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24th April

Teachers: Working sessions in the morning including lunch

Responsible person (country): Polish team

The first working session for teachers started on 24th April 2012 at 9 o’clock at the hotel. Our project coordinator, Thomas, warmly welcomed all teachers and started the session.

 

Part 1: The documentation of the Turkish mobility.

 

The first point of the meeting was connected with organising the documentation of the Turkish mobility. Each team was made responsible for writing one part of a teacher’s report. The countries volunteered for activities to describe. We also decided that the students were obliged to write short texts showing their feelings and impressions connected with their stay in Trabzon. Irina Lucina agreed to collect them and prepare a document in which they were going to be gathered together.

Part 2: The film script.

The development of the film script was one of the most important points of discussion during the second part of the working session. The group shared some ideas concerning making the common video together. We agreed on the themes which the countries could present in their movies and we finally decided that:

- Each team will give a link of a YouTube video containing typical cultural elements and landmarks of a given country. This part should last about 10 seconds.

- Each team will film 20 seconds of beautiful countryside scenes, landscapes, representatives of flora and fauna of the studied area .

- All these both parts of the movie should be sent to Thomas Gerl as a ready material to use for the final film.

Then we discussed in a detailed way the connecting elements that could join the movies prepared by all countries. We agreed on the particular connecting elements:

1. The connecting element between Greece and Latvia: raindrops from Greece falling down in a pond in Latvia.

2. The connecting element between Germany and Slovenia: a person walking down the mountain starting his/her trip in Germany and continuing his/her walk down the mountain covered with a forest in Slovenia.

3. The connecting element between Slovenia and Belgium: a person walking in a forest.

4. The connecting element between Poland and Spain: dunes.

In France the connection between man and his usage of the land will be presented.

5. The connecting element between France and Italy: an agricultural machine (a tractor).

From using the nature in a proper way (fishing, salt production, agriculture) we will pass to admiring the nature: the picture of a person sitting on a bench in a park in Italy eating oysters.

6. The connecting element between Italy and Turkey: tourists visiting the royal palace and dancing in the street.

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Each country will produce 5 minutes of the film, combining the following elements: cultural landmarks, landscape and characteristic features of the studied area. The last part, where students say "This is my place in Europe" could be filmed in traditional costumes.

The speakers in the film will use their native languages. There will be subtitles in English. The teams will send the English text to Thomas Gerl with a timeline indicating in which place the subtitles should appear in the film.

Each team is obliged to send the recorded materials for a final movie until the middle of February. The film will be displayed on the Congress of Youth in Germany.

The next point of the working session concerned the common tool for gathering teachers’ and students’ pictures. We decided that after the mobility in Turkey each coordinator will choose 50 pictures of the best quality and upload them into a common dropbox to share.

The last point of the meeting regarded the organisation of the ecological message contest. The teams decided to enhance the international cooperation of students and encourage them to do the common work within international groups. The students were supposed to form groups consisting of different nationalities and write together creative ecological messages while their stay near the Uzungöl Lake. The students from countries not participating in the mobility to Turkey will decide which messages will be a part of the ecological calendar by voting.

The meeting was over at 12 o’clock and then all teachers and students went to the Yomra Volkan Restaurant to have lunch. The lunch was very delicious and it consisted of traditional Turkish dishes, for example, kirmizi mercimek corbasi (red lentil soup). During the lunch we could enjoy the presence of: the headmaster of Yomra Fen Lisesi - Mr Mehmet Zeki Dikmen, the Manager of Education - Mr Ayhan Hoş, the Maçka governor - Mr Ümit Cavuldak, the Arsin governor – Mr Salih Altun, the Mayor of Yomra – Mr İbrahim Sağıroğlu.

Pupils: Akcabat

Responsible person (country):

City Tour including dinner

Responsible person (country): Slovenia

24.4.2012

The first afternoon of our meeting in Trabzon, our hosts showed us the historical, cultural heritage and food delights of their city and country.

After lunch, we visited the Ayasofya Museum (St.Sophia Museum) from the time of Manuel I Comneusa (13.cent). We admired the message of the old frescoes of this church. A wonderful experience has been prepared to us by young Turkish students who danced on the sounds of their etno music. Many of us were surprised by their joy and energy. Another destination of our visit was Kemal Atatürk Pavilion. We have learned that the Turks are very proud of their great national leader, the first president of the modern Republic of Turkey (1881-1938).

Our next destination was the mosque Gulbaharhatun. All women were required to be covered with scarves, as it is applied for the visitors of mosques. In the silence we observed the prayer of Muslims.

Our first joint dinner was offered to us by the Orhan Fevzi Gumrukcuoglu, the mayor of Trabzon Municipality. With us, there were representatives of local and school authorities, namely: Fen Lisesi school headmaster-mr. M. Zeki Dikmen; General Manager of Education of District of Yomra-Ayhan Hos; Governer of Macka district-Umit Cavuldak; Governer of District Arsin-Salih Altun and Mayor of the District Yomra-Ibrahim Sagiroglu. Our host Bahar presented us these fine gentlemen and she translated mayor’s speech. He said that they were very honored by our visit and that he wishes, that our expiriences of Turkey would be shared with people in our home countries.

The first day of our roaming in Turkey was wonderful. We all enyojed the beautiful buildings, surroundings and excellent typical Turkish food.

25th April

Working sessions in the morning including lunch

Responsible person (country): Italy

The meeting starts at 9.00 and Thomas Gerl, the coordinator of the Project, begins telling the

teachers to show the teaching materials they have already done.

 

24th April

Teachers: Working sessions in the morning including lunch

Responsible person (country): Polish team

The first working session for teachers started on 24th April 2012 at 9 o’clock at the hotel. Our project coordinator, Thomas, warmly welcomed all teachers and started the session.

Part 1: The documentation of the Turkish mobility.

The first point of the meeting was connected with organising the documentation of the Turkish mobility. Each team was made responsible for writing one part of a teacher’s report. The countries volunteered for activities to describe. We also decided that the students were obliged to write short texts showing their feelings and impressions connected with their stay in Trabzon. Irina Lucina agreed to collect them and prepare a document in which they were going to be gathered together.

Part 2: The film script.

The development of the film script was one of the most important points of discussion during the second part of the working session. The group shared some ideas concerning making the common video together. We agreed on the themes which the countries could present in their movies and we finally decided that:

- Each team will give a link of a YouTube video containing typical cultural elements and landmarks of a given country. This part should last about 10 seconds.

- Each team will film 20 seconds of beautiful countryside scenes, landscapes, representatives of flora and fauna of the studied area .

- All these both parts of the movie should be sent to Thomas Gerl as a ready material to use for the final film.

Then we discussed in a detailed way the connecting elements that could join the movies prepared by all countries. We agreed on the particular connecting elements:

1.   The connecting element between Greece and Latvia: raindrops from Greece falling down in a pond in Latvia.

2.   The connecting element between Germany and Slovenia: a person walking down the mountain starting his/her trip in Germany and continuing his/her walk down the mountain covered with a forest in Slovenia.

3.   The connecting element between Slovenia and Belgium: a person walking in a forest.

4.   The connecting element between Poland and Spain: dunes.

In France the connection between man and his usage of the land will be presented.

5.   The connecting element between France and Italy: an agricultural machine (a tractor).

From using the nature in a proper way (fishing, salt production, agriculture) we will pass to admiring the nature: the picture of a person sitting on a bench in a park in Italy eating oysters.

6.   The connecting element between Italy and Turkey: tourists visiting the royal palace and dancing in the street.

Each country will produce 5 minutes of the film, combining the following elements: cultural landmarks, landscape and characteristic features of the studied area. The last part, where students say "This is my place in Europe" could be filmed in traditional costumes.

The speakers in the film will use their native languages. There will be subtitles in English. The teams will send the English text to Thomas Gerl with a timeline indicating in which place the subtitles should appear in the film.

Each team is obliged to send the recorded materials for a final movie until the middle of February. The film will be displayed on the Congress of Youth in Germany.

The next point of the working session concerned the common tool for gathering teachers’ and students’ pictures. We decided that after the mobility in Turkey each coordinator will choose 50 pictures of the best quality and upload them into a common dropbox to share.

The last point of the meeting regarded the organisation of the ecological message contest. The teams decided to enhance the international cooperation of students and encourage them to do the common work within international groups. The students were supposed to form groups consisting of different nationalities and write together creative ecological messages while their stay near the Uzungöl Lake. The students from countries not participating in the mobility to Turkey will decide which messages will be a part of the ecological calendar by voting.

The meeting was over at 12 o’clock and then all teachers and students went to the Yomra Volkan Restaurant to have lunch. The lunch was very delicious and it consisted of traditional Turkish dishes, for example, kirmizi mercimek corbasi (red lentil soup). During the lunch we could enjoy the presence of: the headmaster of Yomra Fen Lisesi - Mr Mehmet Zeki Dikmen, the Manager of Education - Mr Ayhan Hoş, the Maçka governor - Mr Ümit Cavuldak, the Arsin governor – Mr Salih Altun, the Mayor of Yomra – Mr İbrahim Sağıroğlu.

24.4.2012

The first afternoon of our meeting in Trabzon, our hosts showed us the historical, cultural heritage and food delights of their city and country.

After lunch, we visited the Ayasofya Museum (St.Sophia Museum) from the time of Manuel I Comneusa (13.cent). We admired the message of the old frescoes of this church. A wonderful experience has been prepared to us by young Turkish students who danced on the sounds of their etno music. Many of us were surprised by their joy and energy. Another destination of our visit was Kemal Atatürk Pavilion. We have learned that the Turks are very proud of their great national leader, the first president of the modern Republic of Turkey (1881-1938).

Our next destination was the mosque Gulbaharhatun. All women were required to be covered with scarves, as it is applied for the visitors of mosques. In the silence we observed the prayer of Muslims.

Our first joint dinner was offered to us by the Orhan Fevzi Gumrukcuoglu, the mayor of Trabzon Municipality. With us, there were representatives of local and school authorities, namely: Fen Lisesi school headmaster-mr. M. Zeki Dikmen; General Manager of Education of District of Yomra-Ayhan Hos; Governer of Macka district-Umit Cavuldak; Governer of District Arsin-Salih Altun and Mayor of the District Yomra-Ibrahim Sagiroglu. Our host Bahar presented us these fine gentlemen and she translated mayor’s speech. He said that they were very honored by our visit and that he wishes, that our expiriences of Turkey would be shared with people in our home countries.

The first day of our roaming in Turkey was wonderful. We all enyojed the beautiful buildings, surroundings and excellent typical Turkish food.

25th April

Working sessions in the morning including lunch

Responsible person (country): Italy
The meeting starts at 9.00 and Thomas Gerl, the coordinator of the Project, begins telling the

teachers to show the teaching materials they have already done.

The first teachers who speak are the Spanish ones. They show slides about a teaching unit on Nature: “Structure and dynamics of ecosystem” with pedagogical objectives after their visit to “Donana National Park“.

The second teachers are the French ones. They tell the others about the test on plants they had given to their students. This test was about an interview to a farmer to know the characteristics of a farm. Then they have shown a list of animals their students had done in which they underlined the different species.

Then the Italian team shows slides about plants seen in the” Oasis of San Silvestro” , during the school trip made last November. They propose a list of words about animals or plants in the original Latin name and in English, but most of the members of the team prefers having their students learned only the most common words and pictures about nature such as “ meadows” or “ leaves” or “ animals”, etc. in English language .

Latvia presents its teaching materials showing a template where students had taken a picture named both in English and native language, recording their voice .She will prepare a document with instructions how to use the Glossary and she will share this with the members of the project.

All the members of the Project, after a big discussion, agree with the Latvian idea for the future Glossary.

Then the Latvian teacher tells everybody that she will prepare a Google document to collect students’ impressions about each day here, in Trabzon.

Then the Polish team shows slides about a learning style method: Kolb’s learning style, which they are using with the students in the Project.

Slovenia team shows slides of a presentation of one of their camps on the beach in Slovenia and  how student worked on different school subjects such as Chemistry, Biology and English; then  one of the teachers reminds the extra meeting  in Plecnik ( Ljubljana) in June.

The German coordinator showed how to do a Biology lesson, giving students pictures of different shapes of leaves so that they could recognize the type of plant.

The meeting is over at 12,30 and all the members of the Project with their students go and have lunch.

After  the working sessions, the teachers met with their students in a restaurant close to the city center. After a great typical Turkish lunch, we visited the school “Trabzon Yomra Fen Lisesi”. Mister Mehmet Zeki Dikmen, the headmaster and his teachers showed us the different kind of classrooms, the new building, the sports team,…  It will be great when they can use the whole new school! Tea time! We went  for a typical Semaver Tea in Boztepe. We enjoyed the sun and the  view above Trabzon while eating sunflower seeds, drinking tea  and smoking water pipe. We took the bus back to the city center and finally it was time for the Turkish Hamam. Men and ladies separately. What an experience! But unfortunately we have to say “What happened in the Hamam, stays in the Hamam!” Sorry, no details! For dinner  we went to the Forum Mall, a big shopping center where we had a big choice of different food: pizza, hamburger, dürüm, meze, fish...  The fast eaters could explore the shops. At 22.00  we met in front of the mall door for the trip back to the hotel and dorms. Good night after a very nice and useful day.

26th April Uzungöl Lake

Mist was covering the waters of the Black Sea like a veil and seagulls were soaring through the air. Shrubs of Rhododendron ponticum showed their glowing red flowers on the steep slopes of the coast beneath Picea orientalis trees, when Nazar was happening. Do you know nazar - the Turkish eye? It is said to be an evil look of a jealous person, that causes bad things on another one.

We explored this place, because Çamburnu Beach is the only area in the world, where a spruce species (Picea orientalis) descends right down to sea level. Laughter was in the air when all of a sudden nazar the evil eye hit us in the shape of an accident.

Johannes Almer and Isabelle Deridder just came out of the icy sea water, when Petra Auer tumbled to the ground and injured her knee so badly that she was not able to stand up. What to do? Finally we had to call an ambulance. Petra was packed on a stretcher and was carried up the steep stairs to the ambulance and Johannes accompanied Petra to the hospital.

The mood was not at its best, when we entered our buses and the doors closed behind us. Everyone was worried for Petra’s health when the bus entered Solaklı valley, where tea shrubs (Camellia sinensis)  were covering the rocky slopes like bright green pillows.

The road finds its way along the shores of the Solaklı river through a marvelous canyonland. Now and then the ranges of the Eastern Black Sea mountains touch the river and its white water cataracts. After 40 km the valley finally opens to the basin of Lake Uzungöl. Wooden houses huddle together on its shore and the minarett of the Mosque pokes into the blue sky. 

A group of our Turkish friends prepared an excellent barbecue for all of us with Köfte Sandwiches for lunch. The afternoon was dedicated to the overwhelming biodiversity of these mountains. Thanks to the good organisation of our Turkish hosts, we had the pleasure to be guided by one of the best known botanists of Karadeniz Technical  University: Prof. Dr. Kamil Coşkunçelebi, who is not only a big authority on Caucasian plants, author of several books and publications on unknown species in this region, but he is also the father of one of the Turkish students, who accompanied us this day.

Under the guidance of this expert, we hiked along the road uphill. The typical vegetation of this area consists of Picea orientalis, Fagus orientalis and  Acer cappodocicum. A very striking shrub is Rhododendron ponticum, which is accompanied by three other Rhododendron species in these mountains. Among several other bushes a lot of Sambucus racemosa species could be found. The herbal layer was dominated in this spring aspect by the pink cushions of flowering Primula vulgaris. This plant mixes with Primula veris and forms a special, endemic hybrid called Primula x uzongolensis. Besides these Primula species, several other herbs were flowering like: Cyclamen coum, Anemone blanda, Ornithogalum cf. oligophyllum.

To secure their new knowledge on caucasian plants the students were asked to collect 10 specimens in an international group competition. Ms. Sibel Batar and her students prepared an own book of plant pictures for all participants. Finally the group with the most plants after 30 minutes of collecting time won an ice-cream. Thanks to the judgement of Prof. Coşkunçelebi we had an authority to identify which plants were correctly determined.

As the evening came closer and the shadows slowly climbed up the eastern slopes of the mountains, all participants had some free time to explore the surroundings of the lake on their own. Either on hired bicycles or on foot, in the shops of the village or on the soft carpets of the mosque, laying in the warm grass or chatting with friends in the surroundings of Aygün Motel restaurant all students and teachers had the chance to feel the beauty of this region and to establish or strengthen new friendships with their Comenius partners.

The cawing of Eurasian Jays (Garrulus spec.) was echoing through the woods, when we started to have dinner. Delicious, fried trout freshly caught from the Uzungöl waters were served with traditional Turkish music. Our Turkish hosts knew all songs and could sing along the tunes. Right after Baklava dessert, some Turkish dances like Horon and Kolbastı were performed by Turkish students. Due to the excellent knowledge of Mrs. Bahar Alkan, our Turkish coordinator, all the group gained a lot of information on the cultural background of these traditional dances.

Horon is a dance style of Eastern Black Sea people,found in Trabzon. It has rapid shoulder and upper body movements from the waist. These movements are said to have derived from shimmying of the little silver anchovy fish called Hamsi found in mass abundance in the Black Sea. This is a great example how nature affects social lives of people. Kolbastı is another entertainment component which describes the happiness of fishermen after a great fishing day.  Rowing, swimming, spreading and drawing a net and fishing are well-known figures of the dance.

But besides all theory the warm enthusiasm, the touching friendliness and the happy atmosphere animated all of us to join the people dancing and soon the floor of the Aygün Motel was rocked. Either in line, in moving circles or on your own, the crowd was moved by the music of a kemençe violine and the voice of a singer until a perfect day had to end late at night with a bus drive back to Trabzon.

 

27th April Sumela Monastery and Macka

Responsible person morning: France

After the very enthusiastic evening, all the dances and the unforgettable night at the Unzüngol lake, we had a safe return to school and a good night of sleep. So on Friday 27 th April we were ready to discover the Sumela Monastery. After more than one hour on the bus, we arrived there. The view from the bottom was really impressive. The monastery seemed to be hung on the mountain! We walked a long time up to reach the place. It was difficult because of the sharp slope was but we finally made it. We were very lucky as it was a sunny day and the view and landscape were great. Once at the entrance of the monastery, we had to buy our tickets and we all visited at our own pace. The paintings on the walls of the chapel were surprising but unfortunately damaged. We sat in the central square for about one hour to relax, enjoy the view and take pictures. Then it was time to leave and we came back by another way, a bit longer but still very pleasant. We could see waterfalls, beautiful plants and a picturesque nature . We have spent a really good time with the other students.

As a conclusion, we would like to say that the welcome we received gave us confidence as we were a little stressed before our arrival. We have come back with unforgettable memories and we’ve met plenty of new friends. We appreciated the gorgeous landscapes, the dolphins in the Black Sea and the cultural differences (dances, religion). The hammam was great!!

The students:

Lea, Fabien, Etienne, Julien.  

Responsible person afternoon: Spain

After a pleasant walk up to the mountains, we arrived to Sumela Monastery. The views were wonderful, really I did not expect what the monastery was. After enjoying the monastery, we felt hungry and we went to have lunch to a restaurant where a Turkish student explained us an interesting  food based on butter and cheese, just to gain energy. We had lunch while talking about Sumela Monastery and its wonderful views.

Later on, Bahar Alkan led us to the bazaar just to have a look and buy some souvenirs. There were many jewelry and fabric stores and I got surprised with the gold and silver...Personally I did not know what to buy but I ended up acquiring a perfume but later François told me that it was not a real perfume..... OOOHHH!!!!!!  Hopefully I do not care because it was so cheap... and smelt like glorious!!!!. Mari Paz bought some souvenirs for her family and then we found Helena. Then, we had a shower and dressed up to go to the most elegant dinner ever: OH MY GOD!!!! I have never been in a place like that... I felt like a princess!!!!. We had a special dinner and Bahar brought special presents for all the Comenius members and... time to say bye or see you soon. I ended up crying because I had never felt like I did that night: All Comenius members are lovely and kind. I will never forget this mobility and I hope see all of you soon. Thanks to all of the Turkish team for this mobility. 

19th March

19th March.Monday morning. Several months I have been waiting  for this moment and it has come finally. Today is the day when our trip to Poltugl starts!

With every minute I was getting more and more nervous.  A bus was already waiting for us near the school. I had a bit strange feeling -  all the students were hurring to lessons,  but we were leaving for the Airport. I have been there only once when meeting my relatives and now I am a passenger. Unfortunately, when the plane was taking off we were not allowed to take any pictures, but the view was fantastic. Riga, the airport, houses...everuthing was left somewhere below. The day was so cloudy that after a few minutes it was unpossible to see the landscape, but we were not upset because the sky was absolutely incredible, fluffy and soft. We could see nothing but clouds, they were beautiful! All the flight long I enjoyed them.

Frankfurt. There is a huge airport, every minute planes are taking off or landing. Although the airport was big, but we could not find anything to excite us, so were just sitting in a cafe. Suddenly we heard a strange noise  of drums, people’s sreams and whistles. We thought that it was a group of fans, but it turned to be people who were against the noise and pollution caused by plane flights above their houses. This was a strike. The good thing is that it did not affect the plane traffic.

From Frankfurt to Porto we flew late, so it was dark outside.During the flight  all we could see were the lights. These lights were everywhere, so the impression was as it is one big city.

J.Kostyleva – „Generally the day was buisy and full of emotions. During one day we changed two time zones (or even more), flew over almost whole central Europe and for the first time were so far from home. Portugal impressed me from the first eye sight, so I was optimistic about the future.”

V.Sazonenko – „But I wasn’t nervous at all, because this trip was not the first one in my life.There was only one thing that was new for me – flying by planes, but it was not a problem for me, I can adapt very fast to any situation.”

 

 

20th March

It was rather cold at night in the hotel despite a heater. After sleeping,  I decided to look out  into the window and enjoy the morning in Porto. Unfortunately, I was unable to do it, because right in front of our room window there was a brick wall. It was so close that we could touch it.

We had croissants for our breakfast and after that went to see the city. The excursion around Porto was enjoyable. It has very interesting architecture, a big amount of houses were decorated with frescos and paintings in blue.

We deciced to go across the river to the another part of Porto along one of the six bridgies. Crossing the river we could enjoy an amazing view! The river, small yachts and boats, houses, palms...this beauty cannot be described in words, it should be seen!

The next destination point was a wine cellar. It is a home of world wide famous wine – Portuguse wine. We thought that it would be perfect to buy a bottle of wine as a souvenir and we did it.

The twilight is coming and it is the time to go back to the hotel. On our way back we bought a lot of small souvenirs for our friends and relatives. The man, who showed us the city, lead us to a museum. It was a place where the seafarers who performed the first circumnavigation lived . Now this museum is used for photo exhibitions.

After the museum we went straight to the hotel to take our belongings, because it was the time to go to another Portuguese city – Braga. The problem was that we had not bought tickets yet. And I should also say some words about the railway station. Inside it is like one more museum. It clean and tidy. On the walls there are traditional  frescos showing hard times of the country – the wars.

In Portugal there is a big amont of people in trains. If you come in a train one of the last, it will be difficult for you to find a place to sit.

When we arrived in Braga, it took us some time to find the right way to our hotel.Thanks to our classemate who had a GPS navigator in his phone we managed to do it. The distance we walked from Braga railway station to the hotel was about 5 kilometers which we had to go with our heavy baggage.

At 9 p.m when we settled in our hotel rooms, we realised that we want to have a cup of tea. One by one shops started to close and streets became empty. Our group was the only one who was looking for a restaurant in that late time, but finally we found it . Unfortunately, the waiters there did not know English, only Chinese and Portuguese. It was  hard to explain them that we wanted only tea instead of a good dinner and that is why we could see incomprehension on their faces.

J.Kostyleva – „To the list of my fauvorite cites I have added one more – Porto."

Porto impressed me by its architecture and incredible landscape. Especially I liked a view  from the bridge on which we were. This panorama was as if  painted, so beautiful it was. I have not seen the beauty like that before!

Now I have a goal – to go back to Porto in summer for holidays  and spend there more time.”

V.Sazonenko – „As a man I could see that the women  from Latvia and from Poland were  divided into two groups: those who wanted to do the shopping and who wanted to see more sights of Porto . Finally, all of us agreed to return to Portugal not only for shopping.”

 

21st March

Late at night a girl form Turkey arrived, her name was Melike (15 years old). I and  the girl form our team tried to start a conversation with her, but this idea failed, because the Turkish girl was absolutely exhausted  and immediately went to sleep.

By 10 a.m. all the project participants were taken to one of the local schools. This school was near our hotel, in the distance of only 10- minute walk. It was so lovely and nice. The Portugues participants of the project were already waiting for us.

We entered the school, went upstairs and came into a room that was like a sport hall, but with a small  grandstand. Before everything stared we had to wait for a while, maybe the teachers needed some time for preparation.

In several minutes a Portuguese  teacher came and started to call  out her students - 3 at once. Then every three students showed two sheets of paper where  the foreign students’ names were written. This was a way how teams of 5 students were formed.

The first activity was orientation  in Braga. But for sure this exercise was mostly for local students. Every team had to find certain sights. All the buildings that  we had to visit  were described in papers  given by the teachers. In the text there were some gaps that we had to fill in, for example, a year when a church was built and so on. Occasionally, we had to ask the people who were working at these places to find the right answers.

After a small break and lunch ther was the second part of today’s activity - sport games. The sport hall was already divided into some zones. Each zone was created for a  game, from cycling to the ability to keep balance. As usual, all the teams had different results, one team was better, the other was worse. Anyway, I think the victory was not the main goal. The main goal was the participation!

 

J.Kostyleva – „In the sport games I was impressed by a huge amount of Portuguese students that took part in these competitions. There were so many students,that  all the participants were divided into 4 groups.”

 

Sport events were not the only activity in that particular day. In the evening we had an opening act of our project and official dinner, where we heard some information about Portugal national park – Geres. This park is situated near Braga, and it is also absolutely unique because there are different kinds of rare animals and plants.

J.Kostyleva – „During the official diner we had an infinite amount of food. As I could remember, there were 3 dishes, starter and dessert. Our group could eat  only a half. It was like a food trial”.

V.Sazonenko – „For sure, I will not be able to forget thess competitions soon. But what I liked the most, it was Thomas Gerl’s unprompted speech. (He is our project head coordinator from Germany).Listening to him was really enjoyable!”

The night in Braga was cold, so we went back to the hotel very fast and packed our belongins for the next day. The next day was going to be very exciting!

22nd March

Again at 10 a.m. we should  be near the school. That day we went to Geres. I was really  excited, because I had a chance to see the mountains and local nature. All project participants were divided into two groups (30-35 in each one) and  were taken tothe  National park by two buses.

All time during our bus trip to  Geres I was looking outside the window. The view was beautiful. It was my first time in mountains! They were marvelous, especially with small houses on hillsides. This houses were very pretty and in yards there were orange and lemon trees. In our contry we do not have such trees.

It took us about an hour to get to Geres. The road was narrow with a lot of steep  turns, on the one side there was a rock, on  the other one  – a cliff.

 

We stopped on the top of these mountais. The view was fantastic! Then we went to the other place in the mountains for a long walk upwards. For some people  this climbing was really hard but anyway it was also enjoyable. All of us  took a lot of photos and filmed many videos of that beautiful nature.

After lunch our group went to another hiking on a less complicated way. It was strange that was the weather was good ( almost 25°C) but on the trees there were no leaves, there were only grass and mosses.

We spent on that way for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Due to the fact that this Nature park is situated on the border of Potrugal and in Spain, we were  in  this neighbor country  for a few minutes as well.

After this exhausting day we finally arrived happily at our hotel. Another wonderful day was over.

J.Kostyleva – „This was the most physically hard day in our trip for all the project participants. When we climbed up to the mountain, our group sprawled so that the first ones were waiting for the last ones for  more than 20 minutes.
When we arrived at the hotel and rest a little bit, I had a power for one more walk like we had had. We all were happy about the warm weather after +3°C in Latvia.”

V.Sazonenko – „Unfortunalely, we could not go off our walk direction, but I was lucky and had a chance to climb on the rocks for a few minutes. It was so sad that I could not to stay on in the rocks for more, but I had a feeling of  freedom and superiority that no other peopel could have it.”

 23rd March

The day started as usual, early waking up and breakfast. A 9 - kilometer walk was in our plans.

We went out from our hotel at 11 a.m. we visited a museum near our hotel where we had an opportunity to listen  about the local history and see the exhibits from the past.

The road where we were hiking was built by the Romans a long time ago. On that 9 km way we were walking not so fast but someone remained 1 km behind ! An interesting fact was that our Latvian team was always walking ahead  the rest of the group, but we did not hurry. When we were near our hotel, at the finish line, we started to sing.

 

It was the last walk in the mountains that we had, so we went back to Braga. Before the evening events we had some free time, that we spent it doing the shopping.

In the evenig, at 8 p.m. we went to the Portugues students’ house. Because some two families were friendes they decided to meet us in one house, so our company was big. But the  teaches had a different event, they went to a restaurant.

We had a brilliant evening! All 3 hours were talking and laughing. The food was delicious, we tryed traditional dishes and desserts...So yummy! But the time runs so fast, we said thanks and  goodbye to all families’ members and  went back to our hotel.

J.Kostyleva – „The second day was much easier that the fisrt one, I think, it is because there were not so  many ups and we went on flat areas.

The family, what we came to, was hospitable and we had a  warm welcome. The families’ members  were glad to see some presents from Latvia and as a return present  they gave us a perfect mood all the evening long.Thanks them for that. I hope that both families had the same pleasant time as we had.”

V.Sazonenko – „All has been already said and I cannot add anything, but one. They were immpreased by some of our traditions and languages we were speaking. People who hosted us had a great sense of humor and could make us  feel like  at home.”

 

24th March

In the morning we went downstares for breakfast and could see noone, because all participants were on their way home. Only our, Latvian team, stayed in Portugal for one more day. Our belonging had been already packed and our plans were to visit a city near Braga (only 30km). Its’ name is Guimaraes and it is the third largest city in Portugal.

In this beautiful city we visited a castle, from which the country was started.

In Guimaraes ther are nice clean narrow streets and old architecture.

In a few hours we had to go to Porto. We  were almost late for our train, but we caught it in the last seconds. It was going to be the last night in Poltugal. We statyed in the same hotel, but not in the same room. A view from our balcony was breathtaking, so we took some pictures of it and went to beds.

J.Kostylava – „One more amaizing day in Portugal, as a result oodles of photos, souvenirs and positive emotions. It could not be different, since Guimaraes is European Youth Center of this year  ”

V.Sazonenko – „I think, it will be impossible to forget the taste of  Portuguese coffe,  it is better to taste it once than to hear about it a hundred times ( and I brought a pack of it home)! I liked Braga and Geres very much, but I did not memorize anything special about Porto .”

25th March

The last day in Postugal started. It was unbelievable. We had a feeling that we arrived only yesterday and now we had to leave. So sad...and it was so symbolic for us that the weather changed and it began to rain.

The airport. The flight. The airport in Brussels. There we had to wait for four hours, but there were a lots of shops, so we spent time there.

And a fight again. We were almost home.

When we landed in Latvia it was so strange to hear Russian and Latvian speech, because we got used to hearing Portugues one all around us during that week.

2 hours in a car and we were finally and home. It meant that our advanture had finished.

J.Kostyleva – „ It was a very hard day, because we had to wake up early all week and I did not get enough sleep, so the road back was a plod. In Brussels we did  some purchase like Belgian chocolate. As a result, we got on board with big bags.”

 As a result of all trip, I want to say thanks the whole project and our Ventspils 3rd secondary school for that opportunity to visit other countries and find new friends.

V.Sazonenko – „I can say a lot, but I would say it shortly: if you want to loose weight, eat more than 5 dishes, you’re welcome to Portugal National Park „Peneda-Gerês”.”

J.Kostyleva – “ The whole journey brought us so many memorable moments, events, emotions and meeting with representatives of different nationalities. It was so interesting to communicate with students from other countries, compared life quality and ,certainly, just had fun. This trip was a great experience.I think it all will be needed in the future. And now we can say the only one – we were lucky to visit such a  country like Portugal.” 

Victoria Terjanik, 11 Form

Don't let it die in hills of rubbish,
Don't let it disappear in mountains of scrap,
Don't keep your distance.
Please help to save it
And it will save your own life, too...

Vladislavs Terjaniks, 11 Form

Darja Lisaj, 11 Form

Today everybody is concerned about our nature and Earth pollution. But do you know what is happening around the planet? Do you know how many tonnes of space rubbish flying there above the atmosphere? Do you think it won't make any harm for us? "We loose so much good polluting our Earth here and there" - is an idea of my video.

Roman Ustalov, 10 Form

 

This week a team of teachers and senior students of Ventspils Secondary School Nr 3 has returned from Portugal. In this country they represented Latvia and showed their research works, knowledge, intellectual, creative and physical potential in the framework of the Comenius project “Natural Treasures of Europe” with a firm conviction “to live in a healthy, active and effective way”.

 

A concrete and logical way of thinking, deep meaning of statements, ability to understand the essence of problems promptly, elaboration of creative suggestions, virtuosity of work with information technologies and showing communicative skillfulness  during the search of partners – these are the key competences that allow to receive financial support for the implementation  of creative and original ideas.

 

Do we need international projects?

- We do, certainly!

The value of project work of teachers and students is high. The very process is important: you have to be responsible for the results of the research work, observation analysis, study of essential problems in under-investigated fields,  literate data processing, photo art, ability to make and edit a video, suggesting creative solutions to appearing problems and sending the information in electronic mass media in time to share the findings and their creative implementation with friends and  relevant people. It demands knowledge, time, forces, enthusiasm and determination.

The usefulness of the participation in international projects:

• Experience in working in international teams
• Acquisition of the ability to take fast decisions
• Luxury of communication in foreign languages, improvement of speaking skills in English, French and German
• Increasing of general educational and scientific levels by listening to the lectures in the chosen areas (in this proper case : geography, geology,  botany and biology in English) as well as in the history of culture of the hosting country
• Improvement of psychological, emotional, intellectual and physical health by means of positive communication with colleagues from different EU countries, healthy food, hiking, excursions,  climbing to the tops of mountains and descending the steep stony slopes, observation of the primeval nature untouched by the human hand, breathing fresh crystal air of the Portuguese mountains, contemplation of  the beauty of blooming mimosa groves, entrancing and revitalizing eucalyptus woods, orange plantations with bright ripe fruits which looking like big decorative trees.

There is one more value of the project: becoming familiar with the language, culture, national traditions of the hosting country.

The Portuguese are not high, well-built, fit , active, positive and benevolent people.

They eat much, deliciously and late in the evening. Fresh orange juice was an obligatory drink for all meals. It is interesting that at dinner (we call it “supper”) pork, beans, chicken or duck, fish, many salads, fruits, pastry, creams and puddings are offered in turns.

It was a pleasure to find out that all the teachers and students participating in the project speak several foreign languages fluently.

Our secondary school students received a compliment for their fluency in English.

It was also a pleasure to see the school: a big, well-repaired, clean building with spacious, well-equipped laboratories in biology, physics and chemistry.

There are stained-glass windows with out-dated devices and equipment in the corridors of the school. An interesting idea!

The week of working together in the project unified the team of teachers and students; contributed to the improvement of the communicative and linguistic competence; improved the health of the participants; made them believe in their strengths; inspired to the implementation of new ideas in the frames of the project “Natural Treasures of Europe”; endued with many positive and optimistic friends. 

Presentation

The first mobility of our Comenius project was done from the 11th till the 16th of October 2011 in Aalter - Belgium.
It was the first meeting after the approval of the project and it aimed at :

• getting to know all partners’ teams and schools,
• clarifying all necessary details concerning project activities
• getting acquainted with applications and tools that will be used during the project, through workshops and
• visiting the natural reserves of the area, getting acquainted with nature in Belgium and giving an example of how field trips could be organized by the partners, in their area.

Tuesday 11 Oct 2011

By the end of the day, all teams arrived in Aalter and a dinner was arranged, as a first informal meeting.

Wednesday 12 Oct 2011

The first official meeting took place at school with the headmaster Mr. Walter Verniers and Peter De Deyn, coordinator of the Belgian team, giving a warm welcome to all participating partners.

 

The coordinators from each country made a presentation of the participating schools and their cities. Presentations of all schools can be watched on our website homepage.A tour at the school gave participants the chance to talk with students and teachers of the Belgian school and get to know its facilities and organization. At midday, lunch was offered by the school, in a friendly atmosphere. A trip to the natural reserve “Kranepoel” with a guided tour into the woods, was our next destination. Using bikes as a means of transportation to  Kranepoel was a nice experience for those who dared it.

The natural reserve Kranepoel is a former peat bog that was flooded during medieval times. Our tour guide, Sonia Seerden, offered us an insight to the history of the reserve. In former times people used peat as fuel to heat their houses. In this way a lot of peat disappeared until the exploitation of the area was no longer useful. After that the area filled with fresh water. Now the reserve is an important resting place for migrating birds and local water birds like e.g. Canada geese (Branta canadensis) that could be seen in hundreds during our visit.

At the border of Lake Kranepoel, a beech forest grows right next to private properties of local inhabitants. Besides Fagus sylvatica trees, some maple trees (Acer platanoides) and typical shrubs like Euonymus eupatoria or Sorbus aucuparia build the shrub layer of the forest. As the beech crowns are very dense, the herb layer of the forest contains only a few species like e.g. the grass Molinia coerulea, that was used in former times to clean the pipes because its stems do not have any knods. On a small dam within the lake, Helichrysum arenarium was found. During the visit a very rare fungus was also detected: Clathrus archer

Our biking ride continued to the natural reserve “Hooggoedbos” where we had another interesting guided tour.

“Hooggoedbos” is an old beech and pine forest. In former times, the wood was used by the local population and most trees were cut, so an open landscape, a heathland, developed. After the period of industrialisation the woods were used less intensively and therefore the forest grew to its current size.

Our nature guide, Mrs Lia Van Landschoot , told us that most of the landscape in the Aalter area is marked by several very small areas of different land forms. Small forests are intermingled among small agricultural areas. The overall size of the forests in Belgium is very small compared to other European countries.

Besides the common tree species like Fagus sylvatica and Pinus sylvatica, some introduced chestnut trees with eatable fruits (Castanea sativa) grow in the area. In addition we identified some interesting fungi: Scleroderma citrinum and Phallus impudica.

 Meeting with the Mayor

In the evening, the representatives of Aalter Birger Quintyn and the mayor Patrick Hoste gave us the honour of inviting us to a special welcome evening. After a short walk through the impressive town hall of Aalter Mr. Birger Quintyn addressed a speech to us, appreciating the goals of the project. Then Peter De Deyn, as representative of the hosting school and Thomas Gerl, as coordinator of the whole project, spoke about the goals of the project and the responsibility that came along with the trust the COMENIUS program had, in funding this project.

After the speeches, all participants enjoyed a snack provided by the town of Aalter and some smalltalk amongst each other.

Dinner

After the meeting in the town hall, the whole group went to have dinner in a typical Belgium restaurant serving fried food.

Thursday 13 Oct 2011

This time, the meeting took place at the vocational campus of Emmaüs Bovenbouw:

All partners elaborated details in planning next steps. (=Detailed report for members only)

Meeting subjects :

• Mobilities
• Photo contest
• The structure of the website 
• Workshop on video production
• Questionnaire
• Teaching materials

Cultural trip to Bruges

After the working sessions in the afternoon, we went to have a cultural visit at Bruges , a very famous medieval town in Flandres that is considered a UNESCO world heritage. Peter De Deyn prepared an excellent guided tour through the city center of Bruges, the Venice of Flanders, as it is often called.

We visited a large cathedral and its museum of fine sacral art as well as the small chapel of the holy blood with its ornamental interior. Walking through the streets of Bruges we also learned about the secrets of composing the fine Belgium chocolates or the enormous variety of different kinds of beer.

At the end of the guided tour there was some free time to explore Bruges or to visit the exhibition of a Salvador Dali museum. After dinner the whole group went back to Aalter.

Friday 14 Oct 2011

Meeting at school

Workshop on facebook as a communication platform for students (Bahar Alkan, Turkey)

As far as general communication is concerned, we will use Facebook, which will be open to the whole group of teachers and students. During this workshop a general explanation on how to use facebook was given by Bahar Alkan, who is responsible for the facebook activities of the group.

As the use of facebook can cause some problems of e-privacy, some doubts and fears were discussed and several suggestions made on what has to be considered when teachers and students share the same communication platform.

Teachers’ communication (Maria Sourgiadiaki, Greece)

Due to lack of time, the workshops on etwinning and teachers’ blog prepared by the Greek coordinator Maria Sourgiadaki, were postponed. The Portuguese coordinator proposed that the etwinning workshop is realized during the second meeting in Portugal in March 2012.

Some essential issues concerning the communication among teachers and the possible options were discussed during the trip to Knokke. It was decided that the blog will continue to be used, in private settings, in a trial period till the next meeting in Portugal.

Trip to the salt marshes of Knokke called “Het Zwin”

After the working session in the morning, we visited the salt marshes of Knokke that are a really interesting and rewarding natural habitat, where migrating birds and a halophytic vegetation can be studied.

In between the sand dunes of the beach and a man-made dam,salty water comes in at high tide and floods the area. The water evaporates and leaves saline soils behind. On this type of soil only special plants can grow, that can cope with the osmotic pressure around their roots. In this marshland we saw the following plants: Aster tripolium, Limonium vulgare, Salicornia europaea, Armeria maritima, Atriplex portulacoides, Suaeda maritima, …

In the Zwin nature reserve we not only discovered, we also tasted these plants, and yes they are eatable but as expected salty!

Salicornia (De zeekraal) → http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicornia

Limonium vulgare (lamsoor) →  http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamsoor  (no English wiki)

Aster tripolium ( De zee-aster) →  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aster_tripolium

 

As the area is also a resting place for migrating birds, we could also study a variety of seagulls, oyster fishers and other birds like: Phalacrocorax carbo, Recurvirostra avosetta, Vanellus vanellus, Egretta garzetta or Tringa totanus.

 

 More info on this reserve is here

(Local) Lunch break

For lunch the whole group gathered in a restaurant at the beach of Knokke.
More info on the (local) fish ‘Ray’ you may have had on your plate is here and info on the North Sea shrimps you can find here.

Trip to the nature reserve SASHUL

After lunch we had a short walk through in the newly establish reserve Sashul. In fact it is dredged soil. You can see the principle of dredging and gaining new land in this youtube film. This makes also clear why this soil consist of so many shells.

 

Youtube adress : http://youtu.be/uMj1WGui4EQ

Sashul was built as a compensation for a industrial area and consists of an area of shrub-land mainly consisting of Hippophaë rhamnoides. The berries of this shrub contain a big amount of vitamin C and are therefore used to make juices or jelly. The species is typical for sandy soils and the border of oceans or big rivers.

In addition we could watch some bunny rabbits that inhabit this area. More info on this reserve is here and here

This day was closed with our farewell dinner at a restaurant, with an excellent menu! We had a wonderful night!

Saturday 15 October - Visiting Brussels!

You can find all photos made during the Aalter-Belgium meeting in the photo gallery over here.

Designer: Vladislav Terjanik
Technologist: Dmitry Migunov

Description of mobilities and other activities (as mentioned in the application)
 

August 2011
* Creating a teachers’ blog that will enhance communication, collaboration and exchange of information among the participating teachers. The blog will provide a simple to use virtual meeting point for ensuring participation and keeping motivation high.Greece, Portugal
* A forum of discussion for pupils is created on a social network. The preference to digital communication will keep students engaged in interaction with peers from partner countries on themes of ecology, developing critical thinking competence.Turkey, Slovenia

September 2011
* The web-team is establishing a website, where the results of the project will be gradually and regularly published for dissemination, in a structured and functional way, providing information on the project’s progress and a teachers’ guide as well.Belgium, Portugal
* As an introduction and initial motivation for the project each school will organize excursions to the habitat that will be studied locally. Visual material will be gathered (photos, videos) and first impressions will be recorded for further analysis.All countries
* Establishing a communication platform for students, that will facilitate collaboration among peers, exchange of opinions on the project topics, photo web contest participation and questionnaires’ research, thus students will develop key competences.Turkey, Poland, Spain
1st Mobility (Belgium): Presentation of each school and region, study visit of the habitat to be explored, tips on video filming and the use of the teachers’ blog, definition of the structure of the web-site and planning next mobility.BE - All countries

October 2011
* Each school is filming the first video sequences, during an outdoor activity to the chosen habitat that motivates pupils to study on the biodiversity of the area. The gathered material will be used for the development of the project’s final product.All countries
* Having the experience of an outdoor activity, teams go on creating learning material for representative species of flora and fauna of the studied habitat. Knowledge about biodiversity will gradually lead to understanding the need of protecting it.All countries (coordination Germany, Slovenia)

November 2011- March 2012
* Since the protection of the environment depends on the human attitude towards nature, teams begin to study the present attitude of participants and other members of the local community, by preparing online questionnaires and conducting the inquiry.Germany, Slovenia, Spain

December 2011, March, June, October 2012
* A Seasonal Photography Contest is held among participating pupils, in their social network.Developing digital competences and creativity, pupils take photos of the studied habitat andchoose the best ones to include them in an Ecological Calendar.all countries (coordination Turkey, Slovenia, Poland)
* A seasonal ecologic message Contest is held among participating pupils, in their social network.  Developing language skills and creativity, pupils write imaginative ecological messages and choose the best ones to be part of the Ecological Calendar.all countries (coordination Turkey, Slovenia, Poland)

January 2012
* The responsible team will monitor and analyze the results of the questionnaires on attitudes towards nature. Results will be shared among the various participants using a creative and attractive way to present them (e.g. as a comic) in the web-site.Germany, Poland, Latvia, Portugal, Slovenia

September 2011- January 2013
* Pupils will do outdoor research work in their natural habitat in cooperation with local NGOs tolearn more about its ecology, to prepare ecological trails in the area and to film video sequences for their documentary movie that covers all seasons.all countries

March 2012 – May 2013
* During mobilities students guide their guests to excursions to habitats, present their videosequences, photo documentation of typical and special species of the area and display posters of possible threats of these areas, all in English language.all countries

March 2012
* During the 2nd mobility (PORTUGAL) teams’ coordinators will evaluate all the previous project work and will review the schedule of the tasks to come. There will be a visit at the studied area, and details about the annual day of environment will be discussed.PT - all countries (coordination Portugal)

April 2012
* During the 3rd mobility (TURKEY) there will be: Presentation of the photograph and message contest’s progress, excursion at important habitats of the area (Lake Uzungol & Karagol, Spider Forests, The Kackars, İkizdere), field work at tea and hazelnut gardens.TR - all countries (coordination Turkey)

May 2012 – May 2013
* Promoting voluntarism as a responsible attitude towards nature and life, two annual days ofenvironment (adapted to the needs of each habitat) will be organized in each country, withvolunteers participating in it. The theory is expanding to action.all countries

April 2012 – October 2012
* 1st annual exhibition of the COMENIUS work, the mobilities done and the results gained. Participants are organizing a local exhibition in native and English language on the land use of the explored region including the form of land use in their area.all countries

September 2012
* During the 4th mobility (GREECE) we plan field work at the studied habitats, visit at the Center ofEnvironmental Education and the Museum of Natural History of Crete, 1st planning of theCongress of Youth, evaluation of the latest work, reviewing next steps.EL - all countries (coordination Greece)
During the projectSeeking for innovative and contemporary learning material we will gradually develop and share at the web-site an audio-visual glossary on technical terms used in the project and a teachers’ guide with teaching modules on diversity and sustainability.all countries (coordination France, Portugal, Turkey, Italy)

November 2012
5th mobility (FRANCE) will include introduction of la Briere ecosystem, a Guided trip of the marshes, visit of the salt marshes of Guerande and ornithological observation, visit of the eco-museum of Kerhinet and participation in a common preservation action.FR - all countries (coordination France)

January 2013
* A second online questionnaire for all participants will be developed and carried out, in order to compare the results with the results of the first one and document any changes of attitudes towards nature that our COMENIUS project will have provoked.Germany, Slovenia, Spain

February – March 2013
* Each participating country will produce one video, presenting the most important features of the studied habitat. It will be made from the visual material gathered during the outdoor activities and will be used for the production of the final video.all countries (coordination Germany, Belgium)

March 2013
* The results of the second questionnaire evaluating attitudes will be monitored, analyzed andcompared with the first ones. Conclusions will be discussed and shared with all participants,evaluating at the same time the effectiveness of the project.Germany, Poland, Latvia, Portugal

April 2013
* The video sequences of each country are assembled to a final movie, according to a scriptthat connects all habitats into a European natural treasure trail. Missing sequences are filmed and a common audio track is prepared for the final presentation.Germany, Belgium

* For the 6th mobility (GERMANY) we organize a Congress of Youth where pupils present the movie on the European habitats and all other results of the project, including the participants’ commitment towards the protection of nature, to a wider audience.DE - all countries (coordination Germany, Greece, Slovenia, Spain)

May – July 2013
* With the Comenius work being completed, the 2^nd annual and final exhibition will take place at each participating school. The exhibition will be open to public and the media, disseminating the gained results and highlighting the reached objectives.All countries

June 2013
At the 7th and last mobility (LATVIA) to Latvia we will make the final corrections on the teachers’ guide, focusing on the transferability of our project. An overall evaluation of the project will help coordinators to organize their final project report.LV - all countries (coordination Latvia, Germany)

June – July 2013 
* At the end of the project the final report on the activities of the last two years will be collected and prepared for sending to the National agencies.
all countries

    During our trip we visited a lighthouse where we saw amazing nature and the  guide told us about old ship sea roads and old sea line which disappeared many years ago. Then we met an old forester who told us about rare animals and insects which can be found only in Slitere.

   Then we went to the forest to see beavers’ dam. While we were walking the forester told us that on this place where forest is, there were dunes many years ago and in the previous century there was a railway road, but it was unsafe and unreliable, so it was closed. The forester told us about poaches who kill animals from red book, about people who always throw litter and it makes a lot of problems for this wood. He told us how animals try to survive what they eat and where they live.

   After this small journey we finally saw the beavers’ dam. It was made of small logs and branches and it was very nice. Of course all beavers are hardworking animals. On the way back the forester told us about himself and his work. Listening his story I realised that this man really worries about the situation of the ecology.

   There always are people who make a lot of harm to our world and even don’t think about it. Maybe it all happens because of their laziness, maybe they do it intentionally. But while we have someone who tries to fight with it we are safe. To my mind being a forester is a very important job because of their labour our planet is still alive and inhabited.

Darja Lisaja

On October 7 our team of pupils from the 10th and 11th Forms had an excursion to Riga Museum of Nature and Tervete Nature Park.  In the Museum of Nature, our group went to many different rooms with interesting exhibit items and an experienced guide told us about all the exhibits and their history. This Museum of Nature is over 160 years old. This museum was built on the place of the museum ''Kimzale'' which no longer exists. Later we visited many sections and each section has its own name.

1st Geology Section - History of Latvia

400 million years ago on the place of Latvia there was just a sea. The only living creatures that lived there were armored fish, no other living beings inhabited the sea. The bottom of the sea was covered by a variety of minerals, sand, clay and granite sand. These resources are mined in Latvia today.  The specific natural resources of Latvia or in other words, its wealth is its mineral water and therapeutic mud. One of the richest mineral resources in Latvia is its amber.  All of these resources were on display in this section and they were very beautiful and memorable.

 2nd  Zoology Section – Birds and Animals

This section is basically devoted to the birds of Latvia. They are divided into waterfowl and non-aquatic birds. The main difference of non-aquatic birds from waterfowl birds is that the first ones do not have membranes. A lot of different birds were displayed in the exhibition windows and the most interesting of them were: Eagles, rare birds who do not like civilization and who can lay only 2 eggs,  Falcons, birds who hunt for fish, sometimes they drown in lakes because they cannot catch fish,  Cranes, who have a unique structure of muscles and throat, Woodpeckers, who due to special air cavities in the skull can frequently beat with their beak and Owls, who have very good hearing due to which they hear even a running mouse.

 The guide also told us about the animals of Latvia (Mammals) - very hard-working Beavers, Otters that are able to swim due to subcutaneous fat, Deer that may have different types of horns, Elks, that have very strong horns which can be mewed when they grow up,  Rodents, that due to their very fast metabolism eat every 2 hours a day and Bats that mostly eat pollen.

 

 3rd Biology Section -  Insects and Plants

In the exhibition windows there were such insects  as arachnid tick, bees, different species of Butterflies, Moths with strong flakes on their wings and  Butterflies with softer scales.

The forest of Latvia began to form thousands of years ago and such species as Oaks, Linden, Birch were displayed in the exposition.

 Basically we looked at the window and admired the gifts of nature in our country and found the excursion very informative.

Nikolajs Orlovs

Nature park Tervete - picturesque nature, rich cultural history, old times monuments and legacy of Latvian writer Anna Brigadere. Numerous walking paths lead to bridges, staircases and playgrounds.
This place also tells stories about mightiness of the ancient Zemgallian tribes through 3 longstanding hill forts. The most popular place in the park is Fairy Tale field and Dwarf Forest. Wooden dwarves live in the Dwarves’ Forest and other characters settled in the Fairytale Forest. You can visit houses of the Witch, Werewolf, Imp and other evil creatures in the Witches’ Forest, during the walking through the unique pine forest where most trees have been standing for no less than 300 years.

Those willing to rest from everyday haste can have a chill-out walk in the Old Pine part of the park.

'It was a beautiful autumn's early morning. But we weren't sleepy - we were expecting an unforgettable journey to the nature park, called Tervete...'

 '...The landscape of this reserve is absolutely gorgeous. The Tervete River is crossed by numerous bridges, a huge network of path and trails, large number of wooden sculptures...'

'...This trip to Tervete was one of the most wonderful trips I have ever had.'

 '...I always wonder why peoples’ attitude to the nature is so sniffy. This is the only planet we have so we should be much more careful with it because nobody will give us another one.'

Victorija Terjanik

 

Next NaTurE’s stop: Ierapetra. South-east of Crete. The southernmost and hottest town of Greece, with an average temperature of 20,1 °C, few rainfalls (average 440mm of rain yearly) and the temperature rarely dropping below 12 °C. The town with the greatest duration of sunshine, with an average of 3101 hours yearly.

 

Nature around the town of Ierapetra offers different landscapes, a variety of habitats, a richness of biodiversity.

Visits and field trips of this mobility were planned so that NaTurE partners get to know as much as possible about the nature of Ierapetra in all its forms.

  

Teachers of NaTure had meetings,  field trips and simple moments of friendship.

 

Sunday the 23rd

Arrival of the teams from Latvia, Italy, Poland, Turkey

Monday the 24th

We went through the fields, in the plain of Ierapetra with the olive trees’ cultivations and the greenhouses for out of season cultivation of vegetables. A man made environment, where biodiversity is highly threatened by the use of agrochemicals.

A visit at Ha Canyon, at the north of Ierapetra with a Greek student, Nikos, as a guide.

The wild beauty of one of the most dangerous gorges of Greece. It reaches 400 meters high and the narrowest point is just 30 cm wide. Only very few professional climbers have managed to cross it. Because of its isolation, it offers shelter to plants and animals, away from humans, so rare species can be found there.

Close to the entrance of the gorge, the small Orthodox chapel of the “Holy spirit”.

Tuesday the 25th

Visit at the school.

Arrival of the teams from Slovenia, Germany, Portugal, France, Belgium

Wednesday the 26th

Coordinators’ meeting

• Problems faced so far were discussed

• feedback from the National agencies

• Tips on video filming

• publicity of the work done

• Tips for the oncoming mobility to France

• A new deadline for the photo contest was decided

• A deadline was set for informing the German coordinator about the persons (teachers, students, headmaster) that will participate at the mobility to Germany

• A detailed presentation and analysis of some parts of the questionnaire were presented by Thomas Gerl

• There was a brainstorm and decisions were taken about the organization of the Congress of Youth during the mobility to Germany. Decisions have been written in a shared google doc

Presentation of rare and endemic species that were detected in isolated areas of Ierapetra, by Giannis Zaharakis. Unique photos, presented according to the season of blooming. An introduction to the biodiversity of the area.

Visit at the “Long Beach”, to the east of Ierapetra

Thursday the 27th

Visit at the Center of Environmental education of Lassithi.

• Presentation of the role of the Center in the Environmental Education.

• Presentation on the biodiversity of Crete, by Kaloust Paragamian, from WWF Hellas and

• Presentation the importance of wetlands in Crete, by M.  Dretakis from the University of Crete and the Museum of Natural History of Crete.

Field trip to Kato Symi plateau, at the west of Ierapetra. A wetland that was dry at the moment, as it hasn’t rained yet since May. Study of the special characteristic of the flora species of the area; adaptation to overgrazing.

Visit at the Museum of Myrtos village.

Visit at the Bramiana water reserve, an artificial lake created after the construction of a dam, where water for irrigating the crops of the area is collected. The lake offers food and shelter to migrating birds too.

Friday the 28th

Visit at school for the teams that arrived on Tuesday.

Field trip to Chryssi island, 8 miles to the south of Ierapetra. An almost flat island with a maximum length of 5 kilometers.

Chryssi island is included in the Natura 2000 network to be protected, due to its unique and fragile ecosystem.

A  report  on the field trip to Chrissi island can be found here.

Saturday the 29th

Departure of partners from Turkey, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, France

Sunday the 30th

Departure of the teams from Poland, Latvia

                                                                                

Report about mobility