Gymnazium Jihlava and Cygnus Gymnasium have successfully been cooperating for more than 4 years. Both schools decided to develop a new international exchange project to focus on the improvement of the scientific skills of their students. Even though the students already are good at both English and Science, they need to take a step forward and be able to use their English in the scientific field to be ready for their future careers. The overall objective of the project is therefore developing the students´ already acquired skills and knowledge even further by working on common scientific topics which will be well supported by the English language and cultural experience. We will carefully select 22 Czech and 22 Dutch students in the age group of 14-17 years. The students get the chance to work in the scientific field in depth and more importantly to obtain data on their own and experience life of an international researcher in laboratories and in a field study environment. Our project will provide opportunities for young people to extend and enrich their learning and improve skills in maths, science and literacy. Through a series of programmed activities on the main topic of water, students will learn and enhance their scientific skills, working alongside young people from different cultures and backgrounds. The project work will be enhanced by short-term student exchanges. We aim to achieve the following results: we use Twinspace for the results of several tasks during the project; the development of a project website with outputs of the project; project diaries of all students; a quartets card game; a photoalbum and an exhibition. While this project is aimed at improving students in their language and scientific skills, it will also develop language and project management skills of the teachers involved. With all these impacts, it is possible to consolidate a stable and long lasting relationship between two schools, their students and teachers on institutional and personal level as well.
All the teachers involved in the project are proud to say that it has been a success. We managed to cover all the important and planned activities and succeeded in drawing students´ attention to science at a more academic level. Students got an opportunity to search for themselves in various fields. Doing field study at eco-centres gave the students hand-on experience that usually comes as an extra curricular activity providing students with new insights into the world of science and protection of the planet. Students also got an opportunity to get more knowledgeable about water management. Visiting a water treatment plant and learning about the importance of preserving water presented students with valuable understanding of water management and potential threats created by climate change. The next place that proved to be very successful was Terschelling as the whole experience supplied a great deal of knowledge of various ecosystems and fauna and flora. Students were also confronted with the need to keep track of all the research tasks and activities in their diaries, placing entries on the project website and creating a photo album. All this demanded a combination of skills such as language, computer and also an ability to cooperate as it was all team work. To sum it all up, students were supposed to present a comprehensive overview of their work to a board of teachers and their peers and parents. 22 pupils of Gymnazium Jihlava and 22 pupils of Cygnus Gymnasium took part in project activities actively. Main project results can be seen at twinspace or project website.