EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES AND OUTREACH

“M. Ceccarelli” Visitors’ Center

INAF's Radioastronomy Institute has prepared a Visitors' Center hosted by the Aia Cavicchio Agritourism of the LA.C.ME. Cooperative situated near the Medicina radio telescopes. This structure receives the growing flux of school children and adults visiting the Medicina Astronomy Station, and is proving to be a popular addition to scholastic programs in the region.

The building was formerly a rice warehouse, built in the early 1900's, and has recently been renovated to include 400 sq-meters of halls on the first floor for the Visitors' Center, and on the ground floor, the Agritourism restaurant.

The Center comprises a multimedia hall with 98 seats, with an audio/video projector with 3 screens in order to project films "full immersion". The adjacent hall hosts a permanent exhibition with interactive video stations, and scientific apparatus from radio telescopes. The entire ensemble is designed for a varied audience, and to illustrate the fundamentals of astronomy, and particularly radio astronomy, effectively and with amusement. The visits for school field trips and for groups (of at least 15 people) are by reservation only. During the hours when the Center is open, the public can visit autonomously and take advantage of the guided visits, which comprise the use of the multimedia hall and a tour of the radiotelescopes at Medicina.

THE NORTHERN CROSS

An introduction to the largest Italian Radiotelescope ( /Medicinaweb/Nc/ )

UNIVERSO 2000

Open House: March 2000 Edition ( /visitorc/settimana2000/poster1_indice.htm )

KIDSLINK

First project for the Bologna schools to use Internet ( kidslink.bo.cnr.it )

SCUOLAN

Networks for the schools in Open Source (in It.) ( www.scuolan.it )