Our main objective was to develop, test, evaluate and disseminate OrganKits – innovative teaching materials based on plastinated organs - as a new resource for secondary-school STEAM education. Through these materials, we aimed to make learning about health and wellbeing more engaging, practical and competence-based. More specifically, we wanted to: Help students develop Key Competences such as scientific literacy, problem-solving, digital skills and teamwork through a PBL and STEAM approach. Connect classroom activities with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially health, quality education, gender equality and environment. Provide teachers with guides, activities and training to make the kits easy to use in everyday lessons. Validate the model in schools across Europe and share it widely so that it can be adopted, scaled up and sustained in different countries.
We applied for this project because we identified a clear gap in secondary-school education: students often learn about health and anatomy only through textbooks or digital resources, without access to safe, tangible materials that can boost curiosity and support STEAM learning. At the same time, teachers reported a lack of ready-to-use teaching kits that integrate science with transversal competences and the Sustainable Development Goals. The need we addressed was therefore twofold. On one hand, to provide innovative, durable and safe materials—plastinated organs presented in OrganKits—that allow students to explore diverse curricular content topics in class. On the other, to support teachers with structured guides, digital resources and training, so they can easily implement active, competence-based learning on key health and social topics. In addition, the project responded to wider needs at European level: to promote STEAM education, to link school practice with sustainability, inclusion and digitalisation, and to offer young people meaningful learning experiences that connect directly to health, environment and wellbeing.