Physics of the Earth system: Design and implementation of an experimental educational module for high school students

Abstract

This project, specifically designed for high school teaching purposes, is aimed at exploring the physical processes underlying the atmospheric phenomena and includes several important physical concepts. The project was proposed in two versions. The first one involved 5 high school students at the end of the fourth year, participating to a one-week summer internship at the Physics Department in Turin. Four topics related to physics of atmosphere were chosen and for each topic we developed a preliminary test, a theoretical introduction followed by mathematical exercises and lab experiments. Subsequently, the project was proposed to nine first classes of the catering institute "J.B. Beccari" in Turin. These students had never approached a Physics subject before, so the goal was dual: to teach the key concepts of the atmospheric phenomena, and to show that Physics' task is to observe and describe, also in a mathematical language, physical events that occur in everyday life. The results of the post-test indicate an improvement of knowledge on the greenhouse effect. Furthermore, 82% of students consider that the laboratory experiences were stimulating and clarifying, and 62% find some environmental problems to be clearer than before.