The second edition of the “Science hour” Call, an inclusive teaching project for secondary schools

After the success of the first edition, Bracco foundation is relaunching as part of “Bracco for schools” the “Science hour!” Teaching project, an initiative aimed at teachers and students of middle and upper schools in Lombardy, Lazio and Piedmont to bring more science into society, starting from schools. The coronavirus epidemic has brought the importance of science into the centre of political and civil debates. Never so much as now are schools involved in science and research. The objectives of the Bracco Foundation teaching project are to encourage reflection on the importance of STEM; to highlight research; to promote collaborative teaching; to develop the school system in the territory; to promote female competences in science by stimulating new vocations and creating a virtual display of the content produced by classes. “Science hour!” Is an inclusive teaching project that involves students of middle and upper schools and places scientific competences in the centre through

• The initiative “Our view” promoted by Bracco Foundation with the female scientists, economists and international policy experts of #100esperte
• a catalogue of teaching content available on the Internet, often developed by teachers and students of Italian schools

After having used one or more of these resources, the class or group of students is invited to produce by March 30, 2021 a digital project in collaboration on the topics that involved women and STEM subjects, the role and professions of science, researchers at the service of the community. The best projects will receive a prize. The second edition offers three important new elements: the Call is aimed specifically at secondary schools, to offer additional stimuli to support students involved in distance teaching, and offers a significantly richer catalogue of online resources. The project will also be proposed not just in Lombardy but also to schools in Lazio and Piedmont as a step towards increasingly national distribution. Although it was carried out in a limited time during the spring Covid 19 quarantine, the first edition of the Call saw the participation of about 300 students from 10 Lombardy institutions and attained the objectives it set. See the projects of the schools here! “Bracco for schools”is the initiative that groups the activities of the Bracco Group for schools, a widespread and long-lasting commitment that aims to prevent scholastic dispersion, promotes the culture of health and scientific vocations, the spread of knowledge of the cultural heritage. In 2019 this commitment was the subject of a protocol of understanding with the Lombardy Regional Schools Office.

The initiative was publicised also on the site of the Lombardy Schools Office.