The project "Rescue Maja" takes place between the professional grammar school in Falkenberg / Elster and the Talsu 2. Vidsskola in Latvia. The project involves students aged 16-18. The exchange takes place in the period from 15.10. - 19.10.2018 (first meeting) in Falkenberg and from 08.04. - 12.04.2019 (return visit) in Talsi (Latvia). Between the visits, the exchange of information takes place via the eTwinning platform in order to continue the work process in one's own country in order to open a planned exhibition at Museum Talsi on the return visit. The decline in bee colonies and the resulting threat to beekeepers' lives is an acute and global problem. There are complex reasons for this, which should be made aware. A central goal of our project is the sensitization of the students to the global problem of bee mortality. They learn that environmental problems have no spatial and social boundaries. For Latvian and German students, this context has the same explosive effect, and thus the same motivation is developing in both countries to make the death of bees present to society and to stop it. The expertise is taught by teachers, university professors, museum directors or by self-research and the development of specialist texts and attained accompanying excursions to learning venues. The project "Rescue Maja" offers multi-layered covers, so that versatile products will emerge. These are exhibited as a collection along with informational materials in the Talsi District Museum, local heritage museum and participating schools. The topics relate to general information on the bee, the hive and the use of bees, as well as subject-specific information on behavioral biology, genetics, state formation, endangerment and options for saving the bees. Furthermore, computer-animated visual aids are created with the pupils, which simulate the bee dance and the behavior in the stick. A bee robot is supposed to enlarge the typical movements of the beneficial insects as a model. The project work should be presented by the students in biology lessons. For this they create teaching and learning materials that work up the topic in its entirety. In addition, game materials are to be designed and created in order to address the issue of bee mortality in the local kindergartens and elementary schools. The game material creates a haptic access for children, so playful with simple expertise, the explosive nature of the topic can be recorded even in the smallest learners. Another result of the project is the creation of a bee meadow with an eHive near the school in Germany. This is a lasting and long-term reminder of the success of the project.
The project "Rescue Maja" took place between the vocational gymnasium in Falkenberg / Elster with the Talsu 2. Vidsskola in Latvia. The project involved students aged 16-18. The exchange took place in the period from 15.10. - 19.10.2018 (first meeting) in Falkenberg and from 08.04. - 12.04.2019 (return visit) in Talsi (Latvia). Between the visits, the exchange of information takes place via the eTwinning platform. Here, the working materials from Germany, the created templates and photos were inserted. A central goal of our project is the sensitization of the students to the global problem of bee mortality. They learn that environmental problems have no spatial and social boundaries. The expertise was provided by teachers, researchers, beekeepers in the area, self-research and specialized texts. The 15.10.2018 was the day of arrival of the Latvian students and their supervising teachers. A delegation of students from the vocational high school and the teachers welcomed the exchange students and drove them to the accommodation in the hostel to Uebigau. Actually, the accommodation should be in host families, as described in the application, but the desire of students from Germany and Latvia was expressed in a central accommodation to be accommodated. This request was met, the Latvian students were therefore housed in the castle hostel in Uebigau. On 16/10/2018, the pupils, at school, grouped together the following topics: bees and biodiversity, bee state, bee year and honey emergence, bee health, needs and dangers for bees, communication and bee intelligence as well as honey components and honey products. For this purpose, material from journals and, as a first orientation, internet pages were made available to the groups. The students independently researched their topic and first had to explain the topic in English to the Latvian students. Furthermore, a beekeeper was invited to a seminar course group of the vocational high school, the topic bee meadow and the development of a hive. On Wednesday we drove to Drasdo on the beekeeper's farm. There we were shown a presentation of the beekeeper, which made explanations to his work. Furthermore, in the sling room, the production of honey was explained to us in the individual steps. On 18.10.2018 we went to Berlin in the state institute for beekeeping. We were given a tour of the institute and the scientists introduced us to their research on Varroa mite and the reaction of bees to different stimuli. Thereafter, there was a self-planned city tour of the German students. Friday was spent at school, in the morning the students prepared their presentations by making posters and conducted group experiments with honey. We put a bee pasture on the school grounds. An eHive should be set up near the school, which could not be achieved due to the enormous cost of this digital bee box. However, there is already a beekeeper near the school, which expressed itself very positively about the resulting bee pasture. At the end of the day, the students presented their work. On Saturday we went to Wittenberg, there we got a city tour, visited the Panometer and at the end there was a meal together. On Sunday, the Latvian students left again. On 07.04.2019 we started to Riga, arrived in Riga we were taken by bus in the 2 hours away Talsi. On the second day we got an insight into the life and culture of Latvia. Subsequently, the Latvian student company "Honeylips" presented their project and also our student company "Beethink" presented their work. In the afternoon we went on an excursion to the nature park "Laumas." On day 3 we worked on our project using a robot simulating the bee flight and explaining and testing the card game of the junior company "Beethink". Also a German and Latvian bee song was learned. In the afternoon we drove to Ventspils and visited the Olympic center there. In the morning, the project was carried out with a 2nd and a 4th class. The students first presented our project "Rescue Maja", then a honeycomb puzzle was explained to the bee state in the groups, sung together and then the bees robots were built in 3 groups and played the card game in the other 3 groups Coast to Kolka On this day the journey took us to the capital Riga, where on the last day there was a final round in which all of her impressions of the week were briefly recorded.