CLICKMICA: Chemistry Outreach at a click
Chemistry is present in our everyday life. All matter is made up of chemical elements or compounds, and chemical reactions are responsible for the correct functioning of our body. In order to bring science closer to society and to promote science outreach, the Fundación Descubre created Clickmica in November 2012. Clickmica is a website which has been jointly developed with the Andalusian Association of Chemists and the Principia Science Centre in Malaga. It benefits from the participation of teachers and students, researchers and disseminators working in this field of knowledge.
This website, which provides a great variety of content, is a multidisciplinary space where users can access the most popular chemistry experiments, as well as photographs and other multimedia resources related to this discipline. Likewise, users can find out more about the great discoveries made by scientists in this field, about those men and women who contributed to its advances, and about the chemistry research groups in Andalusia. It is even possible to ask questions and create content, because if anything characterises Clickmica, it is its open workspace, which is growing on a daily basis thanks to those interested and willing to participate. Researchers, disseminators, teachers and the general public are all welcome to join in this project and help it flourish.
Clickmica is also on the Fundación Descubre’s Facebook and Twitter account (using the hashtag #masquimica ‒more chemistry). Its presence and good use of social media, its topics and resources were all valued by the judges in the XIV edition of the Ciencia en Acción Competition, where the website received an Honourable Mention in the category of Interactive Science Teaching Resources.
This award adds to the one obtained in 2012 when the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports included the information provided on Clickmica’s website in the section of Innovative Practices on their website, devoted to the dissemination of the Guide 2.0 for Good Practice.
Article written by: Ana María Pérez Moreno, Fundación Descubre.