Tag Archives: collaborative project

DROUGHT IN AGRICULTURE

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Poster of the project:

About the Project :

The population of the world is increasing day by day, however the clean water supplies are disappearing. It is very important to save water since the drought will effect agriculture. Population is expected to increase to over 10 billion by 2050 and this population will need food. But if we do not save water, there will be no agriculture. Our international eTwinning project “The Silent Scream of Water” aims the importance of water and water saving. We study with international mixed school teams consisting of 2 schools from Portugal, 1 from Spain, 1 from Poland, 1 from Lithuania, 1 from Bosnia and Herzegovina and 10 from Turkey, consisting of a total of 17 teachers and 137 students.And as the April event, we study about “Water and Life” with mixed school teams.

THE AIMS OF THE PROJECT:

With this STEM project we aim to create an awareness on our students about the sustainability of water in agriculture based on STEM.

Our topics as the second mixed team:

  • How will agriculture be affected if water resources are reduced?
  • Is there an alternative substance to water for agriculture?
  • How does an increase in the salt content in the soil affect living life?
  • What are the reasons for increasing salinity in the soil?
  • How can we prevent the salinity that leads to drought in the soil?
  • Developing a solution to this problem

STEP 1

We raise awareness about the impact of drought on agriculture and we do this by observing the solutions to the drought in agriculture around the world. Also we will use animaker web 2.0 tool for this. Animaker is an enjoyable and useful web 2.0 tool, therefore the students used animaker for the presentation.

We give topics to the students and asked them to search for the information about the topics of our project and they prepared an animation presentation by editing the information collected from different sources. So first of all, they got the necessary information about the topics.

https://app.animaker.com/animo/jzyvpil82hgB1JBb/

Also the students made an animation to understand the importance of water in the past, now and in the future:

Water is a compound formed by bonding two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms to each other. In this process, energy is also released. Energy is needed to seperate water into its components. This reaction is called “electrolysis”. You can break water with simple materials. We made an experiment to break the water into its components, because it helps students to understand the chemistry of water for the agriculture:

 Our students measure the Ph of water, so they understood the Ph of drinkable water. Also they learnt how to measure the Ph of water for agriculture:

Water filter constitution helps us to use dirty water,so in this experiment the students learn to filter the water in an easy way. :

STEP 2

The students designed a digital escape room game so they draw attention to the importance of drought and water for the soil. They designed the game by preparing a story-based scenario about “the importance of water to the soil, drought and increase in salt content in the soil”. All project members have launched a challenge. The students played the game they have prepared, so the impact of such a project reached more student audiences .

https://view.genial.ly/609516https://twinspace.etwinning.net/files/collabspace/2/82/682/124682/images/bdbaf3cf6.jpgb82e2ba00d84d48ffe/presentation-untitled-genially

This video is about water and its effects on our lives. With this video our students remind us the ways of water saving:

STEP 3

The students prepared presentations about drought-stricking countries around the world and they used “Genially-web2.0 tool”. Our goal was to observe the situation clearly, so our students found all the information and the images of the countries around the world. These countries are suffering from water shortages and are currently experiencing drought. Drought is the whole world’s problem. If we do not protect the water, the soil will dry up, the salt content in the soil will increase and there will be no agriculture … We understand the importance water with this project because students see the visuals of the drought.

https://view.genial.ly/608c1d31811ae60d0efc01eb/presentation-drought-in-the-world

They draw comics as a water recovery plan, so they understood the importance of water saving and found solutions for it:

We have done a webinar and we talked about the steps of our studying :

INTEGRATION INTO COURSES:

English teachers can easily integrated this project into literacy and writing studies in English courses with the curriculum of all countries.

One can use drought in agriculture in Geography courses, so Geography teachers can use it in their courses.

The Biology teachers can integrated this study in Biology courses as it is related to living things.

In chemistry courses, you can use it as the increase in the salt content caused by dryness in the soil is related to chemistry.

March with STE(A)M Challenge

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NATURE MAKES MY DAY PROJECT

Nature makes my day e-Twinning project which has been running since November presents a simple yet powerful model of how to raise awareness among students about the importance of nature in our lives and motivate them to become responsible citizens actively involved in the preservation and protection of our natural environment. Within the project we have organized an one-month activity by creating March with STE(A)M Challenge and by taking part in it.

March with STE(A)M Challenge

The March with STE(A)M Challenge aims to engage students in real-world STEM problems by learning how to think scientifically and critically when observing the world around them. The activity was design as a hands-on personalized learning opportunity for students to develop a variety of skills needed for them to be successful in their future careers: problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, decision making, information literacy, technology literacy, flexibility, leadership.

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Students make a difference the with STEM

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Think sketch vector – The visual was provided by the Author – Attribution CC-BY

STEM teachers from nine schools in six different cities in Turkey we have come together. And 50 students. For Sustainable Development Goals. Our aim is to provide 21st century skills. We carried out this project together with 3 schools from İzmir, 2 schools from Ankara. With one school each from Manisa, Kütahya, Eskişehir and Kocaeli cities. So this was a country project.

In the I Design with STEM project, we improved our problem solving skills. Our students discovered STEM fields and produced projects.They took responsibility and learned to express their feelings. They found solutions to problems with their peers from different cities. And learned to use technology wisely. Because they really needed it.

Activities and Projects

Our students learned the web 2.0 tools. Made various collaborative activities while living in a meeting and social environment. Because we wanted students to make a difference with STEM.

In addition, we discussed different topics in STEM activities every month in our project. Topics included: Recycling, Energy Conversion and Design, Technologies for the Disabled.

We also formed mixed teams at each event. Teachers and students changed teams in every respect. Students designed original products for real life problems and to make life easier. As a result of this, we produced 15 different projects in 6 months with teams.

Students STEM projects that make a difference

Rainwater recycle system: We collected rainwater from the roofs of the houses. We also recycled the waste water that went to the sewer.

Shelf organizer: We produced more useful furniture with recycled materials.

Nature friendly and economical building: We designed an nature friendly house that generates electricity from waste.

Waste battery box: We recycled the batteries so that they do not harm the nature.

Garbage separation system: We designed a system that collects and separates garbage automatically.

Geological village: We have developed an environmentally friendly village system that produces everything on its own.

Solar lighting system: We provided lighting with solar channels for buildings that need daytime lighting.

Technological animal shelter: We built an unmanned and intelligent animal shelter.

Solar home heating system: We brought sunlight to all four parts of the house and provided heating.

Smart prosthetic arm: We said it should be more than just one hand.

Smart wheelchair: This wheelchair simply cannot fly. For now.

Playground for disabled children: We designed special parks and toys for children with disabilities.

Special bus for the disabled: We built a barrier-free bus.

Smart home system: An nature friendly and safe smart home. Who would not want that.

We learned science, tech, mathematics and engineering disciplines with real life problems. We exhibited student work examples on the website we prepared.

The pictures belong to the Author – Attribution CC-BY

Scientix Support for the Project

To support our project, Scientix Turkey Coordinator Dr. Tunç Erdal AKDUR and Scientix Ambassador Baki KARAKOÇ presented. From every city in Turkey for our presentation we had more than 300 participants. In this meeting, the work of teachers and students was introduced. We explained the project preparation techniques and STEM School Label application. Also our project was featured in the national and international press.

Partner and Article Author: Baki KARAKOÇ (Scientix Ambassador)

Founders: Fatma KARAKOÇ, Ahsen DOĞANAY

Project Partners:

Emine GÜLMEZ, Gülcan APAYDIN, Gülnur KAPLAN, İ.Selin AYDOĞDU, Sultan YERLİKAYA, Zehra AKDOĞAN

Project Blog

Project Website

SUSTAINABLE WORLD: WATER

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This activity is a part of Etwinning Project STEAM for 5PS in partnership with 5 Scientix Ambassador Teachers from Turkey, Greece, and Portugal. This learning scenario is applied as an international online meeting, and worked in transnational teams (We used Zoom Break Out Rooms for student discussion groups but Microsoft Teams or other tools can be used as well). This learning scenario can also be applied as a single classroom activity.

The pictures are the author’s own – (Attribution CC-BY)

Teachers: Zeynep Kalıncı, Marina Molla, Manuela Ortigão, Özge Taştan , Sevda Baydar

Student Age : 10-13

Time: 20 ‘+30’+30’+40’min

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ARE WE ENERGY?

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Design of the project

“Are we energy?”

This is the first question we use to introduce our Project.

At Escola Mestre Gibert, teachers believe all knowledge is connected.
Thus, 4th level Primary School teachers have decide to plan an interdisciplinary Renewable Energy Project, where all subjects can be included. The name of the project will be “Human Activity is Energy”.

Critical thinking, cooperation, creativity and communication are our skills

To engage the children, we use inquire based-learning. We build the project while creating challenges that they will solve and answer along with adding achievements.

As a result, teachers create and launch a collaborative project, where students’ experiments prove that energy is everywhere. Consequently, all subjects can contribute to build meaningful and comprehensive energy learning.

In this way, through Arts, Physical Education and Music, children can experiment how to show and to play with their energy.

In subjects such as Science, Technology, English Language and First Language, students build knowledge about energy and its uses. The English Language is the vehicular language to transmit the result of the learning process.

Moreover, a father of a student whose task is related to Clean Energies, will come to deliver a speech as an expert.

The challenge of students’ teamwork is the study of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, doing an internet research. They use the DRIVE platform to organize their work and organize an exposition in class. In this activity, the peers assessment will be very important.

Project evaluation

As we mentioned before, co-evaluation among peers is very important in order to obtain a good assessment. Students have to participate actively in all the learning process and until the end. Children use rubrics to pay attention to peers’ exposition and to express their opinions.

The photos were taken and kindly provided by the author – Attribution CC-BY

Finally, the children will perform a choreography to conclude the project, playing with multi-colour satin ribbons. For the soundtrack, previously we will record children’s voices singing a song called “Energize”, especially composed for the final show.

The photos were taken and kindly provided by the author – Attribution CC-BY

The song’s message is about Energy Resources and Earth Planet Health. Children enjoy singing the song and are engaging with its message:

On the last day of the project, students and teachers will gather together for a manifestation with banners, all spread around the playground, shouting messages such as: “save the Planet”, “we must use sustainable energy”, “SOS, planet Earth needs us!!”.

To conclude, we are convinced the project will engage the children, because they will be the protagonists of their learning process.