The project has an attractive title starting as a story “Once upon a time...” but emphasised on “THE SEA”, which appears as a common denominator for the participant countries Italy, Spain, Romania and Portugal, lying near Mediterranean, Black Sea or Atlantic Ocean which are facing pollution problems. We will imagine the marine environment as giant labs and a learning space, involving students in research activities that contribute to the formation of an ecological and civic behaviour, approaching the problems of ecosystems through the interdisciplinary lessons. The project is even more attractive with the activities that will stimulate their motivation to explore the sea natural attributes from a cultural – artistic perspective. The essence of their perception on the role they can assume in the environment protection will be outlined in the script of the play written and performed by the students from the participating countries in the final meeting in Italy. The new digital era implies communication via modern tools e-mail, e Twinning, Twin space, Twitter, websites, which will enable the use of innovative educational methods to help the students approach the project theme exchanging information in their mother tongue and in English, thus encouraging the learning of foreign languages. Around 1890 students aged between 7 and 14 and 70 teachers of Biology, Chemistry, Geography, English, History, Drawings, Art, Literature, will be involved in project activities in order to form a civic behaviour and increase awareness of environment problems. There will be a special attention granted to the inclusion of 100 students with social and disability problems, involving them in activities compatible with their competences. We'll promote differentiated learning styles in order to support the students with visual, auditory and kinetic problems. Assistive technology will be made appropriate, plus the participation of a teacher support for children with health problems to help them to be confident when taking part in the activities that they can develop. In terms of teaching side, specialised teachers will help participants through the use of appropriate methodologies, applied in accordance with the actual needs of each. The proposed activities will be particularly attractive due to their variety: video-conferences, transnational seminars, symposiums online on different themed topics (the main ports, maritime transport, water sports, marine eco-system), SEART exhibitions: drawings, paintings, graphics and mural painting, photography; different contests ( music, film) and literary (story, legends, poems), creation of decorations from natural sea materials, outdoor and cleaning activities; sea cross-running, Marine Life Carnival. There will be used innovative methods specific to the students’ education in order to stimulate their motivation, creativity and involvement in class: task-oriented exercises, discovery, case study, role play, projects, individual and group activities. Many of the planned activities will be implemented in the daily work programs. In the assessment process, the assessor sets the methods to be used (interview, online questionnaire creation and fill-out, observation sheets). It will be prepared an assessment report for all project outcomes and together with the management team it will be set remedial actions for any dysfunction. The project advertising campaign consists of periodical briefings in teachers’, parents’ and students’ meetings, articles in the written press and TV programmes, preparation and distribution of brochures, information or advertising materials. The project activities and outcomes will be presented on the project website, such as the marine mini-dictionary, posters, mural paintings, songs, photos, culinary brochures and literary creations, educational games, multimedia presentations. They will all enrich and diversify the range of teaching materials of all partner schools. The project participants will have the opportunity to get familiar with various educational systems, represent their school abroad and, via mobilities, get to know the cultures from other countries. Schools will prepare students for an ever-changing society. It will be changes in the curriculum by creating optional courses, sustainable cooperation among partners after project completion, significant experience in implementing European projects. All our experiences, tutorials, movies, podcast, image previews, reports will be updated on our website and on our face book wall. All partners hope that this project and all parties’ joint efforts shall contribute to make education for environment protection one of the most important educational factors for the young generation. All those who will contribute to the successful execution of activities submitted in this project will be animated by the deep desire that future generations not need to say about THE SEA, only... Once upon a time...
The attractive title of the project, starting as a story "Once upon a time ...", but emphasizing "THE SEA", has become a common denominator for partner schools, located in areas near the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, or the Atlantic Ocean that faces pollution problems. For three years, the marine environment has become a huge learning laboratory for students who have been involved in various activities, all with the main purpose of forming responsible ecological and civic behavior. The project proved to be interesting and attractive due to the activities included in the implementation plan, which stimulated the motivation to explore the sea and its natural attributes from a cultural-artistic perspective. The essence of the project participants' perception about the role they can play in protecting the marine environment emerges from the script of the play entitled "Traveling with Ulysses", performed by students from all partner schools, during virtual LTT activities, organized by the school partner from Italy. Digital communication tools have allowed the use of innovative teaching methods that have helped teachers and students to approach the topic of the project, exchanging information in English or their mother tongue, thus stimulating language learning. A lot of students and teachers were involved in the project activities, promoting differentiated learning styles in teaching activities to support students in awareness of the problems facing the marine environment and areas coastal. The proposed activities proved to be very attractive due to their variety: video conferences, transnational seminars, online symposia on various thematic topics (main ports, maritime transport, water sports, biodiversity of marine ecosystems), SEART exhibitions: drawings, paintings, graphics, and mural painting, photography; various art and literary competitions (Sea Poems, The Sea in stories and legends), making decorations using natural marine materials, outdoor activities and greening actions; Sea Cross, Marine Life Carnival, creating of educational games. In the curricular activities complementary to the project theme, innovative methods specific to the students' age were used to stimulate their motivation, creativity, and involvement: task-oriented exercises, discovery, case study, role play, projects, individual and group activities. At the same time, the project brought changes to the curriculum by creating curricula and conducting optional courses ("Children and the Sea" and "The Sea from legend to art"). In the process of evaluating the project implementation stage, the degree of completion of the final products, or obtaining feedback on the impact of the product, various tools were used: dialogue, interview, completed online questionnaires, observation or evaluation sheets, reports. All this helped the project teams from the partner schools to establish remedial actions for any dysfunction that occurred during the implementation period. The promotion and dissemination of relevant aspects and results were carried out at the level of partner schools on the occasion of regular meetings of teachers, parents, and students, at the local, regional, or national level, through articles in print, online, news, and TV shows, organization or participation of members project team at various events where leaflets, project information brochures or other promotional materials were distributed to participants. The activities and results of the project were posted in the online spaces dedicated to the project and can be accessed free of charge and unlimited by those interested. All materials created as a result of the project can be considered real educational resources, which can enrich and diversify the range of school teaching materials: a methodological guide for learning activities with students, mini-dictionary and mini-atlas on marine biodiversity, brochures with recipes based on fish and seafood, literary creations of students (poems, stories, legends), educational games, thematic multimedia presentations. We mention that the participants in the LTT activities had the opportunity to get acquainted with various educational systems, to know the cultures of other European peoples, and to contribute to the promotion of the image of the schools of origin at the European level. Also, the entire experience gained will be used for the implementation of other European projects, at a local or regional level. All partners believe that this project and the joint efforts of all parties have contributed to the formation of appropriate behavior for environmental protection, being one of the most important educational factors for the young generation, which will never be forced to say: THE SEA? It was ONCE UPON A TIME...