"Don't Throw Away your Mobile!": Pupils' Perception of Raw Materials in Electronics

In this paper we analyse the comments resulting from citizen education pathways proposed to two classes of a Scientific Lyceum in Italy. The path is inserted in the "Raw Matter Ambassadors at Schools" project (RM@Schools). The project proposes to 10- 17-year-old pupils an active learning pathway where students, after attending RM- related classes, are asked to become science communicators and to create dissemination products focused on issues related to RMs. Given the actual COVID-19 restrictions, the pathway took place in hybrid form with on-line seminars and a live laboratory session in which the pupils could watch a researcher execute an experiment. Three seminars, about circular economy, raw materials in electronics, and applications of graphene in sensing, were given by researchers with the aim of illustrating the social relevance of scientific research findings. The experiment showed the reasons for further research to transfer a research result into a commercial product. The students were asked to comment on the contribution of scientific activities connected to RMs to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Agenda 2030 and to comment on the effectiveness of the communication activity of the RM@Schools project in raising awareness among youngsters. The analysis evidences that i) the objective of framing a scientific topic as a possible solution to a social issue has been reached; most of the pupils think of social network as the best ways to communicate to youngsters; the live experiment that complemented the pathway is effective in catching pupils' interest.