Education needs new challenges and it has to take a stand on the questions and trends of the present and future. Our project will deal with the link between the global and local aspects, contemporary phenomena and we will draw personal conclusions. Our project "Zoos versus the protection of animal species" will especially focus on preserving biological diversity. The main motto of our project work will be the quote by M. Gandhi: "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Scientists warn that the extinction of animal species is in full flow. European and local zoos greatly contribute to the preservation of these species. The objectives of our project for all partner schools include improving the quality of education, enhancing key competences, outlining the solution to the problem via the cooperation of schools with European zoos, industry, parents and pupils, integrating pupils, developing and applying innovative approaches on local, regional and European level, developing media competence, European project work and intercultural communication at schools, supporting the acquisition of authentic foreign language competence by pupils and teachers, supporting the exchange of professional pedagogical experience among teachers of partner schools, integrating the school partnerships into teaching via eTwinning, developing involvement and expressing one´s opinion in the society. 5 partner schools participate in this project: Piaristická spojená škola sv. Jozefa Kalazanského in Nitra, Slovakia as the project coordinator, Ludwigsgymnasium in Köthen, Germany, Sukriye Onsun Ilkokulu in Konya, Turkey, Instituto Enseñanza Secundaria “Ategua” in Castro del Río, Spain and Vuosaaren lukio in Helsinki, Finland. Active cooperation among the project partners based on mutual trust was established after the successful completion of several Comenius projects. 5 national and 5 international committees will be set up. About 25 pupils and 8 -10 teachers will actively work in the project team at each partner school. We will cooperate with pupils, teachers, parents, directors of zoos, zookeepers, scientific institutions, universities and colleges, representatives of industry and politics, school administration, involved circles of scientists, representatives of mass media. Pupils will investigate the contribution of zoos to the preservation of species diversity, future prospectives of zoos, international network of zoos, biological diversity, programmes for breeding animals - the exchange of gene pool, appropriate breeding of species according to the international standard, education programmes of zoos, open teaching, the protection of animals versus their rights. Activities include setting up a website for the project, doing research in zoos, creating evaluation worksheets, compiling a polemic dispute on the protection of animals and their rights in German and English, creating a travelling mascot - a lion with the memory stick, comparing projects to protect the lynx, the bat, the breeding programmes of the Spanish fighting bulls, the European bison, Andalusian and Lipizzan horses, researching biological diversity and the protection of the snow leopard in Finland and scientific research on a healthy balanced diet. Methodological approach will be based on the method of "learning by teaching" created by Jean-Pol Martin whose significance lies in transforming the functions of teaching on the pupil. Methodology also includes comparative and research methods, the method of observation, the method of dialogue and panel discussion, learning by thinking, feeling and manipulation, work-oriented action, inclusive pedagogy, differentiation, cooperative learning, focusing on the pupil and process, learning to make free decisions, working on one´s own as well as evaluation methods. The final project results include the Internet project website, eTwinning project, 5 national exhibitions and 1 international exhibition, modules to improve open teaching in Natural Sciences - a methodological portfolio as an online platform for teachers, joint polemic disputes on scientific research, posters and comics on the protection of animals, the project logo, a book with the final project results, a recipe book on a healthy balanced diet, European week as the final project event. The envisaged project impact lies in improving the understanding of the diversity of European cultures and languages, enhancing language, social and digital competences of pupils, improving their academic results, gaining experience from professional life, acquiring better competences for teachers and their work by using methods of teaching linked with practice, strengthening the profile of teaching as a profession. Potential long-term benefits are publishing proven-in-use projects on the website or via eTwinning as a possible exchange of such projects, working out materials for more sample topics for online platform.
Our project "Zoos versus the protection of animal species" focused on preserving biological diversity. The main motto of our project work was M. Gandhi´s quote: "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Scientists warn that the extinction of animal species is in full flow. Our effort in the project was to prove that European and local zoos greatly contribute to the preservation of animal species. The objectives of our project for all partner schools included improving the quality of education, enhancing key competences, outlining the solution to the problem via the cooperation of schools with European zoos, industry, parents and pupils, integrating pupils, developing and applying innovative approaches on local, regional and European level, developing media competence, European project work and intercultural communication at schools, supporting the acquisition of authentic foreign language competence by pupils and teachers, supporting the exchange of professional pedagogical experience among teachers of partner schools, integrating the school partnerships into teaching via eTwinning, developing involvement and expressing one´s opinion in the society. 5 partner schools participated in this project: Piarist United School of St. Joseph Calasanz in Nitra, Slovakia as the project coordinator, Ludwigsgymnasium in Köthen, Germany, Sukriye Onsun Ilkokulu in Konya, Turkey, Instituto Enseñanza Secundaria “Ategua” in Castro del Río, Spain and Vuosaaren lukio in Helsinki, Finland. Active cooperation among the project partners based on mutual trust was established after the successful completion of several Comenius projects. 5 national and 5 international committees were set up. About 25 pupils and 8 -10 teachers actively worked in the project team at each partner school. Whole classes participated in local project activities and national competitions. The age profile of participating pupils ranged from 10 to 18 years. Pupils investigated the contribution of zoos to the preservation of species diversity, international network of zoos, future prospects of zoos biological diversity, programmes for breeding animals - the exchange of gene pool, appropriate breeding of species according to the international standard, educational programmes of zoos, open teaching, the protection of animals versus their rights. We cooperated with pupils, teachers, parents, directors of zoos, zookeepers, animal activists, scientific institutions, universities and colleges, representatives of industry and politics, school administration, involved circles of scientists, representatives of mass media. We organised two transnational project meetings and four educational activites C1 - C4 at each partner school, workshops for pupils and teachers, national and international competitions on designing the project logo, poster and comic, exhibitions to disseminate the project results, evaluation of activities, European week as the final educational activity C4. Activities included doing research on zoos, creating evaluation worksheets, compiling a polemic dispute on the protection of animals and their rights in German and English, creating a travelling mascot - a lion with the memory stick, comparing projects to protect the lynx, the bat, the Spanish fighting bull, the European bison, the Anatolyan wild sheep, Andalusian and Lipizzan horses, researching biological diversity and the protection of the snow leopard in Finland and scientific research on a healthy balanced sustainable diet. Final project results include the project website www.zoopas.org, eTwinning project, 5 national exhibitions and 1 international exhibition, a logo and travelling mascot, lesson plans to improve open teaching in Natural Sciences - a methodological portfolio as an online platform for teachers, research on standards in European zoos, discussion portfolio on the future prospects of zoos, comparison of projects which preserve endangered animal species, a book with the results of scientific research on biological diversity and protection of animals, joint polemic dispute on the protection of animals ad their rights, posters and comics on the protection of animals, a recipe book on a healthy balanced sustainable diet and a portfolio with activities and their evaluation. The project impact lies in enhancing pupils´ language, social and digital competences, gaining new knowledge and experience with professional field, improving their understanding of the diversity of European cultures and languages, acquiring better competences for teachers and their work by using innovative methods of teaching linked with practice, strengthening the profile of teaching as a profession. Potential long-term benefits include publishing proven-in-use projects on various electronic platforms as a possible exchange of such projects and preparing materials for more topics for the online platform.