The general objective of EDURISK educational products is the modification of individual and collective behaviours in response to an earthquake or volcanic eruption.
“WHAT IF THERE’S AN EARTHQUAKE ?”
(4-7 years old)
A Teachers’ Guide, contains suggestions on practical activities (games, exercises) that involve the whole class. The booklet, based on four cardboard pictorial sections to be used for a classroom activity rather than for individual reading, explains how one should behave during an earthquake.
Available in: Italian, English, French, German, Spanish.
“EARTHQUAKE LESSON”
(8-10 years old)
The illustrated guidebook teaches how to behave in an emergency and provides basic information on earthquakes and seismic risk, putting strong emphasis on the physical geography of Italy and seismic risk mitigation measurements.
The guidebook and the accompanying teachers’ handbook can be used over the course of 3-4 years both in class activities and individually. The groups of thematically similar sections in each year (and a final self-assessment list of questions for students) follow the educational activities organized by the teacher.
The colorful layout, the use of cartoon characters, and the range of topics make the guidebook suitable for younger and slightly older children.
Available in: Italian, English, French, German, Slovenian, Spanish.
“TERREMOTI COME E PERCHE’”
A 64-page booklet with a sophisticated image layout is structured as a set of ten questions providing reliable information on earthquakes, suggesting how to reduce seismic risk and showing how to behave during an earthquake. Examples with a local interest are privileged over those related to foreign countries. The text is illustrated by pictures, maps and sketches. Funny cartoons are designed to attract and hold the attention of even the less interested students. The breezy tone, the scientific accuracy of the contents and the considerable amount of information allow to enjoy the reading also to older students and grownup people. Finally, a reference list of the main past Italian earthquakes is included.
Available in Italian only.
“A PROVA DI TERREMOTO”: A TEACHERS’ GUIDE.
An educational guide for teachers, based on a collection of didactic units proposed by other teachers who had participated in previous Edurisk activities.
NOI E I VULCANI
(8-10 years old) An educational tool for primary schools, written and illustrated by Roberto Luciani. This volume is the result of a multi-layered process of planning, elaborating and revising scientific information which involved researchers from Napoli, Roma and Bologna. The resulting product is brilliant indeed, as witnessed by praises on it by the Ercolano, Lipari and Catania schools who first used it within the EDURISK experience.
Available in: Italian, English, French, German, Spanish (in preparation).
IL CLIMA CHE CAMBIA. COSA POSSIAMO FARE NOI
Cartoons and text of this booklet are a good mix of fun and science on the global climate changes. The history of the climate changes, the recent increasing of the atmospheric temperature, the Kyoto protocol, and a number of suggestions to reduce CO2 emissions are presented, making this "hot" topic interesting for the widest public. The booklet is completed by a number of experiments that kids can make at home, and intriguing quizzes.
Available in Italian only.
EARTHQUAKES AND GHOST TOWNS IN SICILY
(from 16-years old) A multimedia product addressed not only to schools but also to the general public, it leads the viewer in a journey through the remnants of 17 Sicilian ghost towns, abandoned by their inhabitants in the aftermath of some of the most destructive earthquakes of the last millennium. A variety of materials (testimonials, historical reports and maps, images, photos and videos) allows us to see the deserted sites as they appeared in the past, to reconstruct their historical features, to become acquainted with the effects of the destruction caused by the earthquakes and to analyses in depth the events that led the site to being abandoned. The available information is arranged according to three thematic paths:
Time, memory retrieved thanks to historical documents and testimonials;
Space, the land seen through pictures;
Seismicity, natural causes and their features.
An interactive navigation through the ruins of each ghost town is also possible. For each site, an interactive exploration has been created using the QuickTime™ Virtual Reality software to navigate inside 360-degrees pictures. Italian and English editions are available.
Available in Italian and English.
“WE ALL FALL DOWN”
EDURISK and ‘ConUnGioco’ developed “We all fall down”, an exhibition with a strongly interactive approach, designed to be easily assembled and transported and addressed primarily to pre-teens schoolchildren. The visit includes an interactive itinerary and a learning area.
A fully-furnished toy house withinteractive areas on the outside that give visitors the possibility to reproduce experiences and phenomena felt during an earthquake.
In the Learning Area visitors choose which earthquake aspects they wish to investigate and which itinerary to follow among those available. Learning experiences are carried out, using tools easily available at home or school, to understand the earthquakes fundamental scientific concepts, such as their origins and dynamics, instruments and recording devices, seismic characteristics of the individuals’ areas, geophysics and volcanic notions to help in the understanding of this phenomenon.
The area dedicated to questions on the origins of the phenomenon is divided into three sections:
The Why area contains scientific explanations compiled throughout the course of history by humankind in different world regions as well as their beliefs and myths on seismic events. One therefore has the opportunity to challenge his or her beliefs and attitudes and seek answers forming personal accounts or visual representations that can explain, often through vision and imagination, the phenomenon just experienced.
The second section includes the What and How and follows the Science journey and its attempts to explain a phenomenon that until only the past century was still a mystery. An introduction to the Wegener theory is presented followed by the theory of plate tectonics and detailed analysis of specific earthquakes mechanisms. Attention is also given to monitoring methods, analyses and mitigating measures.
The participants have the opportunity to work together around each workstation putting together simulations and observing representations that will prompt them to ask further questions and seek appropriate answers.
A third section describes the Who, Where and When and includes a summary of the seismic knowledge collected in various places and verbal accounts presented as collections of images and descriptions of earthquakes and their related phenomena.
In this section, it is also possible to learn about earthquake events occurred in the specific area where the exhibition is being held inside a smaller parallel exhibition, assembled in collaboration with schools and local institutions.
The third area (Action area) presents the best behaviours to follow both individually and collectively when reacting to an earthquake. As earthquakes cannot be predicted, preparedness to their possible occurrence and preventive measures to reduce their effects represent the best approach.
This principle is symbolically represented as a return home in the form of an additional domestic reproduction where it is possible to verify the lessons learnt in the previous areas through objects and simulations. The exhibition can therefore include a second house similar to the first one where each workstation controls a piece of furniture in the house.
The visit is organised in two moments: the interactive itinerary and the knowledge workshop. The latter constitutes of learning group activities, lasting approximately one hour in a dedicated area. These activities cover various subjects in different formats: all the themes proposed in the interactive itinerary can be expanded in workshops following different designs.
