In order to bring science to the classroom and promote research from secondary education, the Universidad Industrial de Santander, UIS, presented the project ‘Racimo Orquídeas’ to rectors, teachers of schools in the municipality and representatives of the UIS Socorro Campus.
The initiative, led by postdoctoral researcher Laura Flórez, seeks to create research groups in educational institutions with ninth and tenth grade students, to involve them in the monitoring of air quality and the analysis of meteorological variables.
During the meeting, the researcher explained that this project aims to strengthen research capacity in schools by promoting critical thinking and commitment to local issues: “students will work in small groups developing projects focused on air pollution, but from questions that make sense for their context. The idea is that they themselves generate knowledge with data that will then be available to the entire community,” said Flórez.
The project includes a phase of classroom and virtual training, both for teachers and students, which will allow them to acquire methodological tools and techniques for data collection. Subsequently, participants will design their own research projects, which will be presented at a science fair in 2026.
According to Flórez, between the months of May, June and July 2025, work has been done to identify the work team and the UIS sites where the meteorological stations will be installed. Undoubtedly, this is a high impact scientific process that strengthens the link between the university, public and private schools, as well as the community in general.
