In the Erasmus+Project “Life at, in and with water” partner schools from three countries take part (Italien (IPS F.S.CABRINI), Slovakia (Gymnazium Ludovita Stura in Zvolen) and Germany (Weiltalschule Weilmünster)). The Weiltalschule Weilmünster is responsible for the coordination of the project. The project group of the Weiltalschule Weilmünster would like to create a concept in the context of this project in form of a manual. The Slovakian and the Italian school want to improve their pupils’ German knowledge. In the course of the project the Italian pupils as disadvantaged people in an economically underdeveloped region should foster their self-confidence by strengthening their social, cultural and scientific competences. Therewith they increase their chances on the job market. They equally do so by achieving relevant certificates such as the EuroPassportMobility. At the same time new possibilities to get to know Europe as a big job market and to overcome existing prejudices open up through the transnational cooperation. For all three partner schools the promotion of scientific competences is a matter of concern and is seen as an aspect of school development. In total 56 persons, of which 9 teachers, are taking part in the project. Indirectly approximately 2400 people will be included because of the meetings in the respective countries and because of the distribution activities. At the beginning of the project course there will be a first meeting of the teaching staff in charge of all the partner schools to discuss the organization and realization of the project. At the end of the project course there will be another meeting of the staff to evaluate the project and to write the final report. The topic related projects will deal with the following issues in the context of water: - biological, chemical and physical examinations of water - groundwater and soft water springs – resources for life - life at and in water – influence of mankind In the course of the project the participants should become aware of the meaning of conservation of nature and water in the respective local area. A special task will be to work out the similarities and differences of the different regions with the help of topic related projects. The participants achieve and deepen their skills in lifelong learning by learning at out-of-school places. Analyzing the different results will help the students to recognize the European/ international dimension of the subject matter. At the same time the pupils learn methods of scientific work in a cross-national context and therewith amplify their competences concerning a continuously changing working environment. They practice learning and teaching activities while developing scientific experiments with their European partners at the three planned cross-national meetings. Together they will carry out water examinations, excursions to out-of-school places in the context of their respective topic related projects (soft water springs and sea water, river excursion, resettlement projects such as the salmon-resettlement in the river Lahn, and others) and cross-national group work. In discussing sessions they can question different approaches and assess them. They will get familiar with debating and arguing with international partners and therewith will improve their language skills. In addition the participants will get to know and estimate the cultural diversity of the host countries during the meetings. During the whole course of the project the partners will communicate regularly about the development of their projects via internet (Project-Wiki). All participants will keep contact regularly via email and via eTwinning or TwinSpace. The pupils amplify and deepen their communication technology skills concerning searching information, summarizing and digitally adapting results with appropriate use of the media and creating presentations, folders, films and others. They work with the communication platform eTwinning and use TwinSpace. At the final meeting the cross-national work on the synthesis of all the project results will lead to a common charter. One of the most important results will be the multilingual manual on the topic as a basis of the scientific lessons at school. The project results shall be used by the partner schools as well as by neighbouring schools to support science education and foreign language teaching. Schools in all Europe have the option of viewing and using the project results on the earnings platform.
In times of increasingly scarce resources, the pupils working in the Erasmus+ project “Life at, in and with water” were made familiar with the facets of the sensitive substance water as a basis of life for humans, animals and plants. In the course of the exchange program they learned about cultural traditions, regional differences and peculiarities. In the subprojects they worked on the following topics in the context of living with water: - biological, chemical and physical examinations of water - groundwater and soft water – resources for life - Living at and in the water – human influence The project group’s students of the Weiltalschule Weilmünster acquired scientific competences working on experiments, going on field trips and taking part in the exchange program. In the course of the project the students produced a manual for elective science lessons. Through the dissemination of the material, many students were able to improve their language abilities as well as their scientific skills. The Slowakian students could improve their competences in acquiring the German language by taking part in exchange activities, video conferences, preparation of presentations and through exchange via social media. The German school drew on the multiple experiences of the partner schools in water- and chemical analysis (training of laboratory assistants in the Italian school, Slovakian upper secondary school) and made them available for the students of the ninth and tenth class in Weilmünster. During the project significant differences quantity of the water resources in terms of quality and quantity in all three countries became clearly evident. Those differences were prepared and made aware for the school communities in all three partner schools. The topic of the consequences of the summer of 2018, climate change and plastic waste were also addressed. The avoidance of plastic waste and the critical examination of the problem was also addressed in all three schools. During the course of the project the actions of “Fridays for Future” also contributed to raising awareness and sparked discussions. The results of the Erasmus + Project led to the participation in the energy-saving contest by co2 online. The results of the Erasmus+ projects led to the certification of the Weiltalschule as “Umweltschule des Landes Hessen” by the state of Hesse. A total of 56 people, including nine teachers, participated as travelers in the exchange activities. 3000 people were involved in the project by taking part in the dissemination activities. During the first transnational meeting arrangements concerning responsibilities, deadlines and evaluations were made. Through personal descriptions the students got to know each other and started to communicate over a variety of channels. The students could apply at all schools for the exchange program. At the Italian and Slowakian schools, learning German as a foreign language was a requirement for participating in the program. In the German school the elective course “Erasmus+ project-sciences” with three hours a week was established. The participating students worked intensively on the project for two school years. In the Italian and Slowakian schools study groups with the goal of working on the project were set up. All other students were involved in the project through the dissemination activities. Results of the subprojects were exchanged and differences identified. The German school took part in a reintroduction project of salmon in the river Weil and took over continuing sponsorships for salmon fishes. All presentations were prepared in German and English by the German students. The students received the Europass mobility as well ass the Europass CV which also includes language skills. During the last meeting in Weilmünster a joint project charter was voted on and handed over to the mayors and the government president. A handbook in German as a basis for the elective science course and in multilingual form with Slovakian and Italian translations for the teaching of German as a foreign language is available for Italian and Slovakian school. All results are available on the homepage of the project.