Science outdoor lesson-

INTRODUCTION

Stagnant water is an ecosystem: energy is mainly supplied by sunlight and organic matter upon decomposition. Water and plants can be the substrate where organisms live.

A large number of them are microscopic, especially bacteria and protozoa.

Learning objectives:

1.  Switching from “watching” to “observing”.
2. Using observation as way of learning. Discovering microscopic life.

Tools:

1. Test tubes with caps.
2.  Pasteur pipette.
3. Holder glass
4. Cover-slip
5. Optical microscope.

Activity (description)

1. During the outdoor activity along Carini coast, we collected water from various stagnant pools. We stored water in the tubes with caps, subsequently conserved in the science lab of our school.
2. The next day we opened the tubes.
3. We moved the bottom in order to suspend living organisms from the bottom.
4. We took a drop of stagnant water with a pasteur pipette and put it in the holder glass covered by a cover-slip.
5. We looked under the microscope.   .

“All about the Forest”

 

Introduction

    Forests are one of the most common and most important kinds of ecosystems on our earth.

 

Learning objectives

To enable students to:

-recognise the importance of forests and how it helps humans

-identify wild animals that live in the forest and animals that are protected by law

-recognize the uses of trees in our daily life

-learn about the sustainability of forests

-assess the importance of conserving these forests

 

Resources

 -poems about trees and forest

 -worksheet with evaluation questions, pencils

 

Activity

Step 1: Introduction - Students read the poems that had previously prepared about trees and forests

Step 2:   Guided discussion with students in the forest to assess their previous knowledge and to enrich it with new information, learning from their peers.

Questions:

1. What do trees need to live? What is their life cycle?

2. What kind of wild animals live in the forest?

3. Which wild animals are protected against hunting?

4. Do you agree with hunting?

5. Is it okay to cut down trees?

6. What kind of trees can be cut down?

7. Who decides that a tree can be cut down?

8. Why is it important to preserve these forests?

9. What consequences does it have on nature, climate, biodiversity if trees are cut down?

10. What products can we made of wood?

11. How can we reduce, reuse and recycle paper more carefully in our classroom? Step 3: Consolidation and evaluation: Students work in groups of 3 to complete a worksheet related to the topics discussed together earlier.

 

Comments from the learners’ surveys

    Students enjoyed the lesson, firstly because we were outdoor in a forest and secondly because it was a non-formal discussion about the forest, its importance, its living creatures, a chance for peer-learning, too.

 

Final remarks

    This lesson covered some of the important benefits of trees: reduce the negative effects of deforestation, clean the air, help to fight climate change, sustainable resources and energy.

Supplementary material

Photos from the activity:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/outdoorlearningerasmus/photos/?tab=album&album_id=366238283862106

 

Escola Dr. Horácio Bento Gouveia

Summary 

1. Introduction to the study of minerals.

1.1. Visit to the mineralogical heritage of the ‘Fundação Berardo’.

Mineralogical heritage study visit

Introduction

This activity is really relevant, because when students learn in loco, they develop their competences which will give them  , in a long term, a higher knowledge and they will become more active in society. Furthermore, the learning place is quite rich in international heritage more specifically, this the most valuable collection of minerals.

Learning objectives

Awake for the curiosity and interest of students by the study of minerals.

To know the great diversity of minerals and observe some of their characteristics / properties.

To enlarge a learning situation that benefits the knowledge through  funny and pedagogical techniques.

To promote the link of the theory and practice, school and reality.

Valuing acquisitions in the cognitive domain, as well as the behabioral aspects: participation, commitment and group interaction.

 

Resources

Samples of minerals, a table (to fill in with the characteristics/ properties of minerals), pen, pencil and rubber.

Activity

The activity began with an expert in mineralogy. Then students observed the samples so that they could get enough information to fill in the table.

During the task students exchanged information between them as well as the teachers and the local guide.

After completing the activity, they went through a visit to the lovely natural environmental heritage of the Fundação Berardo.

 

Comments from the learners’ surveys

The activity was very   enriching, as students were able to know the huge diversity of minerals as well as their own properties.

Moreover, it was a great experience as students learnt outdoors, developing their social and learning   skills. It promoted the link of the theory and practice, school and reality.

When in the classroom, students and teacher took notes and consolidated the new topics.

           

Final remarks

To sum up, students were really motivated and interested in this kind of class and were highly   astonished with the beauty presented by this outdoor activity.

Thus, students experimented new ways of learning which will lead them to improve their future learning skills, as they had acquired that knowledge in a funny way.

This experience was accomplished  not only by observing and exploring in ‘Loco’ but also by doing some research in the Internet and social media.

 

Needless to say, that it was one of the most exquisite experience that our students had ever had in this school year.

 

ENIAIO EIDIKO EPAGGELMATIKO GYMNASIO-LYKEIO AGIOU DIMITRIOU

TEACHER: DORA TRIGONI

Visiting the Hellenic National Meteorological Service

Summary 

 

A field trip in the Hellenic National Meteorological Service took place on May 5^th 2018, in order to have there an outdoor science lesson and participants were 30 students  from classes A, B and C.  The Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS)  is a government agency responsible for making weather forecasts and observations for Greece and its mission is to cover all the meteorological and climatological needs of the country. The aim of the visit was for our students to see and learn about the instruments and the methods that scientists use in order to give a weather forecast every day ,which is  very important  for our lives. 

 

Introduction

This activity is important, because students learn how nature works. How people “read” nature's behaviour and most important they learn about thermometres, reading thermometres, measuring units of temperature and how to identify positive and negative Celsius degrees.      

 

Learning objectives

• Observe, describe, locate and interpret landscapes.
• Learn about the history of meteorology.
• Identify the measuring instruments and relevant methodology.
• Realize the importance of weather and climate in our lives.
• Realize the importance of weather forecast in various activities:e.g. navigation, agriculture, facing natural disasters.
• Understand how a meteorological station works.
• Work individually to solve problems.
• Promote team work.
• Contribute to the implementation of the European project “Outdoor Learning – Real Learning”

 

Resources

Maps , Atlas, Meteorological instruments ( thermometers measuring internal – external temperature), a presentation.

 

Activity

Step 1:

We visited the Hellenic National Meteorological Service and we had a guide showing us the meteorological maps, the climate Αtlas , and explaining us about satellites and meteorological radars used in order to collect data.

 

Step 2:

We observed the old and new meteorological instruments situated outdoors in the Hellenic National Meteorological Service and we learned how each one of them works and what it measures (e.g. rain, snow, humidity, wind and temperature).

 

Step 3:

We were divided in teams and were given instructions how to read the measurements of some meteorological instruments and draw conclusions about the weather of this day.

Step 4:

We watched an interesting presentation and we discussed students question related to weather, climate and meteorology.

 

Comments from the learners’ surveys

Students showed a great interest to see and understand how the instruments work and they seemed to understand why meteorology is so important in our lives. Their engagement in the activities and the questions to the teachers also showed how much they liked the topic. They also said they felt happy having a lesson not at school as usual and working with each other, especially with students from other classes.

 

Final remarks

As a sciences teacher of these classes I was glad to see the students enjoying their outdoor lesson. They participated in the activities with more interest as usual and even the ones with more learning difficulties made a good effort. They also gained knowledge that would be difficult for them to understand only by reading about it in the books. Finally, it was a field trip , where students were comfortable, relaxed and working well with each other without any problems.

Supplementary material 

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Ενιαίο-Ειδικό-Επαγγελματικό-Γυμνάσιο-Λύκειο-Αγίου-Δημητρίου-189143001818475/photos/

 

Building bee houses! IES MADINA MAYURQA (SPAIN)

 

Summary

    The decline of the number of bees in Mallorca is something that worries us. For this reason our school decided to build bee houses and to place them in the mountains of the “Serra de Tramuntana”. This activity was done with our 2^nd of ESO students (aged 13-14 years old) in April 2018.

Introduction

                It’s well-known that pollinators are very important for our ecosystems because they help support flora and fauna at every level of the food chain. Bees are amongst the most important pollinators of all. Building bee houses is a great way to increase pollinator habitats, as they can provide shelter and nesting areas for native bee populations.

 

Learning objectives

• To be able to identify different kinds of bees.
• To learn all about pollinators and their importance in the ecosystems.
• To be able to work in group.
• To enjoy our environment and nature.

Resources

         Materials to build the bee houses.

         Students must bring their water and food supply and dress accordingly to the outdoor activity.

 

 

Activity

                  Step 1 (in class): 1. Discuss with the class what they know about bees: Where would you normally find bees? What types of bees do you know? What purpose do they serve? How can we protect bees? 2. We read this article: “Asian hornet found in Majorca for the first time”

https://majorcadailybulletin.com/news/local/2015/10/07/42004/asian-hornet-found-majorca-for-the-first-time.html

3. Divide the class into four groups: each group will have to build a bee house. Here you are the instructions:

 

Before you start, make sure the wood you use is untreated, as treated lumber may contain toxic chemicals harmful to bees. We used a combination of purchased wood and logs from trees native to the area to make our bee houses.

1. Decide what type of structure you want to create. Bee houses come in all shapes and sizes.
2. Cut the remaining wood into blocks at least 18 cm long. This is what you will use to fill in the structure.
3. Drill holes in the blocks, this is where the bees will actually live. Make sure you have drill bits long enough to drill 16 cm, as that is the depth needed for bees to nest inside a hole. We used three different drill bits to create a variety of holes. Make sure to reverse the drill half way through drilling the holes to alleviate the sawdust build up within the hole.
4. Place the blocks inside the structure, making sure the holes face out.
    

 

                 Step 2 (outdoor lesson): 1. Find a wooden area, preferably in the shade. 2. Place your bee house there. You can cover the structure with wire to prevent the blocks from falling or being taken out while still allowing plenty of space for the bees to come and go.

 

Comments from the learners’ surveys

                Our students enjoyed the trip very much and realised the importance of knowing that we must protect our bees. Many didn't know bees were so important!

 

Final remarks

                An outdoor lesson is always welcome, and in this case the activity was particularly well-received as students enjoyed making their bee houses and seeing them installed.

 

Supplementary material

Types of bees: https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/types-of-bees.html

Creating a bee house (with pictures):

http://www.instructables.com/id/Creating-a-bee-house/