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Selected Papers on Hands-on Science II
1
Hands-on Sustainability: How Can We Contribute
to the Construction of a Sustainable Future?
Vilches A, Dorrío BV and Gil-Pérez D
Introduction
Until the second half of the 20th century, our planet seemed huge, practically
limitless, and the effects of human activity remained locally compartmentalised.
These compartments, however, have begun to fade over recent decades and many
problems have taken on a global character that has made “the world situation” a
direct cause for concern. News on climate change, environmental deterioration,
excessive, unchecked consumption of energy and raw materials with the
subsequent exhaustion of resources and, in short, the serious situation of planetary
emergency in which we are immersed [1-3], have all jumped to the front pages and
opinion sections of the media. Calls by the international scientific community, NGOs
and the UN itself, are multiplying.
At the same time, there are over twenty international agreements on environmental
protection linked to the same number again of protocols putting them into practice
[4-5]. And yet most citizens, including policy makers and educators, continue not to
react in the face of serious threats of social collapse [6] and even the extinction of
our species [7], which is in principle in contradiction to existing positive social
interest, as seen in innumerable information resources regarding necessary respect
for the environment [8-11].
It can be concluded, therefore, that there are serious obstacles which hinder
necessary changes in attitude and behaviour and impede even a determined
involvement of educators at all levels of formation for citizens who are aware of the
situation of planetary emergency and its causes, and prepared to adopt the
necessary measures to face up to the situation [12].
It is necessary, then, to keep up efforts to bring these obstacles to light and study
how to overcome them. In this article we focus on one that most directly hinders
finding a positive answer to the key question “How can each one of us contribute to
building a sustainable future?” This is a reference to the widespread perception that
individual actions are irrelevant. We will critically analyse this misconception and put
forward some proposals for action to overcome it.
Selected Papers on Hands-on Science II
2
Are individual actions irrelevant?
Participants in courses and workshops on education for sustainability often express
doubt about the effectiveness of individual actions, small changes in our habits or our
lifestyles, that education can foster: The problems of exhausted energy resources and
pollution – they usually state, for instance – are due, fundamentally, to big industry;
what each one of us can do regarding this is, comparatively, insignificant.
Quite simple calculations that participants themselves can make with regard to
everyday situations (Fig. 1) show, however, that individual commitment has a global
repercussion. For example, although small reductions in energy consumption mean a
small per capita saving, when this is multiplied by millions of people it can mean huge
amounts of energy, with the subsequent reduction in pollution.
These calculations and estimations can be reinforced with hands-on activities [13-14]
such as, for example, determining how much water is lost from a badly turned off
dripping tap.
It should be stressed, therefore, that not only is it not true that our small actions are
insignificant and irrelevant, but also that we are dealing with necessary, indispensable
measures if we want to contribute in progressing towards a sustainable future and
increased involvement of citizens.
Figure 1. The Importance of individual actions
For the future is going to depend to a great extent upon the model of living we follow
and, although attempts are made to impose this on us, the capacity we all have to
change it should not be underestimated [11]. Agenda 21, fruit of the first Earth
Summit, already indicated that participation by civil society is a vital element in the
advance towards sustainability.
A systematic effort is therefore necessary to incorporate education for sustainability as
a key objective in the formation of future citizens, and make the need understood for
actions that contribute to a sustainable future in several spheres: responsible
consumption, professional activity and action by citizens.
A careful follow up of these actions is also needed. Continued educational activities
are therefore required that transform our conceptions, our habits, our perspectives…
and that guide us in the actions to be taken.
Selected Papers on Hands-on Science II
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But it is not enough to understand the importance of our actions and have a general
view of the fields of action: we need to move into action. In the same way that
scientific education calls for hands-on experiments, education for sustainability
demands involvement in specific actions that need to be defined and transformed into
a commitment to act.
Specific proposals
In different workshops imparted to secondary and university students and trainee
and working teachers, we have been able to ascertain that collective work in small
groups, followed by group sharing, gives rise to numerous proposals for concrete
action that can become the basis for real commitment that can be (self) evaluated
for the building of a sustainable future.
Together with the classic “3Rs” (reduce, reuse and recycle), that correspond to us
as consumers and that can give rise to numerous specific proposals of interest,
another three guideline principles arise that also respond to our roles as
professionals and citizens:
Use technologies that respect the environment and people
Contribute to the education of citizens (we are all educators as we interact
with each other)
Participate in socio-political actions for sustainability
And it is equally understood that there is a need for continual evaluation of the
effects of our actions that introduces, if needs be, corrective offsets.
They are proposals that occur again and again in the workshops, as the fruit of
collective work, and they turn out to coincide essentially with what is collected in
wide-ranging literature [18-22]. Below (Boxes C1 to C7) we outline the most
frequently formulated specific proposals:
C1. Reduce (Do not waste resources) [26-30]
Reduce water consumption, for hygiene, watering, swimming pools…
Short showers Turn off taps (whilst cleaning teeth, putting on soap, etc.)
Drip feed watering
Reduce energy use for lighting
Use energy saving light bulbs
Switch off unnecessary lights (beat inertia)
Make the most of natural light
Reduce energy consumption in heating and cooling
Insulate housing adequately
Do not programme very high temperatures (wear warmer clothing) or very low temperatures
(ventilate better, use canopies…)
Switch off unnecessary radiators or air conditioners
Reduce energy consumption in transport
Use public transport
Use a bicycle and/or go on foot
Selected Papers on Hands-on Science II
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Organise shared transport
Reduce speed, drive efficiently
Avoid plane travel whenever possible
Avoid lifts whenever possible
Reduce energy consumption in other household appliances
Load washing machines, dishwashers, etc. appropriately
Turn off the TV, PC, etc completely when not in use
Defrost the freezer, check boilers and heaters, etc.
Reduce energy consumption in food, improving it at the same time
Eat more vegetables, pulses and fruit, and less meat
Respect closed seasons and do not eat small, young fish
Avoid exotic products that demand high cost transport
Eat products in season and produced organically
Reduce paper use
Avoid printing documents that can be read on screen
Write, photocopy and print on both sides of the paper
Do not leave excessive margins
Combat Consumerism
Analyse advertising critically
Mute commercials
Do not be pulled in by commercial campaigns around St Valentines, Festive season, etc.
Programme purchases with a needs list
C2. Reuse [23-24]
Print on the other side of already used paper
Collect sink and shower water for the WC
Also collect rain water for watering or WC
Do not use disposable objects
In particular, avoid plastic bags and wrappers, aluminium foil, paper cups, etc.
Substitute them with reusable ones, repair these when necessary for as long as possible
Use recycled and recyclable products (paper, toner, etc)
Encourage the reuse of computers, toys, clothes, etc.
Donate to charities that manage this
Rehabilitate housing
To make it more sustainable (better insulation, etc.) and avoid new construction
C3. Recycle [9,26,31]
Separate waste for selective collection
Take what cannot be left in the usual bin to “civil amenity sites”:
Batteries, mobile phones, computers, oil, toxic chemicals, etc.
Do not pour waste down WCs or drains
Selected Papers on Hands-on Science II
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C4. Avoid products that do not respect the environment and people [9,26,32]
Personally apply the precaution principal
Do not buy products without finding out how harmful they are: check the ingredients of
foodstuffs, cleaning materials, clothes, etc., and avoid those that do not offer guarantees
Avoid sprays and aerosols (use hand sprays)
Apply safety norms at work, at home, etc.
Opt for renewable energies at home, in the car, etc.
Use efficient, low energy, low contamination (A++) household appliances
Reduce battery consumption and use rechargeable ones
C5. Contribute to civil education and action [33-38]
Get well informed and discuss the situation with others (family members, friends, co-
workers, students, etc.) and, above all, what we can do
Carry out dissemination and encouragement tasks:
Use the press, Internet, video, ecology fairs, schools materials, etc.
Help raise awareness of sustainability problems and those closely linked to consumerism,
population growth, environmental decline, imbalance, etc.
Inform about actions we can take and encourage them to be put into practice, promoting
campaigns such as the use of energy saving light bulbs, reforestation, responsible
parenthood, forming associations, political work, etc.
Aid in conceiving measures for sustainability as an opportunity that guarantees the
future of everyone and not as a limitation
Encourage social recognition of positive measures
Study and apply what one can do for sustainability as a professional
Research, innovate, teach…
Contribute to promoting the environment at work, in the neighbourhood and city where
we live, etc.
C6. Participate in socio-political actions for sustainability [1,19,39]
Respect and help others respect legislation that protects the environment and
biodiversity
Avoid adding to noise, light or visual pollution
Do not smoke where this might damage others, and never throw cigarette butts to the ground
Do not leave rubbish in the woods, on the beach, etc.
Avoid moving to housing that contributes to the destruction of ecosystems
Take care not to damage wildlife
Comply with traffic norms for the protection of people and the environment
Denounce continued growth policies that are incompatible with sustainability
Report ecological crimes:
Illegal tree felling, forest fires, waste dumping, predatory development planning, etc.
Respect and help respect Human Rights
Report any discrimination based on ethnic, social gender or other reasons
Collaborate actively and/or economically with associations that defend sustainability:
Aid programmes for the Third World, environmental defence, aid to people in difficulty, human
rights promotion, etc.
Selected Papers on Hands-on Science II
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Call for the application of the 0.7 aid for the Third World and contribute personally to
this
Promote Fair Trade:
Reject products produced through predatory practices (such as tropical timber, animal pelts,
over fishing, predatory tourism, etc.) or those are obtained using a workforce without labour
rights, child labour
Support fair trade enterprises
Demand clear informative policies on all the problems
Defend the right for research without ideological censure
Demand the application of the precaution principle
Oppose unilateralism, wars and political predators:
Demand respect for international law
Promote democracy in world institutions (IMF, WTO, World Bank, etc.)
Respect and defend cultural diversity
Respect and defend language diversity
Respect and defend lore, customs and traditions (that do not contravene human rights)
Vote for parties with more favourable policies on sustainability
Work so that governments and political parties take on the defence of sustainability
Demand local, state and universal legislation for environmental protection
“Cyberactivism”: Support solidarity and sustainability campaigns from the computer
C7. Evaluate and offset [40-41]
Carry out personal behaviour audits
At home, with transport, civil and professional action, etc.
Offset the negative repercussions of our acts (CO2 emissions, use of contaminating
products, etc.) through positive actions
Contribute to reforestation, help NGOs, etc.
The educational role of the action
It is essential, without doubt, to understand the relevance our actions have – what
we do or do not do – and construct a global view of the measures in which we can
become involved. But educative action cannot be limited to achieving this
understanding, taking for granted that this will lead to effective shifts in behaviour: a
fundamental obstacle in obtaining the involvement of citizens in building a
sustainable future is the reduction of educative action to conceptual study.
It is necessary, therefore, to establish action commitments in education centres,
workplaces, neighbourhoods and in households themselves, in order to put into
practice some of the measures [42] and carry out follow up of the results obtained.
These actions, properly evaluated, become the best procedure for profound
understanding of the challenges, and the impulse for new commitments. With this
aim it is helpful to transform the specific proposals given above into a follow up or
(self) evaluation network, starting with the acquisition of concrete commitments that
can be evaluated periodically, such as can be seen in Fig. 2.
But before implementing this task in our courses and workshops, it is necessary to
create our own network of commitments that can be evaluated, both in the realm of
Selected Papers on Hands-on Science II
7
consumers and citizens (which allows us to aim better at those we work with,
thanks to knowledge gained through our own experience), and with regards to our
professional realm: In what way are we contributing, as educators and researchers,
to the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development? What is our response to
the call from the United Nations aimed at educators from all areas and levels for us
to contribute to the formation of citizens prepared to contribute to the building of a
sustainable future?
Figure 2. Network of concrete and (self) evaluation commitments
Conclusions
We end by remembering that we are at the start of a Decade that will be decisive
for the future of humanity in one sense or another: sadly decisive if we cling to our
inertia and do not become aware of the need to reverse a process of decay that
constantly sends us unmistakable signs in the form of global warming, anti-natural
catastrophes, loss of biological and cultural diversity, millions dying through
starvation and war – the suicidal fruit of short term interests and fundamentalisms,
of dramatic migrations, etc. Fortunately decisive if we are able to create a universal
movement in favour of a sustainable future that has to start today. That is the
objective that we can and must set ourselves, aware of the difficulties, but
determined to contribute, as educators, as scientists and as citizens, to forging the
conditions for a sustainable future.
Credits
This communication has been conceived as a contribution to the Decade of
Education for Sustainable Development [43] instigated by the United Nations for the
period 2005-2014.
References
[1] Vilches A and Gil-Pérez D, Construyamos un futuro sostenible. Diálogos de
supervivencia, Madrid: Cambridge University Presss, 2003.
Selected Papers on Hands-on Science II
8
[2] Delibes M and Delibes de Castro M, La Tierra herida. ¿Qué mundo heredarán
nuestros hijos?, Barcelona: Destino, 2005.
[3] Duarte C, Cambio Global. Impacto de la actividad humana sobre el sistema
Tierra. Madrid: CSIC, 2006.
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[6] Diamond J, Colapso, Barcelona: Debate, 2006.
[7] Broswimmer FJ, Ecocidio, Breve historia de la extinción en masa de las
especies, Pamplona: Laetoli, 2005.
[8] http://ec.europa.eu/environment/index_en.htm
[9] http://www.wri.org/
[10] http://www.globalreporting.org/
[11] http://www.eyep.info/
[12] Gil-Pérez D and Vilches A, La atención al futuro en la educación ciudadana.
Posibles obstáculos a superar para su inclusión en la enseñanza de las
ciencias, Perspectivas Ciencia-Tecnología-Sociedade na Inovação da
Educação em Ciência, Martins I, Paixao F and Marques R (Eds.), Aveiro:
Universidade de Aveiro, 2004.
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Hands-on Science, Costa MF, Dorrío BV, Michaelides P and Divjak S (Eds.),
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Selected Papers on Hands-on Science II
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[31] http://www.recyclenow.org/
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Lectores, 2000.
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[43] http://www.oei.es/decada/
Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on “Hands on Science.
Formal and Informal Science Education",
Olinda-Recife, Brazil, October 13 to 17, 2008.
Selected Papers on
Hands-on Science II
Editors
Manuel Filipe Pereira da Cunha Martins Costa
Universidade do Minho. Portugal
José Benito Vázquez Dorrío
Universidade de Vigo. Spain
Panagiotis Michaelides
University of Crete. Greece
Universidade do Minho
Associação Hands-on Science Network
Rua 1º de Maio, 2, 2º, 4730-734 Vila Verde, Portugal
©Hands-on Science Network’ 2017
ISBN: 978-84-8158-764-7
Legal Deposit: VG 801-2017
Printed by: Copissaurio Repro – Centro Imp. Unip. Lda. Campus de Gualtar, Reprografia
Complexo II, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Edited by: Universidade de Vigo, Spain.
Number of copies: 500
First printing: December 2017
Distributed worldwide by Associação Hands-on Science Network, contact@hsci.info
Full text available online at http://www.hsci.info
Cover Design by Helena Martins (http://www.helenamartinsdesign.com/)
The papers selected for inclusion in this book were first published as part of the Proceedings
of several International Conferences on Hands-on Science. Papers were selected by the
Conference Committees to be presented in oral or poster format, and were subject to review
by the editors and program committee. They are exclusive responsibility of the authors and
are essentially published herein as submitted, in interest of timely dissemination.
Please use the following format to cite material from this book:
Author(s). Title of Paper. Selected Papers on Hands-on Science II. Costa MF, Dorrío BV, and
Michaelides P (Eds.); Associação Hands-on Science Network, Portugal. Page numbers, 2017.
The authors of this book and the Hands-on Science Network, none of them, accept any
responsibility for any use of the information contained in this book.
All rights reserved.
Permission to use is granted if appropriate reference to this source is made, the use is for
educational purposes and no fees or other income is charged.
Selected Papers on Hands-on Science II
i
PREFACE
CONTENTS
Hands-on Sustainability: How Can We Contribute to the
Construction of a Sustainable Future?
Vilches A, Dorrío BV and Gil-Pérez D
1
Solar-Recharged UPS as a Low Cost AC Power Supply for
Electronics and Environmental Education
Diz-Bugarín J and Rodríguez-Paz M
10
Some Simple Experiments in Optics Using a Photo-Resistor
Dias Tavares A and Muramatsu M
16
Research Interpretation in University
Dorrío BV
24
Itinerant Museum of History Chemistry – Soap
Mesquita Contarini J and Ruggeri Waldman W
35
Nanotechnology Education on a Local Scale
Berchenko N and Berezovska I
44
Hands-on Activity as a Source of Motivational Effectiveness of
Learning Tasks in Science Education
Trna J
52
The Brazil Chemistry Discovery. Itinerant Museum of the History of
Chemistry - Approaching on “Food Conservation”
Morais de Sousa A and Ruggeri Waldman W
58
Learning by Doing. Filling Children with Enthusiasm for Scientific
Discovery
Erentay N
69
Partitive Mixing of Colours Interactive Device
Veiga R, Correia R and Esteves JS
80
Metals Are Reductive but Some Are More than Others
Oliveira Guedes SR and Pereira da Silva JM
89
Hands-on and Fieldwork Activities in Biology Teaching: A Proposal
for Vocational High School Students
Moraes J and Godinho-Netto MCM
96
Science in Your Pocket
Wisman RF and Forinash K
104
