November 26th, 2009 | 
Author: Last week saw school children and families across the Dordogne region take part in workshops, activities and film screenings exploring the wonders of science.
As part of the national festival of science conducted by the French Ministries of Research and Education, science campaigners and advocacy groups around the country encouraged the public and young people in particular to connect with science. The goal was to bridge the gap between research and everyday life.
During the week dozens of organisations colloborated with municipalities throughout Dordogne and the rest of the perigod to promote science to the public and to the young in particular.
One of the key locations was the Salle Du Chapeaux Rouge in Quimper. Dordogne’s Regulus amateur astronomy club transformed the building’s main hall into a showroom exploring space travel and the moon landings. As well as a replica of lunar soil, there were stereoscopic images of the Galaxy and children from schools throughout the North of Dordogne were treated to 3D screenings of the Lunar landing footage.
Chidren were also encouraged to take part in creative workshops where they transformed plastic bottles into mini-rockets propelled by water. On the final day of the festival, the Regulus club treated locals and interested tourists to an overview of the autumn sky in the Observatory High-Perigord in Perigeux.
Other events run throughout the region included workshops by travelling group Creascience, who visited towns throughout the Dordogne before hosting a central exhibition in Bergerac. One of the national highlights of the festival was the efforts of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Toulouse, situated in the southwestern departement of Haute-Garonne which borders Dordogne.
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