Abstract:

Digital Rhapsodies is a cultural heritage and science education project addressed to a group of 25 children (9 -12 years old) and promoted by Affabulazione cultural association, in collaboration with the Theatre of Ostia Lido (Rome, Italy), Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica and INFN Frascati National Laboratory. The core of the project was the design of a summer camp, held in July 2021 at Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica, devoted to a fusion between history and physics. In the two-weeks summer camp program, children visited some of the main sites of the Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica deepening their knowledge about the hydraulic constructions, the ancient Roman aqueducts, the theatre and the building decorations as mosaics; the historical and cultural heritage dimension was connected to the scientific dimension through the realization of hands-on laboratory based activities aimed at helping children to understand how these disciplines are related and the applications of science in everyday life.

In the last part of the project, the participants realized video trailers to tale their experience, being protagonist of their own learning process.
The activities proposed during the summer camp, the connections between history and STEM disciplines, and the project's outcome are here presented.

Keywords:

Cultural heritage, stem, teaching/learning, history, physics, storytelling, peer education, digital tools.