Promote a more effective integration between education, training and the world of work through field experiences that can also encourage the discovery of personal vocations of high school students. With this objective, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) adheres to the Alternanza Scuola Lavoro project, opening its doors to girls and boys, the possible researchers of tomorrow.
The Palermo office of INGV welcomed the students of the Liceo Classico G. Garibaldi (PA) who carried out the project "Rains and climate change". Through the analysis of the rainfall series acquired in the stations managed by the Sicilian Agrometeorological Information Service (SIAS) covering the city area (Partinico, Palermo, Monreale, Misilmeri), the students calculated the variation of the annual rainfall in the Palermo area. Using an Excel spreadsheet, the data were processed and descriptive graphs were created of the variation in the annual rainfall total between 2003 and 2018. The results of the work showed, in relation to the area concerned, an increase in rainfall in the last 15 years .
The students were thus able to learn a statistical methodology which allowed them to form an opinion on the possible short-term effects of climate change, based on objective criteria. At the end of the activity a poster summarizing the obtained results was elaborated.