Abstract

Visual metaphors for Energy. Ergolandia: introdurre l’energia come tema verticale, dall’infanzia alla scuola secondaria di primo grado con la valigia dell’energia

 

Federico Corni, Hans U. Fuchs

 

In the physical sciences, energy is the concept that explains the power of various forces of nature—it tells us how forces couple and create chains of processes in complex systems. It allows us to make quantitative comparisons of forces in action, to analyze processes, and to model scenarios. From an educational viewpoint, energy is a key concept for an ecological view of nature. In this workshop, we shall present visual metaphors for energy that parallel metaphors of natural language derived from our imagination. We demonstrate how diagrams using these visual metaphors can be made use of in an analysis of ecological systems. Didactical implications of the proposal will be explored.