The eighth edition of the Mosquito Alert educational programme kicks off this week, and it does so with more novelties and surprises than ever. With the participation of 53 schools and 2254 students from all over Spain, this year promises to be even more exciting for students and teachers.

A big change: a new event…  with surprises!

Last year we held the first Mosquito Alert science fair at the Natural Science Museum as the final event of the educational programme. During this day, all the schools presented various proposals. One of the novelties this year is that each school will participate in the event with a single proposal, hoping to encourage participation and diversity of schools. This event will take place on 5 June in the same place, the National Museum of Natural Sciences, at the CSIC headquarters in Madrid.

Throughout the course, the schools will receive all the necessary tools and resources to develop the project independently.

We continue to form part of the Ciudad Ciencia network, an outreach project that aims to bring science and technology closer to the inhabitants of towns far from large urban centres. Thanks to this initiative, part of our educational team will have the opportunity to visit 10 centres and institutes in different parts of the country, such as La Solana, Villarrubia de los Ojos, Coria, Ocaña, Cangas de Morrazo, Ubrique, Miranda de Ebro and Mahón, bringing scientific knowledge to more people and encouraging curiosity for science.

The programme is divided into three modalities:

–       Sample collectors: Primary Education (5th and 6th grades). In these courses, an activity focused on learning the importance of collecting samples properly in order to be able to study the data, i.e. in this case, how to collect mosquito larvae is shown.

–       Science communicators: Secondary education (1st, 2nd and 3rd grade in ESO).  In these courses, the activity focuses on the design and implementation of a communication campaign in the field of public health.

–      Young Researchers: Secondary education (4th ESO and Baccalaureate). In these age groups, students are challenged to formulate research questions, identify variables and analyse possible results, simulating the process of real scientific research. Beyond the possibility of carrying out research, the aim is that, through enquiry, an approximation to how questions are posed and resolved in the academic world is allowed.

Map of Spain with markers in the different locations where the participating schools are located. In green sample collectors, in yellow science communicators and in red young researchers.

Programme development

The educational programme is carried out in 10–12 sessions, starting on 3 March and ending on 5 June.

This educational programme has the support of the Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT) and is developed by the Asociación Medioambiental Xatrac, in collaboration with Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), and is co-funded by different entities, including the Agencia de Salud Pública de Barcelona (ASPB),  the Oficina de Ciencia Ciudadana de Barcelona, and the Ciudad Ciencia programme  of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).

With all this news, we are kicking off another year full of learning, science and citizen participation, and let the adventure of the Mosquito Alert 2024-2025 educational programme begin!