Particle Physics at Primary Schools: A Report on the Italian Project ^†

We report on an ongoing project aimed to teach particle physics in primary schools. The project is based on the original format by C. Lazzeroni and M. Pavlidou at the University of Birmingham, UK. The Italian version of the project emphasizes the following aspects: (1) the relevance of the teachers’ training in order to make the project sustainable on a large scale and for a long period of time, overcoming the risk of occasional interest arousal about Particle Physics; (2) importance of an integrated approach where the Particle Physics workshops are put into the context of the regular learning school activities as well as outreach activities for parents. The program has run in six primary schools in Northern Italy since 2017, and it has evolved into a structured training program for teachers in collaboration with INFN in 2019. From the experience gathered in these years, the main benefits of the project include increased motivation, improved attitude towards science, and reduced gender bias in science-related activities.