Tibidabo is transformed into a physics laboratory for 4th-year compulsory secondary-education and baccalaureate students

More than 2,300 4th-year compulsory secondary-education and baccalaureate students from 60 schools have taken part in a new edition of Fisidabo 2K

The day event at Tibidabo follows those held at the Fòrum and Anella to continue fostering scientific vocation among secondary school students

These STEAM projects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) make Barcelona an educational-innovation hub at the service of the city’s young talent

Tibidabo Amusement Park was transformed into a giant laboratory today. The Park played host to an educational Fisidabo 2K day, where 2,397 4th-year compulsory secondary-education and baccalaureate students were able to carry out a whole series of activities to broaden their knowledge of physics. Sixty-six schools took part in this year’s edition, 52 from Barcelona and its Metropolitan Area and 14 from the rest of the region. Launched jointly by Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (B:SM) and the the bachelor's degree in Physical Engineering from the Higher Technical School of Telecommunication Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia · BarcelonaTech (UPC), the project is aimed at promoting scientific vocation among teenagers.

This initiative, now celebrating its 5th edition, aims to provide students with knowledge in a flexible way, fostering creativity and innovation in a playful environment, whilst maintaining academic rigour. It also also seeks to highlight female role models and break down stereotypes, fostering scientific vocation among young women. The Fisidabo 2K will be offering physics-related experiments with the aim of making students active subjects who play a direct role in their own learning process. The Park’s attractions were therefore turned into a scientific testing ground where students had to apply their knowledge through direct experience. 

This year’s edition had 26 proposed experiments for, among other things, calculating the acceleration, velocity and energy of the Roller Coaster, studying the forces that act on the Piratta, measuring the characteristics of the Viking's circular movement and investigating why the mirrors in the Miramiralls reflect images so differently. 

Meanwhile, the Cuca de Llum funicular became a mobile laboratory for students to play at being engineers. Students were invited to determine the characteristics of its movement and calculate the power its engine requires to drive the funicular up to the highest part of Tibidabo.

Fisidabo Hipàtia, the precursor to the project

The Fisidabo Hipàtia was also held today, a pioneering day event now in its tenth year which was created to encourage the practical learning of scientific processes. In this case, it was students on the international CELLEX mathematical sciences baccalaureate who presented the proposed experiments based on the Park’s attractions. The students designed, constructed and tried out the experiment, resulting in a report on the experiment which had the potential to become a scientific article for publication in an international journal.

This year's experiments included one where a group of students measured the force of the waves in the Alaska attraction to calculate the energy that could be extracted from their movement. The experiment is very similar to the one made in experimental channels all around the world for investigating tidal forces.

An educational innovation hub at the service of the city’s young talent

The Fisidabo 2K is part of a very extensive educational project featuring four days of activities. Visions STEAM Fòrum was held at Parc del Fòrum on the 23 March for fourth-year ESO and baccalaureate students, enabling them to carry out experiments in the fields of biology, physics, mathematics, chemistry and technology. 7 April marked the turn of Visions STEAM - Anella, with over 1,500 students at the Olympic Stadium.

A new feature this year, Visions STEAM – Zoo, for 1st- and 2nd-year ESO students, will be held for the first time on 9 November. That means all secondary-education years will be covered, from 1st-year ESO to 2nd-year baccalaureate. So over 6,000 teenagers are expected to benefit from STEAM activities in 2022.