Despite its importance, little is widely-known about the plankton - the information is mostly reserved to the scientific community. For this reason the CIDEMAR Foudation created "Oceanic Microcosm: Discovering the mysteries of the phytoplankton", an interactive, itinerant and educational exhibition that showcases how the plankton plays a key-role in the system of the aquatic food-chain. It has two modalities: a 3D exhibition, guided by professionals through 7 modules and and Interactive module, that allows visitors to discover the plankton and the human activities that affect it. The teaching materials will be freely accessible through our web platform.

The main objective of the exposition is to raise awareness concerning the importance of the plankton: indeed, the plankton provides more than 50% of the oxygen we breathe and is at the very base of marine food-chain. This means that without the plankton marine life would cease to exist and marine resources would disappear, highly impacting not only our alimentation, but also our environment and finally our economy. The main impact of the exposition is to make these connections in people’s minds and to encourage them to take action one the have understood the consequences of the current situation. In order to achieve this an educational material has been conceived that has been divided into stands around the main topics surrounding the plankton - ex.: the plankton and climate crisis. These stands contain various illustrations, microscopes, text card and, later on as the projects advances, the will include 3D prints of the organisms. The stands are presented and further explained by our monitors. The idea is to demonstrate to the audience that using and understanding scientific material (such as a microscope) and knowledge is not as difficult as it may seem from the outside. The goals is that the audience feels that they have the capacity to take an active part of how marine life works and how they can change their impact from negative to positive. The exposition is meant to travel, the goal is to have at least 10 expositions per year on various sites in Chile. The same monitor would accompany each exposition. They would be each time promoted by local authorities as well as by local media. Another objective is to have an annual report on its impact and goals met.

The global goal of the exposition is knowledge transfer towards the general public. During the exposition they will learn about the importance of the plankton, lifecycles and human impact on marine life and ecosystems. Apart from this they will receive basic training in how to use a microscope. Finally they are going to be taught good practices that helps them better their day to day impact on the ocean. Education material will also be made available through QR codes to reduce the resources used in the transfer of information by digitalising it. The monitors will also receive training to assure an adapted an interactive presentation. This exposition aims to bring closer several groups of society in order to reinforce the feeling of integral citizenship - that is that we all form part of the same society. As such, various age-groups are addressed through the exposition and are encouraged to exchange about their experience - ex.: how was fishing at the times of our grandparents. Thus an intergenerational dialogue is created. It is equally important to bring closer the scientific community with the general public in order to make them understand that one cannot hove lasting impact without the other - knowledge and action have to be amplified and go hand in hand.

Microcosmos Oceanografico relies on three main personnel and additional intervenants. María José Ochoa Munoz is the head of the operation. She and the founding partners were the ones to come up with the original idea and María José was the one to design the exposition from its format to its content. She has entrusted Macarena Vargas, one of the Foundation’s interns, with the illustrations necessary for the visualisation of scientific concepts. As of now, María José Ochoa Munoz is in charge of finding and constructing partnerships with various institutions, governmental or non-governmental organisation, public spaces and events so that the exposition can be presented. Once an agreement is struck, she contacts Matias Pena Loza, another of the Foundation’s interns, who is in charge of the technical and operational part of the exposition, which include logistics, setting up the exposition at the given place, register people participating in the exposition and at the end the disassembly of the exposition. He has also contributed to the content of the exposition, given that he is completing his diploma in marine biology. The event is recorded and visually documented by Cristina Vargas Acuna, in charge of the audio-visual area of the Foundation. One the event is over the audiovisual material, as well as the registry are sent to María José Ochoa Munoz, who then insures their diffusion on social media and our website. The exposition itself is presented by one of the two trained monitors, Tamara Santander or Joseph Julca Mendoza, both marine biologists.

Fundación CIDEMAR - Ciencia y divulgación en ecología marina y dulceacuícola