Science at the service of education and faith

When the school year draws to an end in Chile, when the spring sun becomes more ardent and forces weaken due to accumulated fatigue, the educational community offers the annual scientific exhibition, aware that science and technology transform the way to live and see the world, changes that have been dizzying since the mid-twentieth century. That is why scientific and technological literacy becomes a priority for educational communities.

A scientific exhibition is an educational space in which children and youth have the opportunity to share with others, promote scientific culture and the appropriation of scientific knowledge, make the school community aware of the projects and/or discoveries developed in the activities school and/or extracurricular. Every year, students have the opportunity to present a series of scientific experiments studied and carried out by themselves, to show in a didactic and engaging way different physical, chemical and biological phenomena related to various aspects, and which can be seen in daily life. While the pupils are the protagonists, they require the patient, wise and fraternal guidance of the teachers who supervise them during the process which ends with the exhibition to the whole educational community.

The activity fits into the spirit of St. Francis and presents itself as an example of fraternity; a distinctive sign of a Franciscan educational community, supported by the Congregation of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, is the “Santa Maria de los Angeles” College, in Santiago del Chile.

This fraternity is particularly nurtured by the responsibility of older students, in the preparation of experiments, interactive and didactic experiences for their younger peers, thus involving them from an early age in the world of science.

In these simple and modest practices, shine the words of the eminent scientist Jacques Cousteau" «After all, what is a scientist then? He is a curious man looking through a keyhole, the keyhole of nature, trying to know what is going on». In this way, the pupils experience firsthand that science begins every day when curiosity drives us to want to know more, to expand our horizons and to discover in all of creation and in all that man is capable of being and realize through the potential that God has given him. Precisely the mighty hand of God that directs everything towards the fullness of the human being until he reaches eternal glory in immortal life.

Franciscan fraternity is concretely seen in the large hall which is the courtyard of the college, in the personal approach, in good relationships, in cordiality, in camaraderie, in valuing others, in respect and recognition of differences, the richness of the human being, created by God, unique and unrepeatable.

Although the school community, at all levels, is responsible for the education and training of the pupils, the burden of organizing and carrying out the exhibition falls on the teachers who are responsible for it. Despite the inherent difficulties of the event, with so many participants, experiments to be developed and evaluations to be recorded, they generate a breeze of fresh air for the routines of students and professors, a bridge that brings everyday life closer to a subject, often distant due to its complexity, such as physics, mathematics, biology, chemistry and natural sciences.

It is demonstrated, through this simple exhibition, simple for the material resources available, that this area of knowledge can be interesting and practical, that the student is able to engage in an exceptional and attractive way, that the senses can more easily and the world of knowledge is significant, according to the ideals of the Franciscan community and fraternity, which with Christ and in Christ can build a fraternal world, of harmony, of goodness, which has its fullness in Heaven.