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Relevant initiatives

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RELEVANT INITIATIVES FORM

Title of Initiative / Project
Discovering with Tadeo
Name of Organiser
Mediaset España, Lightbox Entertainment and El Señor Studio
Start and ending date of the Initiative
2013 - 2014
Web site
http://www.telecinco.es/tadeojones/4013395/videos.html
Level
National
Was the initiative carried out in the framework of a funded project?
No
Type of deliverables
Video
Thematic area
Chemistry, Maths, Physics, Biology, Technology, ICT, Science , Other
Language of the deliverable
Spanish
Target Group
Students
Description of the initiative
Project created by Mediaset Spain, Lightbox Studio Entertainment and El Señor Estudio, with advice from the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT, which has among its main areas of work the popularization of science. For the contents of the series has also had the collaboration of relevant research centers such as the National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, the Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology (CIEMAT), the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME), Dinópolis and the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) Foundation.
"Discovering with Tadeo" is an animated series and live action in which the popular character Tadeo Jones contributes to the dissemination of education and scientific, archaeological and technological knowledge, popularizing and highlighting the national heritage in this area.
The approach of the series is based on the design of short chapters that show the work of the Spanish scientific and arouse curiosity for learning and knowledge of the world around us. The popular browser Tadeo Jones will have the opportunity to enter the site of the oldest human fossil in Europe, traveling Doñana Natural Park, to scan the universe from the most powerful optical telescope in the world, to know the Higgs Boson, to visit science museums... where he will live great adventures in short chapters. So the viewer can visit unique places, from archaeological sites to research centers and from the universe to the deep sea, where leading and exciting research is carried out in different areas of knowledge
This series has been broadcast on the following television channels: Telecinco, Cuatro, Fiction Factory and Boing. Currently the chapters are available on the website of Telecinco.
The aim of this series is to bring a fun and rigorous science to the smallest and the general public, to encourage the desire to learn and curiosity of children, and contribute to disclose the quality and variety of the Spanish scientific research .
The success of the serie has crossed the small screen and now the magazine "Discovering with Tadeo" has been published. It is aimed at children and is based on the eponymous series of science dissemination and it will promote interest in learning and curiosity among their young readers.
More Information
It is a series of short videos (a few minutes) on various scientific subjects. The goal is to motivate children in learning science.
Each video has a key idea to arouse curiosity among children.
The videos have a very careful completion and are fun. They are starring Tadeo Jones. He is a popular cartoon character in Spain.
As teaching material is fine to introduce a topic or, in the case of longer duration videos, goes farther into the issues.
The weakness is that it is a product of a private television, the portal has a lot of publicity and inciting consumption.
Teachers’ Opinion
It's a good idea to use a popular cartoon character for science divulgation. I think videos are good resources to capture the attention of children. In my opinion, the videos have a high educational value. The topics are well chosen and the videos are very well maken.
Students’ Opinion
Children, especially until age 9, are very fond of cartoons. It's a good idea to use things which amuse them to convey scientific knowledge and to awaken their interest in science.

Comments on this Relevant initiatives

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Date: 2015.03.12

Posted by Darina Dolešová (Slovakia)

• Why is the project (selected initiative) important?
• Will an initiative/project provide outputs that can help to overcome lack of students´ motivation to study science?
• Do you plan to test given outputs (with your students)?
Teacher:
I think the students are very happy to accept the mediation of knowledge, which is made in a fun and playful way. They will learn things that they would in other circumstances hardly remember. They are not interested in watching conventional documentaries from the field of science; they take it as something that "must be done" and thus it is rejected from the begining. If the videos were translated into Slovak, I would use them for enriching the lesson.
• What do you think are the possibilities of the selected project to be successful in increasing students' interest in studying science subjects?

Student - Marek Stoša
It would be very cool if we could get all the information in such a funny way. The character of Tadeo Jones is funny and enjoyable.

Date: 2015.03.12

Posted by Maria Dojcanova (Slovakia)

It is certainly a very good idea for catching and increasing the attention of children and adults as well. Using fun way, children can explore the world around them; get to the knowledge from different fields of science; experience adventure with the character of a boy. It is good to raise a children´s interest in various fields of science from early age. Children are curious and they can learn very easily when they are having fun. It is a good motivation to learn.
Videos also attracted my students who commented on the initiative, although these are high school students.

Student: (Please answer in few sentences)
It's a great animated series, which helps to understand the scientific knowledge of various fields. The character of Tadeo aroused our curiosity. We like the easy and fun way of getting information. It consists of various interesting chapters, in which one can learn different things.

Date: 2015.02.19

Posted by Jose Castillo (Spain)

It's a good idea to use a popular character to teach science. The videos have an amazing animation and are fun.
Nowadays, children are able to detect low quality 3D and poor scripts. We need this type of good quality material. I don't know if it will work well in classrooms, maybe is better as a cartoon for watch in home.
While some cartoons are becoming more violent or superficial, others like Tadeo, are becoming better and better to teach science and values.
The first time I watch a short of Tadeo I thought it was a merchandising product of the film. But now I think is done with a real aim of teaching.

Congratulations.

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