This two-year project between Gymnazium Jihlava and Cygnus Gymnasium joins together students of 14-16 and their teachers who will work together on topics from biology, chemistry, history, geography and art. Both schools want their students to practise their presentation skills more, to work on scientific field in depth and to increase students´ interest in other culture, history, art and traditions. There are three main topic areas. First, scientific research will be based on exploration of geomorphological units and ecosystems which are unique for one country and not found in the second country. Secondly, comparison of everyday life in both countries will be done. Third, comparison of two capital cities Amsterdam and Prague and also Jihlava city and Highland region will be done. The basic project team is composed of 7 teachers and 44 students but as the topic is quite wide, in some way, all the students and teachers of both schools will take part in the project. A big number of activities will be prepared by both schools, such as scientific, linguistic and history preparation for students, presentations, exhibitions. Students and their teachers will use eTwinning for their project work. The used methodology will be mainly participative and active. Our intention is to make the students active as much as possible. They will study, explore, do experiments, present and disseminate too. Teachers will be their coordinators and guides. There will also be a systematic evaluation of the project. As final results, on the material side, Twinspace will be create, as well as project website, project DVD, leaflets, pictures, scientific dictionary, miniature landscape models will be made. On the personal side, project enables to establish friendship among students and teachers and also increases students´ interest in other culture.
This two-year project between Gymnazium Jihlava and Cygnus Gymnasium joined together students of 14-16 years old working on science, culture and arts in order to improve the students’ use of the English language and of their presentation and scientific skills and to increase students´ interest in these subjects. Scientific research was based on exploration of geomorfological units and ecosystems which are unique for one country and not found in the second one. Secondly, students were able to compare everyday life in both countries and also comparison of two capital cities, Jihlava and Highland region was done. During the short-term exchanges of students, a wide variety of activities were organized by both schools. In between both short-term exchanges as well as after, the Czech and Dutch partners performed tasks on various subjects in order to ensure a long-lasting interaction between participants. Students were made active as much as possible. They participated in a crash course, explored, did experiments and presented their results as well as the project itself. The main results of the project are project website, videos, scientific dictionary, leaflets and miniature landscape models. Teachers and project coordinators of both schools communicated regularly to establish an interesting, well organized and challenging programme for the students. During both transnational meetings of teachers, the finalisation of the project with regards to the final results and reports were extensively discussed. This project has led to a well-balanced, cultural and scientific exchange between both schools which will be continued and developed further in the near future. The established friendships and the increased knowledge of both cultures also offer possibilities for students and teachers to develop personally.