Sonificazione delle strutture cristalline per la didattica museale

Crystal structures sonifications for museum education This paper presents a new teaching strategy for museum settings that uses sonifications of crystal structures obtained through a novel scientific method developed by the authors. The method associates chemical and crystallographic parameters (kind of atom, periodic table group, periodic table period, distance of an atom from the axis of symmetry, etc.) with musical ones (duration, pitch, timbre, dynamics) making the order of the atomic arrangement of the atom of the crystal structure perceptible through sound. Each crystal structure, such as ice, calcite, aragonite, diamond, graphite and others, is represented by a unique melody accompanied by videos illustrating the symmetries of the elementary cells of the crystals. The aim of the strategy is to integrate cognitive and emotional pro- cesses, creating an effective learning system for museum settings. The sonifications have been implemented in the itineraries and open laboratories of the University of Bari’s Earth Science museum and are currently the subject of studies and projects in the STEAM field.