On September 18, the astrobiology group Mars on Earth Project Colombia Chapter, in collaboration with the Astronomy Group Halley UIS, developed a scientific outreach activity at the Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia in order to make the community aware general concept of astrobiology and of extremophile organisms.
Image-1. Discovering Extremophiles! (Image Credit: MoEP-Colombia Chapter)
But, what was achieved with this activity? Who was the target audience? Here we tell you all the details!
Image-2. Discovering Extremophiles! (Image Credit: MoEP-Colombia Chapter)
Life to the extreme
Image-3. Discovering Extremophiles! (Image Credit: MoEP-Colombia Chapter)
Astrobiology is a little explored science in Colombia. Therefore, as enthusiasts of the subject, we want to generate curiosity about this topic among the community in general and especially among the children who represent the scientists of future generations.
Thus, the idea of carrying out the activity entitled “Life to the extreme” arose, where, based on specific examples, topics such as the concept of astrobiology, extremophiles and planetary habitability were explored.
Image-4. Discovering Extremophiles! (Image Credit: MoEP-Colombia Chapter)
But it is clear that motivating the little ones requires strategies that arouse their curiosity about the subject and to learn new things.
For this, two main ideas were generated: First, we brought a series of cards with extreme environments and the extremophiles that lived there to play a memory game. In addition, as a second activity, the children were offered the opportunity to make a drawing that answered the question:
Image-5. Discovering Extremophiles! (Image Credit: MoEP-Colombia Chapter)
How do you imagine life on other planets? From there we obtained wonderful drawings, where the children also tried to write down what extreme conditions the creatures they imagined resisted.
The activity was very well received and was attended by at least forty people, including adults and children, who showed their interest in this science.
From the chapter we reiterate our commitment to scientific dissemination and we hope to continue bringing more activities like these to our community.
