The project "The Last Chance - Preserving Biodiversity for Future Generations" is a strategic partnership formed byschools from Italy, Romania, Spain, Poland and Turkey. The schools put emphasis on teaching natural sciences and are all interested in developing a project which combines these subjects, English and ICT as well as art, music and sport. The cooperation between the partners, who contacted through etwinning, started before submitting the application. The project is addressed to students aged 16 -18 and teachers. The aim of the project is to to develop students' knowledge and skills in natural sciences as well as improve their language skills, especially ESP. Other objectives are as follows: a) learn how to plan, conduct and analyse a scientific research b)develop ICT skills c) develop interpersonal and intercultural competences d)exchange experiences and good practice e)carry out peer learning activities and workshops e)raise ecological awareness of the students and local communities The project is going to last three years. The partners will focus on the topic of biodiversity and will analyse the anthropogenic causes of the decrease of biodiversity as well as discuss actions whose aim is to improve the quality of the natural environment. Some of the discussed topics are: destruction of the habitats and ecosystems, reintroduction and restitution, species and area protection. The project activities will take place through the project website and the project TwinSpace on the eTwinning site and short-term exchanges of groups of students. 9 short-term exchanges, in which 298 participants will take part, are planned. The criteria for choosing the students include the level of English proficiency, good marks in natural sciences, understanding of the objectives of the project and active participation in the life of the school and local community. Also, 4 transnational project meetings, in which 32 participants will take part, are planned. Some of the activities that will be carried out during student exchanges are as follows: a)lectures and experiments at universities; the aim is to develop students' knowledge and skills (e.g. teach them how to analyse the purity of the natural environment using the chemical, biological and physical methods) b)field workshops and guided trips to national parks, ecological centres, refinery, wind farms, hydro thermal dam, etc. c)seminars and CLIL lessons d)activities promoting ecological issues in the local community, e.g. happenings, eco-fashion show, eco-festival, Open Stage music festival, photography exhibition, festival of films and commercials made by the students, poetry competition, sports competition, etc. e)workshops during which the students will prepare the project products, e.g. a booklet "Species and Biological Biodiversity in Europe", eTwinning gallery "Biodiversity in Music, Literature and Art", leaflets, multimedia presentations, project website Moreover, during each exchange visit activities introducing traditions and culture of the host country will take place. Each school will form Project Club which will coordinate students taking part in activities. Students in between exchange visits will develop knowledge, practice English, prepare the materials necessary for the next meeting (films, presentations, surveys, questionnaires, photos). They will use the project website, eTwinning and social networking sites to collaborate. Throughout the project activities, students will be given the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills in natural sciences, improve language skills and ICT skills, develop interpersonal and intercultural competences. They will be able to carry out peer learning workshops. Teachers will exchange good practice and experiences, especially those connected with CLIL. Ecological awareness of the students and local communities will raise and wide access to the project results will be provided . The project will have a significant impact on the students, teachers and schools: a) students will develop their knowledge and skills in natural sciences by doing, seeing and experiencing b) they will be aware of their own and European culture, will be open and tolerant c) project activities will stimulate their creativity d) their motivation to learn English as well as language competence will increase e) they will develop intercultural competence f)they will develop ICT skills g) teachers' professional skills will increase; they will learn new methods, exchange experiences h) schools will gain prestige in the district and improve the quality of work i) schools and local communities will have the ecological awareness Long term benefits will be seen in the activities of people who are students today and in the future will have a real impact on European cooperation, partnership and integration across all the differences that wil not divide, but inspire.
The project "The Last Chance - Preserving Biodiversity for Future Generations" was a strategic partnership formed by schools from Italy, Romania, Spain, Poland and Turkey. The schools put emphasis on teaching natural sciences and were all interested in developing a project which would combine these subjects, English and ICT as well as art, music and sport. The cooperation between the partners, who had contacted through eTwinning, started before submitting the application. The project was addressed to students aged 15 -18 and teachers. The aim of the project was to develop students' knowledge and skills in natural sciences as well as improve their language skills, especially ESP. Other objectives were as follows: a) learn how to plan, conduct and analyse a scientific research, b)develop ICT skills, c) develop interpersonal and intercultural competences, d)exchange experiences and good practice, e)carry out peer learning activities and workshops, e)raise ecological awareness of the students and local communities. The project was carried out for three years. The partners focused on the topic of biodiversity and analysed the anthropogenic causes of the decrease of biodiversity as well as discussed actions whose aim was to improve the quality of the natural environment. Some of the discussed topics included destruction of the habitats and ecosystems, reintroduction and restitution, species and area protection. The project activities took place through the project website and the project TwinSpace on the eTwinning site and short-term exchanges of groups of students. There were 9 short-term exchanges, in which 244 participants took part. The criteria for choosing the students included the level of English proficiency, good marks in natural sciences, understanding of the objectives of the project and active participation in the life of the school and local community. Also, there were 4 transnational project meetings, in which 34 participants took part. Some of the activities that were carried out during student exchanges are as follows: a)lectures and experiments at universities; the aim was to develop students' knowledge and skills (e.g. teach them how to analyse the purity of the natural environment using the chemical, biological and physical methods), b)field workshops and guided trips to national parks, ecological centres, refinery, wind farms, hydro thermal dam, etc., c)seminars and CLIL lessons, d)activities promoting ecological issues in the local community, e.g. happenings, eco-fashion shows, eco-festival, Open Stage music festival, photography exhibitions, festival of films and commercials made by the students, poetry competition, e)workshops during which the students prepared the project products, e.g. a booklet "Species and Biological Biodiversity in Europe", eTwinning gallery "Biodiversity in Music, Literature and Art", leaflets, multimedia presentations, films. Moreover, during each exchange activities introducing traditions and culture of the host country were held. Each school formed Project Club whose aim was to coordinate students taking part in activities. Students in between exchanges developed knowledge, practiced English, prepared the materials necessary for the next mobility (films, presentations, surveys, questionnaires, photos). They used eTwinning, Skype, communicators and social networking sites to collaborate. Throughout the project activities, students were given the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills in natural sciences, improve language skills and ICT skills, develop interpersonal and intercultural competences. They were able to carry out peer learning workshops. Teachers exchanged good practices and experiences, especially those connected with CLIL. Ecological awareness of the students and local communities raised and wide access to the project results was provided . The project had a significant impact on the students, teachers and schools: a) students developed their knowledge and skills in natural sciences by doing, seeing and experiencing, b) they are aware of their own and European culture; they are open and tolerant, c) project activities stimulated their creativity, d) their motivation to learn English as well as language competence increased, e)they developed intercultural competence, f) they developed ICT skills, g) teachers' professional skills increased; they learned new methods and exchanged experiences, h) schools gained prestige in the district and improved the quality of work, i) ecological awareness of the students, teachers, school workers and local communities increased. Long term benefits will be seen in the activities of people who are students today and in the future will have a real impact on European cooperation, partnership and integration across all the differences that will not divide, but inspire.