Engaging children in geosciences through storytelling and creative dance

Natural sciences have traditionally been disseminated in outreach activities as formal one-way presentations. Nevertheless, innovative strategies are being increasingly developed using arts, gaming, sketching, amongst others. This work aimed at testing an alternative and innovative way to engage non-expert audiences in ocean and coastal geology, through creative dancing. An informal education activity focusing on ocean dynamics was designed for 10-year-old students. It combines coastal science concepts (wind, waves, currents, and sand), storytelling techniques (narrative arc), and creative dance techniques (movement, imaginative play, and sensory engagement). A sequence of six exercises was proposed starting in the generation of offshore ocean waves and ending with sediment transport on the beach, during storm/fair-weather conditions. Scientific concepts were then translated into structured creative movements, within imaginary scenarios, and accompanied by sounds or music. The activity was performed six times summing 112 students. It was an inclusive activity given that all students in the class participated, including children with several mild types of cognitive and neurological impairment. The Science & Art activity aroused emotions of enjoyment and pleasure, and allowed an effective communication between scientists and school public. Moreover, the results provide evidence of the activity effectiveness to engage children and to develop their willingness to further participate in similar activities.

IDENTIFICATION OF HIGH POTENTIAL BAYS FOR HABs OCCURRENCE IN PENINSULAR MALYSIA USING PALSAR REMOTE SENSING DATA

Increasing frequency, intensity, and geographic distribution of Harmful algal blooms (HABs) poses a serious threat to the coastal fish/shellfish aquaculture and fisheries in Malaysian bays. Rising in sea level, shoreline erosion, stresses on fisheries, population pressure, interference of land-use and lack of institutional capabilities for integrated management make major challenges. Recent investigations and satellite observations indicate HABs originated from specific coast that have favourable geographic, geomorphic and coastal geology conditions to bring the green macro algae from the coast offshore. Therefore, the identification of high HABs frequented bays using remote sensing and geology investigations in Malaysian waters is required to reduce future challenges in this unique case. This research implemented comprehensive geomorphic and coastal geology investigations combined with remote sensing digital image processing approach to identify Malaysian bays frequented with HABs occurrence in Malaysian waters territory. The landscape and geomorphological features of the Malaysian bays were constructed from the Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) remote sensing satellite data combined with field observations and surveying. The samples for laboratory analysis were collected from the sediment stations with different distance across shorelines features and watersheds of the Johor Bahru estuary. This research identified that semi-enclosed bays such as Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru bays with connection to estuaries have high potential to be frequented with HABs occurrence.