HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS HAVING THE CHANCE TO BE AUTHORS OF SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATIONS ON NUCLEAR FUSION

The threat of global warming and climate change is raising an increasing concern on society and demanding more and more awareness on mitigation activities to be planned and put in place. A correct information on energy scenarios and energy options must be pursued through a wide dissemination of the available data at all target levels. "Porto la fusione alla maturità", is a citizen science project based on the involvement of high school students who become protagonists of fusion science dissemination and owners of the knowledge necessary to get a scientificallybased personal opinion in this field. Consorzio RFX has elaborated a template for a presentation on energy scenarios and nuclear fusion energy to be personalized by students facing their final degree thesis. Starting from the information in the template, students have to collect further details and elaborate a personal scientific talk for the final examination. The role of secondary teachers gets significance, by guiding the students' growth in knowledge, analysis capability and elaboration of thought. It's not only a matter of simply collecting data and repeating statements; students will face the difficulty of re-elaborating the content in order to make it comprehensible to their fellow students and even to teachers who have no experience with the discipline. The kit for high school students has been made available on the IGI-Consorzio RFX webpage (www.igi.cnr.it); it can be downloaded after subscription for free. A piloting exercise has been done to evaluate the effectiveness of the project. Three high schools from Padova and Vicenza have been invited at Consorzio RFX for the presentation of the tool. Students have established much interest in the topic and expressed appreciation for the dialogue with the experts from Consorzio RFX. Nevertheless just a couple of thesis has been finalized at the end of the 2017 School Year, which is probably due to the fact that publicity of the educational kit occurred too many months before. A second attempt experiment will be carried out for the 2017-2018 school year with a different schedule. Results will be reported when available. Final presentations will be published on the website of Consorzio RFX and the Padova Area of Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, as well as on the Consorzio RFX Facebook page, for a larger dissemination of the information and to facilitate the young to get across it.