The Secrets of Herbal Plants Nowadays everything must go very fast: people work too much and do not have time to eat in a healthy way or to take a break. When many of us do not feel well, we simply take a pill and everything goes on in our lives as before. The knowledge about herbs, their effects and possible applications were passed on earlier from generation to generation. In our modern world, however, this knowledge was more and more forgotten. In a society that focuses increasingly on natural and healthy products, it is vital to understand how herbal plants can help us maintain and improve our health and good spirits. It is also important to know which plants in our region can help us produce ointments and infusion tea. You can create these products on your own without grabbing for medicine. Working with herbal plants gives us a number of exciting opportunities to turn to various topics. As the focal point we aim to research the curing power of the plants as well as their usage in cosmetics and gastronomy. Students aged between 15-17 from three countries (Turkey, Italy and Hungary) will work together on the project. Their work will be coordinated and directed by teachers of various subjects (German language, IT, Biology, History, and Forestry). Experts and parents will also be drawn into the program. The language of communication will be German. Students will get to know 10 typical native herbal plants in all three countries, will create a book together, in which they will present plants with photographs, and they will describe their effects and usage. The participants will learn to determine the unknown herbal plants with the help of books and apps (e.g. P1@nNet). They will collect Grandma’s health tips and will compile a recipe book. Students will also learn when and how to grow, collect, dry and store properly herbal plants. They will observe herbs, play a so called fragrance game, do a herb quiz, and make tea. Participants will also learn which herbal plants they can use in the kitchen. They will interview chefs, housewives and make herbal products according to old recipies. They will visit an olive oil factory, and a cheese factory, where they can make interviews with the directors of the companies. Students will examine the possibilities of using herbal plants for the sake of beauty. They will pay a visit to a soap producer, who uses herbs for her soap products and a cosmetician, who uses creams with herbs. Students can experiment in several areas as they can produce creams and soap themselves. Learning about herbal plants and their use will contribute to the fact that participants will lead a healthier life, take pharmaceuticals less frequently and eat in a more conscious way. Grandma’s old recipes will be passed on and natural products will be preferred. With this project we intend to motivate our students to prefer to study science subjects. As the participants will have to cooperate with students from other countries, their communicative and intercultural abilities will develop. They will get to know other cultures and religions, will be more tolerant and understanding toward them. Their communication in German is supposed to diminish their inhibitions as they will use the language as means of communication, which will motivate them to actively learn the language. Utilizing modern documentation technical devices (films, digital media) will be an important part of the project, whereby they will be able to improve their IT competence, too. With the help of the project, the connection of the three schools will be more profound and the linguistic and IT competences as well as the teachers‘ classroom methods will be developed.
Nowadays we try to live healthy - we watch what we eat, we do sports, but when we have health problems, we easily reach for medicine. Young people are no longer familiar with the medicinal plants growing around us and their effects, although we encounter them in our daily lives in remedies such as herbal teas and pills, in cosmetics such as ointments and lotions, or in our everyday food. These medicinal and aromatic herbs receive little attention as subjects in school curricula, so we felt it was important for the younger generation to learn about this topic as well. With our project, we wanted the students to understand how herbal plants can help us maintain and improve our well-being and health. It was also important that they become aware of the dangers and limitations of medicinal plants. Our goal was also to explore and collect grandma's herb recipes. Our project goals also included improving participants' key competencies (especially social, intercultural, language, and ICT skills) and language learning. We also wanted to motivate our students to learn less popular science subjects. In each of the three countries, the participants learned about 10 medicinal plants and their effects with all their senses. They collected information about these medicinal plants with the help of the Internet, compiled a glossary in four languages on the topic, planned posters about these medicinal plants, created a plant book, a recipe book and presentations and at the end of the mobility programs they organized exhibitions in the schools (in Italy, in Turkey) and in the city center (in Hungary) to raise people's awareness about the healing effects of the plants. The participants investigated the various uses of medicinal plants. In Hungary the theme was "Cosmetics - Nature", in Italy "Medicinal Herbs in the Kitchen" and in Turkey "The Pharmacy Nature". While working on these topics, the participants learned about medicinal plants that they can easily use in their natural cosmetics and at home in the kitchen. They learned which medicinal plants can be used with which foods, collected recipes with different medicinal plants, prepared these dishes and recorded the cooking process on video. They also wrote advertisements about the different medicinal plants. They visited herbal bazaars where they learned about many exotic spices. They interviewed old people about what natural cures they use for different diseases. The participants learned to identify unknown medicinal plants with the help of identification books and with apps (e.g. Pl@nNet,). The students in Hungary planned and planted a medicinal herb garden. They learned how to care for, harvest, and process the herbs. The students looked for examples of the use of medicinal plants in art. They searched the literary works of various writers and poets for uses of medicinal plants as motifs, as love potions, or as poisonous concoctions. They made illustrations to them and completed presentations. Their work was supported by various professionals, for example in Hungary by a beautician, a soap maker, a cheese maker and a beekeeper. In Italy they received advice from chefs, and from the owner of an organic farm. In Turkey they consulted the owner of an olive factory. During the cooperation, presentations, test tasks in the topic of "medicinal plants" were created, which can be used together with the plant book in Biology classes in the future. The students also created test items, videos about their experience, showing the culture, traditions and table culture of the partner countries, which can also be used in different lessons. (German, Geography, or Class teacher's lesson). The project work was complemented in all three countries by cultural and tourist programs, which served for the participants to get to know better the life, culture, traditions of the host country. They gained insights into the everyday school and family life of the students of the partner countries, which developed their intercultural competences. The language of communication was German. Through the joint work, the foreign language skills of the participants improved, which nowadays is indispensable for a good job. These project results were also shared on the Internet, on the schools' websites, on a joint project website and on e-Twinning. Presentations were given to classmates, teachers, parents and also to the inhabitants of the towns.