position on the floor, 309 and the turn move on to the next player. The player who can discover the more pairs wins.

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The game is preferably aimed at middle schools The game aimed at middle schools ( Figure 5). As for the OCTOPUS 311 GAME, also for the INGV-MEMORY GAME the educational laboratory takes place in one hour during which the 312 students will be able to test their mnemonic skills and scientific knowledge.

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The graphic of this game is more polished than the OCTOPUS GAME. The figures are better defined, even if the colours 314 and the typology are always referable to the cartoon style, or however typical of the illustrations for children.

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In this case, however, what is represented in the different boxes has to do with the proposed topic, and sometimes it is 316 also useful to suggest the answers of the questions.and sometimes it is also useful to understand and interpret the asked

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In this case, too, at the end of the educational laboratory a game kit is released to each student (Figure 4) that allows to 323 play at home.

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(the curiosity cards), therefore, has been designed so that it can be extrapolated from the game and used as a comics book 337 for adults, which reconstructs the entire history of the evolution of tidal theory from Aristotle to Laplace (Figure 7). This 338 aim of public awareness of science and historical knowledge is combined with the educational aim of providing scientific 339 11 information on the history and scientific theory of tides, but also on transversal but tide related issues, such as: renewable 340 energy, biodiversity, protection of the planet.

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The board created for this game recalls the graphics of the MONOPOLY (Figure 6). The board format for playing it in

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The game is aimed at students of Second Grade SecondaryHigh Schools, but, as already said, also at adults (Figure 7)., 354 thanks to the fact that the curiosity cards have been processed in such a way that, if extrapolated from the game, they can 355 be used as a "comics book", a graphic-artistic tale of the history of the scientific tides theory evolution.

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The twofold objective behind the planning of this tool led us to want to develop a particular graphic style as well. The 362 graphic layout of MAREOPOLI appears less friendly than that of the two previous games: the drawings are more refined 363 and made with a less comic book style, to be appreciated by adult users.

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The game is therefore the result of the work and cooperation of scientists and illustrators, who have shared information,

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The scoreboard itself looks very "sober" but elegant at the same time. The choice of colours was made also with end users 373 in mind, so not very young children/boys: the colours are not gaudy, and they have some taste tones a bit retro' that bring 374 us mentally back in time, or at least emotionally approach different ageeras.

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Also in this case there is a "board" game kit to give as a present, but, compared to the two previous games, it is supported  . In the specific case of 6-7 years old kids (that of course are too young to compile a questionnaire with closed ended 389 questions), acquired stereotypical images were usually monitored trough the Draw-a-Scientist Test (DAST) (Figure 9).

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DAST is time-consuming and doesn't allow discerning in a quick way the child's response.

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In fact, DAST needs always to be coupled with an interview for posterior interpretation of drawings. We decided, so, to 392 use an alternative approach that goes beyond DAST: an entirely Graphic Projective Questionnaire, a paper kit with pre-393 drawn characters, accessories and clothes inspired to mainstream cartoons aesthetics, that allow children to assemble 394 stereotypical personages, as in a mix-match game (Figure 9).

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A try-out phase has been necessarywith a group of 6 years--old children -in order to understand the background 402 culture of this generation and language, pop culture, i.e. models and aesthetics references (TV, Web etc.), basic 403 14 knowledge/perception of science (Saris and Gallhofer, 2007). Some direct questions allowed researchers to understand 404 students' drawings, and in this phase DAST has been an essential initial tool for refining the Graphic VISUAL

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The VISUAL QUESTIONNAIRE needed to be released from scientific context, so as not to affect the children response:

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The VISUAL QUESTIONNAIRE is designed to give us information about on how children think and imagine science 433 and scientists, and is organized to be read and interpreted by "blocks":

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The 5 blocks of the graphic questionnaire are the same of the "standard" paper questionnaire with multiple choice answers  involved were asked to make drawings that concerned science and scientists. From this they drew some considerations 463 emerged, regarding the use of the main characterizations preferred by children in this age group. Interpretation of the 464 questionnaire results will require collaboration with psychologists and sociologists. This part will be developed soon.

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4 Case study -work related learning internship 467 468 The previously described educational tools can be applied in a lot of contests, for example during outreach events, 469 scientific challenges, school activities, scientific festivals or High schools work related learning internship, using non-470 formal methods as peer education and/or, intergenerational learning with the support of unconventional educators.

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Through a case study the efficacy of games and images to communicate science concepts will be evaluated. During a

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The PCTO aims is to provide general knowledge about some topics less faced by the school curricula: gravitational field, 477 astronomy and tides (from scientific and historical point of view). Frontal lessons about gravitational field and astronomy,

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Planetary visit, an educational game about tides (MAREOPOLI) and a practical activity devoted to measure the 479 gravitational field, were performed.

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After the PCTO the students compiled a questionnaire about the level of satisfaction. The questionnaire was elaborated 481 following the previous experience in this field (Locritani, et al. 20109).

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The questionnaire was designed to understand if for the student it was important the role played by the image in the

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The 59% of the students affirm that they do not remember with particular impression a specific image (Figure 15a).

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Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that each activity has influenced, by means of images, some students, and that the 507 illustrations capture the interest of the 45% of the students in different way (Figure 15b). In details, about 7% of the 508 students were impressed by images included in the presentations, also if the presentation itself didn't arise the interest of 509 the students (see above). This indicates that images have a great power in capture attention, because students remember 510 illustrations also if showed during the "boring" presentations. The best result emerges for the images of the game, with 511 14% of interest ( Figure 15). In this case, students remember especially the historical characters, as Aristoteles or Newton, 512 and the schemes used to explain the tide formation. The historical characters illustrations have been created to focus 513 attention on historical aspect that, often, turn out to be very unattractive, especially for technical school students (as in 514 this case). The schemes to explain the formation of tides, instead, have been specially designed to simplify the complex 515 concepts (intrinsically hard) and make them easier to understand, thus exploiting the potential offered by graphics 516 compared to just written text.

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We can assume that the questionnaire results, Questionnaires result highlighting the importance of the image in keeping 518 attention and in capture the interest of the student, indicatinge that our objective has been reached. The playful approach, 519 that, in our opinion and for our experience is particularly useful for better conveying scientific content, lends itself very 520 well to be combined with the use of images or other art forms. The synergy between these two "modes" is, in our opinion, 521 an effective means to overcome potential barriers due, in many cases, to language, and promotes a greater diffusion of 522 these tools.

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The involvement of children and students in educational paths are useful methods to transmit scientific knowledge and 531 awareness about today's great environmental problem. In addition, through the young generation is simple to reach their 532 families and with them different types of In addition, they are also useful means of reaching families and with them 533 different types of stakeholders.

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Thestakeholders. The decennial science outreach experience of the researchers involved in the activities highlighted in 535 this paper was characterized by a growing use of the images and the use of games as educational tools, to raise students' 536 awareness on scientific issues. Researchers noted, in involved students, an appreciation of the use of this kind of approach 537 as didactic educational tool. This also emerges from the results of the questionnaire reported in the last paragraph, which 538 shows that students show more interest in educational-playful activities and information transmitted through images than 539 in standard frontal lectures. Moreover, the authors could observe qualitative results: as higher interest of students in the 540 scientific matters, testimonies by teachers; some students decided to frequent scientific degree courses after the 541 participation to scientific laboratories; some students decided to participate more times to our laboratories; some families 542 give us a good feedback about the participation of the students to the laboratories.

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It's easy to understand how tThrough games and images we can more easily arise it's easier to arise iinterest in younger 544 learners; but this also applies to all other agesusers, of course taking care choosingto choose the right game and the right 545 graphic style, depending on the target audience. For these reasons, these methodological approaches are becoming 546 increasingly useful in the field of scientific dissemination.

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The authors kindly thanks the artists and researchers that collaborated in the realization of the games: Matteo Sgherri and