FISABIO

Format: In-person/streaming workshop 

The workshop will last 20 minutes, which includes the collection of samples and viewing them. Groups of five will be formed, and each group will share a microscope. (Pre-registration is required in accordance with Covid-19 measures)

Mediterranean Science Topic: geology and biodiversity

Objective: Biodiversity is the term used to refer to the wide variety of living beings on Earth. Although throughout our lives, we interact with an infinite number of them, we are incapable of seeing most of those with which we co-exist in plain sight. This activity is intended to bring the public closer to this “hidden” microscopic world in order to get to know it better, and thus become aware of the importance of respecting it and protecting it from the great biodiversity crisis that we are currently facing. Thus, the workshop falls under the umbrella of “Geology and Biodiversity,” one of the subject areas of the MEDNIGHT project.

This workshop is intended to:

• Understand what a microorganism is
• Discover how microorganisms are present everywhere and on all surfaces, though they may not be in plain sight
• Gain comprehension that although they are all microscopic, they have different sizes and constitute their own ecosystem

With the integration of these three ideas, the ultimate purpose of these activities is for users to be aware that there are many different types of life on Earth and emphasize the importance of their presence.

Description: The activity will be carried out in the gardens of the former riverbed of the Turia River in Valencia, and will be promoted by the Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region (Fisabio). It will form part of the

MEDNIGHT 2021 project, within the framework of the European Researchers’ Night of the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program of the European Union.

The workshop will consist of collecting biofilm samples present in the water from one of the fountains in the garden and later viewing it through four optical microscopes.

The activity will be accompanied by an introductory talk, before viewing the samples. This talk has the objective of explaining what microscopic beings are, especially focusing on the fact that they form their own ecosystem with different sizes and shapes, and at the same time, emphasizing the value of their biodiversity.

The talk will be accompanied by a didactic resource. This will be a printed sheet that explains the different sizes that living beings may have: from an elephant to bacteria. This resource is intended to show the spectator during the entire workshop the size of the biodiversity that they are observing.

The four optical microscopes will each have a camera installed, so that the four images recorded by these cameras will be simultaneously broadcast on a screen visible to the audience in attendance. The screen will be divided into 4 segments, each one of which will show what is being viewed in each microscope.

 If possible, these four images will be correlated with four more images from the people who are observing at that time.

The resulting image (microscope + observers) will also be rebroadcast via streaming. The stream has a few seconds of delay, so online participation can only be via chat.

Target audience:

The target audience will be both children and adults. However, because of the features of the workshop, there will be greater focus on children above 7 years old. Groups of 20 people will be formed

Format: Game – In-person workshop

Two giant game boards – capacity for 4 children per game board. Duration of each game: 20 minutes.

Mediterranean Science Topic: Seas and contamination; Diet and nutrition

Description:   Like the Game of the Goose, those who play “Bacteriopolis” turn into a bacteria. There are four in total. Each one of them is related to Mediterranean Science, either because it is in the Mediterranean Sea or because it has a function in the so-called “Mediterranean Diet” (Cyanobacteria, Candida, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus).

Each user (each bacteria) advances on a giant game board until reaching the Fisabio laboratories. The special boxes indicate, for example, that Lactobacillus turns milk into yogurt or that some bacteria can be resistant to antibiotics.