On January 17^th from 6:00 p.m. to 00:00 p.m., 436 Classical High Schools throughout all Italy opened their doors to the community in the occasion of the “National Night of the Classical High School”.

This event started form an idea of Rocco Schembra, a Latin and Greek teacher from Acireale (a small town near Catania), and then it has extended throughout the national territory.

On this occasion, the schools which have joined the event welcomed students and their families, teachers and educators to take part to a wide range of activities.

STEM*Lab - Search, Transmit, Excite, Motivate took the opportunity to set up several activities at the school partner of the project, the “Liceo Scientifico Statale Santi Savarino”, where students had the chance to experiment with STEM all night long.

The staff of “Palermoscienza”, the scientific partner of the project, organized different STEM-lab sessions inside the rooms dedicated to the facilities called STEM*Labs – the multi-functional spaces foreseen by the project created for educational activities, laboratories and events: here, the students were invited to experiment with the available materials and kits following the tinkering methodology.

The tinkering methodology promotes the learning of STEM subjects (Sciences, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) through the stimulation of problem-solving skills and the philosophy of “learning by doing", which is also one of the principles fostered by STEM*Lab.

Besides the STEM-lab sessions, Palermoscienza has set up the computer lab of the school with 3D Headsets stations: the participants had the opportunity to explore and interact within a three-dimensional, computer-generated environment admiring the Northern Lights in Canada or the Earth views from the International Space Station.

And last but not least, for the night sky lovers there was the possibility to admire stars and constellations at the planetarium arranged inside a classroom with the background of a relaxing music.

Teachers, students, families and all the participants of the event were positively impressed by the different STEM activities proposed: for us it was also an opportunity to meet the community and disseminate the principles of STEM * Lab project.

STEM*Lab - Search, Transmit, Excite, Motivate is a project funded by Impresa Sociale Con i Bambini with the aim of promoting an open school environment with the creation of places called STEM * Labs, designed to experiment innovative methodologies and resources for the STEM education in schools. For this purpose, STEM*Lab has different school partners: the “Istituto Comprensivo Statale Amari Roncalli Ferrara” (Palermo), the “Istituto Comprensivo Statale Archimede – La Fata” (Partinico) and the “Liceo Scientifico Statale Santi Savarino”, (Partinico).