All activities were carefully prepared through collaborative work amongst teachers and students in the Eco Erasmus club created to implement STEM and CLIL approach on a weekly basis which greatly improved students scientific and communication skills in English.
Local organizations were contacted and agreed kindly to cooperate with the school in order to provide meaningful learning to all participants in the planned school trips.
All students and teachers involved in the project were welcomed at Tomás de Borba School, early in the morning, and witnessed the hoisting of the Eco-school and eTwinning flags as a symbolic moment linked to theme of the project - Sustainability - and partnership between European countries.
The project presentation took place in the school auditorium with a brief introduction on the aims and activities planned for the week. As the school provides artistic courses, students and teachers were also presented with a dance performance by a creative dance student and the playing and singing of a typical Azorean song performed by all the Portuguese students involved in the project.
In order to tour school facilities, a peddy paper activity took place in which each team of students, formed with at least one member from each participating country, had to work collaboratively to solve riddles and find out specific locations in the school. The students were monitored so that they wouldn’t get lost. All teams, having started from different locations, converged to the Headmaster’s office for a meet and greet coffee break.
Later in the morning there was a school trip to the whaling museum and Negrito natural pool to show and provide information about the cultural heritage linked to the whaling industry which had a significant impact on the island in the past. As for the teacher’s perspective, the sustainability aspect was explored with a different discourse, leaning on the use of animal products in the industry and the by-products of the activity as income. In the afternoon, participants had the opportunity to visit Angra do Heroísmo (UNESCO Heritage site) and its city hall. The day ended with a boat trip to Ilhéu das Cabras for geological, fauna and flora observation.
This day was devoted to sustainability, energy plants and local landscape and environment. There was a briefing done by specialists at the auditorium so that teachers and students could understand, in general, the island energy production system and were informed of the locations they would be visiting.
All participants had the opportunity of visiting the eolic and geothermal plants with specific information, by our host’s standards, about the energy sources and how they are produced as well as their level of influence on the archipelago’s energy production and sustainability.
In the afternoon, participants visited the Algar do Carvão (the inside of a volcano), Gruta do Natal and Furnas do Enxofre. All locations are a result of the volcanic landscape from which the island is formed. The host entity dedicated a special focus on the student’s perspective over the impact of the landscape and environment on the population’s economic alternatives, giving the social frame over the whaling industry.
In the morning, participants were unable to visit Montanheiros Museum due to construction labour going on at the time. Nevertheless all went to another iconic volcanic location, Mount Brasil to explore its landscape and understand its usefulness in whale watching, connected to the whaling industry. Teachers could see an extinct volcano, which is at par with the energy harvesting theme.
In the afternoon, in Angra Museum students attended workshops linked to energy production and the whaling industry. Furthermore, teachers were also able to observe and learn more about both themes.
The concept of a 3D workshop was discussed and will be developed in the last mobility, in Croatia, with the purpose of presenting an increased awareness of this process to all participants.
Late in the afternoon a coordinating meeting was held so that procedures were clarified regarding info registration on the eTwinning platform, Mobility Tools. Several aspects about the mobilities to Poland and France were discussed and agreed.
During the morning, students were organized in groups, each with a specific task. Students were motivated to develop their autonomy and decision-making abilities on how to assemble an exhibition for the school community, using ICT resources using their acquired knowledge and creativity closely related to the theme of the project. In the afternoon, the exhibition was concluded through collaborative work amongst teachers and students who were quite happy with the results. Due to the early departure of the Finnish team on the next day, the group started the wall painting of the project’s logo.
Certificates were handed out in an informal and celebrating mood.
During the day, although Portuguese, Croatian, Polish and French students were able to attend several activities which were planned in the end of the second term of the school year, all finished the wall painting of the project’s logo. They had the chance to strengthen their bonds.
Teachers had the opportunity to discuss and assess the mobility as a positive and meaningful experience.