Podcast from the Salbertrand School of Science Fair

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Salbertrand – The science fair held on Thursday 13 April at the premises of the Gran Bosco de Salbertrand Natural Park was the product of the work of pupils of the Salbertrand Primary School twinned with the Montessori school of Pratica de Almes. After the Christmas break, it’s time to immediately get back to work and roll up your sleeves: you had to plan the fair. For this event, both schools chose to speak on a topic very close to us: the Susa Valley.

The older pupils of the Salbertrand School decided to approach the subject from different points of view; A lot of research has been done in the cultural-historical field, and talked about the different peoples and famous people who inhabited or crossed our valley, starting from Hannibal, the Roman Emperor Augustus up to modern figures, such as the painter of Chimonte Levis, Luigi Des Ambrois, Norberto Rosa and the contemporary singer Silvia Tancredi; Among these, the students made portraits using the charcoal technique with the help of the art teacher. Then the information collected during the research was copied “as before”, that is, in ink and pen.

The Susa Valley has also been observed from a natural and geographical point of view: the geographical maps of the Salbertrand region have been reproduced, representing the complete itinerary of the Ecomuseum “Colombano Romian”. The students also studied the local flora and fauna and explained the characteristics of some of the local species, as well as represented them graphically. Another topic discussed is the importance of bees in our ecosystem.

The Baby Montessori group of the Salbertrand Partnership was also involved in the preparations for the science fair and they decided to create a model depicting a dahù, a mythical goat-like animal whose legs are unequal: two short and two long. The Dahu myths and many other Valsusine myths made up one of the study items of the first multi-grade class II who created an illustrated book containing some of these stories.

The realization of this exhibition would not have been possible without the hard work of the teaching staff and the students, but a special thanks to the guide of the Gran Bosco Natural Park Simona Molino who every two weeks welcomed the pupils to the premises of the Park and explained to them some aspects specific to the area in which we live. During the meetings with Simona, the children took notes and clarified some ideas
Podcast “Salbertrand covered in powdered sugar” which can be accessed directly via the link https://open.spotify.com/show/6daAtOKaUfBkbb8EqbqrYB?si=2dc6d45fccd14af8 on the Spotify platform.

The purpose of the science fair, a tool particularly appreciated in the American school context, is to work on interdisciplinarity, bringing together knowledge gained in various disciplines in a single project. Moreover, the scientific field is so dear to the Montessori method (experienced by the Salbertrand Primary School) that the introduction of science in the field of education is due to Maria Montessori.

The curiosity and observational spirit that the Salbertrand children developed during the preparation of the activities, as well as the acquisition of a didactic research method as well as the organization of materials for the show, led to the success of the exhibition, which is clearly demonstrated by the enthusiasm of the young guests who witnessed the success of the event. At the end of the day, the children said the result was worth the effort. This is really quite an achievement.

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