Actions for nature's protection
We care about our enviroment in Slovenian school
THIS IS A OUR ACTIONS FOR NATURE'S PROTECTION (ANGELA CHIROSCA):
Our project aims at making an information campaign so as to let the inhabitants of Galati know the importance of an adequate education in as far as the biodiversity of the National Park of the Lower Plain of the Lower Prut River is concerned. To conclude, the project answers the young people’s need to participate to non-formal activities. It is also related to the natural environment and its main purpose is to raise the level of knowledge and interest in protecting the biodiversity of this area, to discover species of flora and fauna existent in the reservation, to identify those species that call for a special attention, espeacially those protected by the law, to protect the environment, to develop ecotourism and to encourage young people to be active citizens.
Activity no.1 Organizing the team. This is the stage when the team members were given their responsibilities and some preparations were made for initiating the project: some objectives were established within the project, a title and a logo was found, a working plan was designed, there was some thinking about the activities that will lead to accomplishing the proposed objectives, some institutions willing to help put this project into practice were found.
Activity no.2 Workshop “The Biodiversity … from the live laboratory of the Prut River”, organized for identifying some species of flora and fauna, for evaluating the number of species and the size of their colonies in the natural reservation and the evaluation of their conservation status. A whole week, the pupils have played the role of reporters and they have taken interviews about the importance of the biodiversity in humans’ life.
Activity no.3 ”The Biodiversity- the hidden treasure from the Lower Plain of the Prut River”- taking a thematic route with an educational-relaxing purpose in the natural reservation. The thematic route was aimed at introducing the pupils to the wonderful world of nature. The pupils played the role of little scientists and they took their parts seriously as they tried to identify the species of flora and fauna, they have collected information about the weather conditions during the research, about the temperature of the water in which the creatures are living, about the quality of the water by checking its pH. The pupils have collected water from the Prut river in sterile tubes which will help them understand the importance of the biodiversity and the quality of water and life.
Activity no.4 Analysis and interpretation of the data gathered during the trip to the Prut River plain. The interpretation of the data gathered from analyzing the water was done at The Lab of the Public Health Department, Galati. There were checked the water pH from the samples taken from the Prut River and from the school water tap. Then the results were compared to the maximum values admitted by the quality standards.What the pupils have learnt from this activity is to establish physical and chemical factors of the water, then to compare the results obtained with the maximum values admitted by the quality standards, to establish the hardness of different samples of water and to classify the water sources function of the results obtained and to make a report. The children were very surprised to find out that the water samples taken from the Prut River showed it is drinkable and that it has the same neutral pH 7.0 just like the water taken from the school tap they usually drink from. In the Sivita area, where the water samples were taken, the analysis showed the following results: CBO5 of 3,099 mg/dmc, CCO-Cr of 12,96 mg/dmc, N-NH4 of 0,172 mgN/dmc, fixed residue of 346 mg/dmc. A specialist from the Lab of the Public Health Department, Galati explained to the pupils the way results are interpreted and he also talked about the quality of the water.
Activity no.5 ”The Role of the Local Community” – meeting with Galati Town Hall representatives. This activity was done in partnership with the 1st E grade, under the guidance of teacher Alina Buduleanu from Elementary School no.29, Galati. Mr. Nicolae Bacalbasa, the chairman of Galati County Council, was also invited to the meeting. Each team presented their project and a letter of intention which were handed to Mr. Nicolae Bacalbasa, chairman of Galati County Council. The letter of „Science4Life“ team contained a problem which the children have noticed during the project (The Natural Reservation Park of the Lower Plain of the Prut River represents the entrance gate to the Danube Delta Biosphere Reservation, being situated on the route of three major bird migration corridors. The main corridor followed by the migrating birds is the one following the Siret and Prut rivers towards the Danube Delta, from where the birds fly away to the Bosfore and Dardanelle Straits. It is well known that wind energy is part of the alternative energy category. However, there is the risk for birds to collide with the wind turbines if they are wrongly placed. From what we noticed, there are three such turbines situated right on the migration corridor of the birds. The children have asked this aspect to be analyzed). The team has also asked for the local authorities’ support in promoting the importance of the biodiversity of the The Natural Reservation Park of the Lower Plain of the Prut River which can have a great influence upon the life of the local community. During the visit, the pupils have received a favorable answer in as far as the support for their project is concerned and they left the meeting having been promised that both Galati Local Council and Galati County Council will actively get involved in their project. On the World Day of the Environment, on the 5th of June 2014, on the Danube waterfront, there will take place a street demonstration ( exhibition of products made during the Water Connects project, booklets with the citizens’ role and the importance of maintaining the biodiversity), street drawing contest.
Activity no.6 ”The city viewed from above” – a short trip in town, on the Danube shore, where the Prut river flows into the Danube. We had the opportunity to look at the Prut river, The Brates Lake(the biggest lake in Romania) and at The Danube from the 130 m height of the Television Tower. The pupils have made themselves a clearer impression of their geographical position. They have also had as an established aim of this trip the identification and the collecting of soil samples from the Danube for the first grade pupils to be studied.