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In order to go looking for intelligent life forms in the Universe, astronomers have developped a scientific programme called SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence). According to the prerequisites of the programme, if there was such an evolved civilization capable of communicating, probably it would send radio signals, just like we do on the Earth with our mobile phones. Starting from this concept, SETI researchers use radiotelescopes in order to look for artificial extra-terrestrial (ET) signals. A radiotelescope is a telescope which, unlike the classical ones, which observes the invisible, is specializedLEGGI TUTTO

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In order to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations capable of communicating within our Galaxy –  the Milky Way – the astronomers use a mathematical formula called Drake equation e. The name comes from Frank Drake, the US astronomer and astrophysicist who first issued it. In the game we are proposing – realized with Scratch – you can estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in our Galaxy by using a simplified version of this formula. The original formula contains seven terms, whereas here we only have three terms: A: number ofLEGGI TUTTO

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We can realize activities with Ozobot by creating a code from scratch with OzoBlockly – an online interface based on Blockly (a library developed by Google in order to bring young people closer to programming, akin to Scratch) – for either computer or tablet. Always select the Evo setting of OzoBlockly in the upper left corner – if you have Ozobot bit, select the setting bit; the codes will work in a different way –  and select your programming level from 1 to 5. The higher the level, the moreLEGGI TUTTO

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In the occasion of events, at school or during summer camps, we introduce some concepts of educational robotics by using a small educational robot, which can be found in shops  – mBot – and can be programmed by using mBlock (based upon Scratch, plus a library which allows us to act upon the robot). An assembly kit is provided, and it takes about half an hour to put it together. As a general rule, junior secondary school pupils manage to assemble it on their own, from the mechanical components to the elettronic boardLEGGI TUTTO

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In this activity, you will learn to move Ozobot Evo through the use of Colour Code. The aim of the game is to make Ozobot move in a space maze, so as to reach as many exoplanets as possible, saving him from ending up in a black hole! For this activity, you need the following materials: four markers: 1 black, 1 red, 1 blue, 1 green an A3 printour of this maze Ozobot Evo Model of calibration Reference worksheet of colour codes Ozobot Evo has sensors capable of perceiving aLEGGI TUTTO

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Destination Moon is an educational project for schools of INAF OAS, in collaboration with the Cinematheque of Bologna. In the school year 2019/2020, on the 50th anniversary of the first human exploration of the Moon, we have systematized and redesigned a few activities about the Moon, while mixing them with a picture book and the projection of short films in the theater. As a source of inspiration for writers, artists, film-makers, the Moon still bewitches spectators and readers of all ages, and is the protagonist of incredible stories. In 2019,LEGGI TUTTO

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In the Universe, there are many planets orbiting around stars which are different from our Sun. They are called exoplanets. On 26 July 2020, all known extrasolar planets were 4301 in 3176 different planetary systems. The complete list of these planets is available within the list of confirmed extrasolar planets. It is never easy to observe them, because they are small, far away and do not emit light! There are various methods to detect them: among the most used ones, is the method of transits as well as the method ofLEGGI TUTTO

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On clear nights with the new Moon, with the naked eye you can admire up to 3000 stars. The Ancients, in order to orient themselves in that myriad of bright dots, ideally connected the stars with imaginary lines, thus forming groups and giving life to fantasy characters and objects, around which they embroiered storied which were handed down from generation to generation. The sky areas identified by these star groupings are called constellations, which still help us understand the night sky, find interesting objects, and orient ourselves in space andLEGGI TUTTO

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With this making lab, you will discover some aspects of light, while building a real scientific instrument – namely, a spectroscope. This is a basic astronomical tool, which allows us to study the chemical composition and the physical state of the celestial objects we observe. Obviously, the spectroscope you will build is not exactly like those used by astronomers in order to observe the stars, but it does work well, and will enable you to break down the light of surrounding sources into a rainbow of colours. You will discoverLEGGI TUTTO

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With this activity, you will find out what is your weight on the various planets of the Solar System. You will do this by coding with a real programming language: Scratch. In the end, you can share your program so that anyone can use it, even older people, who will have fun discovering how much comforting it could be to weigh themselves on Mars, rather than on Jupiter 😛 Let’s start by downloading the pictures of the planets, which will become our sprites: an image for each planet. In orderLEGGI TUTTO

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Through this activity you will find out how much you weigh on the Moon and on the other Planets of the Solar System. During this activity we will use the Arduino UNO board. It is a hardware platform used to build robotics, electronics and automation projects, on which a software (in C language) is loaded that will allow you to control a series of sensors, connected to the board, and interact with them. In addition to the Arduino UNO board, we will use 9 buttons, one for each Planet of theLEGGI TUTTO

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With this simple activity, you will be able to make an astronomical documentary, and then share it with anyone you want! You will learn a lot about Astronomy, and you will write a code (yes! like a coder) using an actual programming language: Scratch. In the end, you will be able to show your astro-documentary to friends, family and teachers, and you will realize that it is very useful to share what you have learnt about the marvels of the Universe. Let’s start! First of all, install – either on yourLEGGI TUTTO