More than 50 students and teachers from eight schools across the Canary Islands took part on Wednesday, 20 May, in the 1st Alisio-PETeR Science Conference, an event that brings the educational innovation projects “ALISIO – Schools from Space” and “Science with PETeR: Investigating the Solar System and Exoplanets with Robotic Telescopes”, developed during this academic year.
The congress was held at the IACTEC facilities in the Tenerife Science and Technology Park, and was organised by the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics (IAC) and the STEAM Department for the Promotion of Scientific Careers and Creativity of the Regional Ministry of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sport of the Canary Islands Government, in collaboration with the University of La Laguna (ULL).
The participating students presented their research in a format similar to that of professional scientific conferences, including oral presentations, poster sessions, question-and-answer sessions and peer review processes. In addition to sharing their results, the teams had to defend their conclusions in response to questions from the rest of the attendees, replicating the usual dynamics of professional scientific practice.
The projects selected for oral presentations were “Study of the resilience of forests as CO₂ sinks”, by IES La Orotava; “Major fires in the Canary Islands over the last decade: reforestation and socio-economic impact”, by IES Doramas; and “Novas and Supernovas”, presented by IES Rafael Arozarena. The remaining participating teams had the opportunity to present their work in a scientific poster session, during which all attendees were able to discover and learn about the different themes of the projects developed.
The conference also featured informative talks by experts, such as that given by IAC researcher Gaia Lacedelli, an expert in exoplanets and a member of the team responsible for evaluating the work of the “Science with PETeR” project, who delivered the talk “Exoplanets: on the path to habitable worlds”.
The event was hosted by Nayra Rodríguez Eugenio, coordinator of the IAC’s PETeR project; Sara González Pérez, coordinator of the Alisio project (IAC, ULL); Montserrat Delgado Cabrera, coordinator of the STEAM Area at the Directorate-General for Educational Planning, Inclusion and Innovation of the Canary Islands Government; and by Alejandra Goded, PETeR educator (IAC), as well as other representatives from these institutions.
To conclude the activity, the students took a guided tour of the IACTEC facilities, where they were able to see first-hand several of the technological developments and scientific projects related to the topics covered during the course, and gain an insight into the cutting-edge scientific and technological work currently being carried out in the Canary Islands.
The “Alisio: Educational Centres from Space” project has given students the opportunity to carry out their own research into environmental issues using open data from space missions. Each group defined its own research topic, collected and analysed data, and presented its conclusions in the form of a video and a scientific poster. Among the topics investigated were satellite monitoring of changes in water levels in the reservoirs of Gran Canaria, analysis of vegetation recovery following fires in different areas of Spain and other parts of the world, compared with the Canary Islands, the study of coastal line evolution in Fuerteventura, and the impact of phenomena such as flash floods on the archipelago, due to its geographical and climatic characteristics. The assessment took into account aspects such as the quality of the research, critical thinking, environmental awareness and the proposal of solutions for the cases investigated.
Gaia Lacedelli, an expert on exoplanets, during the talk “Exoplanets: on the path to habitable worlds”.
Meanwhile, “Science with PETeR: Investigating the Solar System and exoplanets with robotic telescopes” offered students the chance to use professional telescopes to capture their own astronomical images or to utilise their extensive data archives and carry out research related to exoplanets and the Solar System. The project includes participation in the European Space Agency’s ExoClock programme, which allows students to contribute their data to a real scientific mission.
The participating students rated the opportunity to share this scientific event with secondary school and sixth-form students from other islands very highly, and all participants also praised the quality of the presentations and research projects presented during the day. The commitment, enthusiasm and interest shown by the students throughout the day highlight the enormous value of this type of initiative in fostering scientific and technological vocations and the exchange of experiences among young people.