‘THE STORY OF’ Foundation is an informal learning project that offers experiential, spontaneous learning opportunities on interdisciplinary content with the wider benefit of developing the sensibility to patterns that connect. We are / for the 21st Century Inquirer

Linking the arts and humanities with science, technology, engineering and

mathematics brings the scientist, engineer, entrepreneur, artist and designer into dialogue to offer the widest range of

opportunity and academic and societal insight for experimentation and innovation.

Science Education for Responsible CitizenshipEuropean Commission

Does science relate to art?

Does art relate to science?

What do art and science have in common?

Opportunities• New solutions: can we afford more of the same?• New ways of thinking: can we see and do things differently?• New knowledge: can we think and act differently? • New understanding of new materials and creativity: can

we use natural and synthetic materials differently?

Risks• Lack of opportunities for artists and creatives to participate in

interdisciplinary research in techno-scientific fields • Existing limits in current arts, cultural and creative industries

policy and funding• Need for state / country wide strategy for creativity in industry

and creativity in science

ObjectiveDevelop a science meets society story into a performance. (Either of these or another)

Criteria• Concept / intent (idea, resonance of story with science)• Experiential opportunity (passive, immersive, interactive,

participative, investigative) • Learning impact (pedagogy, provoking thought)• Meeting scenario (logistics, sustainability, budget constraints)

To Note:

• Concept Description / intent

• Target audience / Experiential opportunity

• Objectives of the performance / Learning impact

• Genre / Meeting scenario

Teachers tell their students stories from the first day they start school and children’s storybooks are better made and more engaging than they have ever been. Yet stories are an underused medium for learning. Pushed to the margins of the curriculum to stimulate art and drama activities, but forgotten or neglected when the study of more ‘serious’ subjects begins.

Kieran Egan, in Teaching as Storytelling, p. 5.

A first insight into modern narrative theory regards the fact that every good story has a consistent plot. Effective storytelling includes a carefully developed structure in the organization of the narrated facts […] The simplicity of a good story is deceiving. A simple plot is a piece of art. If we want to go beyond the pure repetition of stories already created, we have to deal with the theory of poetics.

Fritz Kubli, in Can the Theory of Narratives Help Science Teachers Be Better Storytellers, Science & Education, 10, p. 595.

Topic: The Space of and Within an Atom

Question: What does it mean when you hear that atoms are made up of 99.99% empty space?

Key points- Take the atom: hydrogen- Quantum photograph of hydrogen- What does an atom look like?

Some links to get you started: - A story about hydrogen: http://goo.gl/gI6zwE- Video on how small is an atom: https://goo.gl/3QgKBM- Article on the first quantum image: https://goo.gl/f1PcUO - Video on touching https://goo.gl/pwGXlP and https://goo.gl/YkcNvJ

Topic: The case of an endemic spider

Question: Should we preserve endemic species? Why?

Key points- Tylorida sataraensis- What happens when humans close in on the environment of an endemic

species- Are humans endemic to Earth?

Some links to get you started: - Inspirational video a spider: goo.gl/kT4JdO- More about the spider: goo.gl/9uIs5C- More on endemism: https://goo.gl/M8E5Kj

Topic: Personal Space, Cross Cultural Experience

Question: Can personal space really be quantified?

Key points- Proxemics: the study of human use of space and the effects that population density

has on behavior, communication, and social interaction - Does it vary widely across cultures?- Should the “hidden rules” be made visible?- Opportunity for arts-based inquiry?

Some links to get you started: - What is proxemics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxemics- Video on proxemics: https://goo.gl/54ZrDN - Video on the psychology of personal space: https://goo.gl/pwR7yN- Article on proxemics and culture: http://goo.gl/8pOC8O

Topic: Near Death Experiences

Question: Where do we go when we die?

Key points• More people today are coming back to life because of scientific and technological

advances More recorded experiences• Common characteristics: Peace, Body separation, Entering darkness, Seeing the

light, Entering the light• Scientific explanations• Are they good enough?• Alternatives, in religion?

Some links to get you started: • General information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-death_experience• Scientific explanations: http://goo.gl/AFDzkg • Bardo: http://goo.gl/WhR73e

Topic: Children psychological diseases and medicines

Question: What's the limit between a disease and a social behaviour?

Key points- How to define normality?- What about dependency?

Some links to get you started: • ADHD definition (National Institute of Mental Health): http://goo.gl/ICZchV • Are doctors diagnosing too many kids with ADHD (Scientific American):

http://goo.gl/1T6JNT

Topic: Climate refugees

Question: Should high consumptions countries pay for present and future climate refugees?

Key points- climate change is changing the world- water levels in the seas are rising and weather pattern are changing making some places uninhabitable in the present and more so in the future- while climate change is caused by all countries, some are higher contributors than others- some countries are paying a higher price for climate change – for example the Maldives - very small and poor country. Maldives is the lowest country on earth with an average height of 1.5 meters above sea level which (if predictions are correct) will make it uninhabitable within a few decades- some voices say the Maldives be compensated by the international community- others say climate change might not be a man-made phenomenon and living conditions are a lottery – sometimes you win, sometimes you lose

Some links to get you started: • https://goo.gl/vWuKMX • http://goo.gl/6UadlW

Topic: Finding alien life

Question: Does it make sense spending billions on trying to find life we don’t even know exists? Or is there a better use of Taxpayer money?

Key points:- Billions are spent each year on space exploration. Some of this money is aimed at special laboratories and projects that aim to find aliens, such as: NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration- Even if it does, will we be able to communicate with it? Do we have to tools to find it?- Planet earth is limited in resources, should we spend these resources on more urgent problems?

Some links to get you started: For and against space exploration - http://goo.gl/cJZw3U Why do we spend billions of dollars to find if life exists on other planets? - https://goo.gl/NZ4tkr How much money is spent on space exploration? - http://goo.gl/gFE7FV Nine Good Reasons for Space Exploration - https://goo.gl/O1tqJk

Topic: Nuclear Power

Question: Nuclear power has an almost zero carbon footprint: with a world that is getting warmer every day, doesn’t it make sense to produce all our electricity using nuclear power?

Key points- Nuclear power produces almost no carbon footprint- It produces very little waste (which must be buried deeply underground because of

its radiactivity)- Yet we all remember the Chernobyl (1986) and Fukushima (2004) disasters as well

as the Nagasiky and Hiroshima bomb droppings in 1945

Some links to get you started: http://goo.gl/4kphbJ