Computational simulations at the interface of physics and society: A teaching-learning module for high-school students

The increasing role of computational simulations as the basis for policies and decision-making processes imposes the educational community to think about ways to introduce them in upper high-school teaching of physics as the third pillar of scientific research. In this paper, we present the principles at the basis of the design of a teaching-learning module on simulations of complex systems and implemented in a course organized by the Department of Physics and Astronomy "A. Righi" of the University of Bologna for university orientation. Specifically, we discuss the value of computational simulations as interdisciplinary and future-oriented objects that can act as bridges between physics, STEM disciplines, and society.