This activity has comprised both visits of students to University of Calabria, Department of Physics and, moreover, visits of members of the YM section to secondary schools.

Concerning the visits to University of Calabria, students have been involved in simple demonstration of Raman spectroscopy and diffraction experiments with electrons and X-rays. In particular, students have understood how it is possible to recognize the different atomic components in an unknown material. Moreover, they have been introduced into crystallography with simple and funny demonstrations.

The visit to the Department of Physics has been organized thanks to the crucial support of local municipalities, that have kindly shared school buses to transport students to University of Calabria in Arcavacata di Rende (CS).

The visit to University of Calabria has been an occasion to give students the first contact with University and to explain them research at our Department of Physics with simple words.

We have shown them some prototypes of devices fabricated at our Department.

As regards the simple experiments carried out directly at secondary schools, we have tried to simplify as more as possible the concepts in Physics.

As an example, we have provided a direct demonstration of the Archimedes’ principle, with very simple equipment. We have tried to demonstrate that it works on both gaseous and liquid environments, by changing our experimental setup.

We have emphasized the importance of Archimedes’ principle with many examples from our daily lives. We have also stimulated the students to imagine a world where the Archimedes’ principle could not exist.

Moreover, we have built a lemon battery, with the direct participation of students. The goal of making a lemon battery is turning chemical energy into electrical energy, creating enough electricity to power a small LED light or a watch.

Students have experienced and successively realized (with the help of a short and simple explanation) that the source of electric energy in this demonstration is the combination of copper and zinc strips in the citric acid of the lemon.

We have used a multimeter to measure the voltage with one lemon and then again as we added more lemons.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that, throughout the entire duration of the activity, we have discussed with interested students about the various possibilities of carriers in Physics.

We thank the teachers of secondary schools for their kind collaboration.

This activity has been divided into two parts:
i) Simple experiments carried out at secondary schools by members of the EPS-YM section, after a brief introduction;
ii) Visits of students at Department of Physics, Laboratory of Surface Physics.
We were motivated by the possibility to inspire the next-generation of physicists by elucidating about possibilities of carriers in Physics and Materials Science. In particular, we have stimulated students to have a positive approach toward Physics.
The collaboration of professors has highly facilitated our activity.
Here, we list some of the experiments with economic materials carried out directly at secondary schools:
1) We have demonstrated how sunlight can be intensified through a magnifying glass, concentrating energy to melt an ice cube.
2) We have demonstrated how string instruments work by building our very own miniature guitar from a matchbox.
3) We have used static electricity to separate a mixture of salt and pepper
4) We have lifted an ice cube from a glass of water using a string.
5) We have carried out experiments on convective motions in hot air.
By using a Wood’s lamp and a laser, we have also explained the properties of electromagnetic radiation.
In order to facilitate the comprehension of the simple experiments, we have explained the most important physical concepts behind the experimental observations with the help of nice and simple presentations in Power Point.
Moreover, we have tried to stimulate the attitude toward experiments by giving them the opportunity to build the various parts required for the experimental apparatus.
The visit to the Department of Physics has been organized thanks to the crucial support of local municipalities, that have kindly shared school buses to transport students to University of Calabria in Arcavacata di Rende (CS).
The visit to University of Calabria has been an occasion to give students the first contact with University and to explain them research at our Department of Physics with simple words.
We have shown them some prototypes of devices developed at our Department, highlighting the importance of applied research and, in particular, the connection between academic and production worlds. Furthermore, we have also organized simple experiments about pressure and its effects, which have been carried out by using the vacuum instrumentation of the Laboratory of Surface Physics at University of Calabria.
Finally, we have discussed with the students about the various possibilities of carriers in Physics.

The YM Section of University of Calabria has carried out in this semester an outreach activity toward secondary schools. The activity was divided into two parts:
1) Simple experiments carried out by members of the EPS-YM Section in secondary schools;
2) A guided visit of students of secondary schools in laboratories of the Department of Physics of University of Calabria.
The experiments in secondary schools had the aim to help the students to learn the concepts ruling light, electromagnetic fields and colours.
After the simple lessons, where we reminded physics behind light and colours, we organized some experiments by using a Wood’s lamp, which have been directly performed by students, with the supervision of the members of the EPS-YM Section and teachers. Students experienced how objects change their colours under the action of Wood’s lamp, or how bacteria that are invisible under visible light become noticeable under ultraviolet light. Another experiment with the Wood’s lamp had the objective to inspect paper currency and documents in order to put in evidence the existence of security strips or features, which are invisible to visible light.
We have also organized laboratory experiences related to magnetism. In particular, we observed what happens when a magnet went through a copper pipe or aluminium pipe. The students understood why magnet slows down. This phenomenon has been explained by the Faraday-Newman-Lenz’s law in a dedicated lesson.
The outreach activity was complemented with a visit of the students to the laboratories of Department of Physics of University of Calabria. In particular, the students observed the diffraction pattern obtained when low-energy electrons (~100 eV) are reflected by metallic single crystals. Moreover, they assisted to a vibrational experiment on graphene. Members of the 2D Materials of the Department of Physics group discussed with the students about the significance of nanotechnology and its potential impact on daily life. Moreover, the key concepts of two-dimensional materials have been introduced with simple terms to the students.
At the end of the visit to the University of Calabria, a snack and some beverages were offered to students and teachers.
We thank the support of local schools and teachers for their kind collaboration. We also thank the students for their enthusiastic attendance to this activity.

We have selected for this activity enthusiastic students of secondary schools. We have divided this activity into two parts. Firstly, we have done simple experiments in physics to promote “nice learning” and also the informal divulgation of physics. In particular, we have build an electrical motor with students. An electric motor of DC type is a device useful in everyday life to control the direction of motor rotation. We tried to build such a type of device. Used materials were very simple. As an example, we have used a copper wire as a coil. Moreover, we have done experiments to let the students to explore the electromagnetic spectrum, also by means of UV light (with a Wood lamp) to let the students to appreciate and understand what it is hidden inside electronic cards, official documents, such as passports and money.
Secondly, we have organized guided tours to the laboratories of condensed matter physics of University of Calabria. Senior students described their experiences as Physics students at University of Calabria while providing an overview of the academic programs and facilities.
We have shown visiting students the laboratories of Surface Science, Vibrational Spectroscopy and Electronic Spectroscopy of the Department of Physics. We have also guided students to see the nanoindenter facility in the DIMEG Department and the Raman spectrometer at DIATIC. We have asked the collaboration of young researchers of visited labs to explain the students the most important concepts of their research work, in order to provide the students an idea about daily work as researchers. Simple experiments have been carried out in the presence of students (e.g. diffraction pattern and Raman spectrum). Students had the possibility to tune the energy in diffraction experiments to change the pattern.
The students did many questions and this could be taken as a valuable indicator of the degree of success of the whole outreach activity.
To gain awareness about EPS and SIF, we have invited students to join physical societies.
Finally, we mention that a snack was offered to participants (student+teachers) in each visit. We would like to acknowledge teachers for their kind collaboration.
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