Implementation of “Water is Life: Give Life to The Future” (SoI-GR-560)

Author: Margarita Dakoronia

Abstract/Introduction

The chosen learning scenario, Water is life, Give life to the future, motivated me to work with a cohort of 22 students, aged 11, engaged over two months for three hours per week. The learning scenario seeks to install a deep understanding of environmental issues while empowering students to take meaningful action within their communities. Through this holistic approach, students will equip themselves with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to become stewards of the environment and agents of positive change in society.
So we followed and applied the following elements from the learning scenario that we chose:
We also wanted to work with the necessity of water for global sustainability and how to address the pressing international issue of water scarcity. So we approach the topic in an interdisciplinary way that is being implemented, combining science, and art, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the problem while nurturing creativity and critical thinking among students. The focus is not only on classroom learning but also on engaging students’ families and the wider school community to promote awareness and action regarding environmental issues. So we uploaded in our digital classroom (Google Classroom) the link of the documentary ”25 Litre’’ to watch it with their parents.
Educational resources play a pivotal role in facilitating learning and understanding. Utilizing documentaries, online platforms such as Europeana, and artworks by renowned artists (like Joan Miro), students are exposed to diverse perspectives and insights into the complex issue of water scarcity.
Hands-on activities form a core component of the educational program, allowing students to actively participate in the learning process. Through experiments, discussions, creation of artworks, and designing solutions, students develop practical problem-solving skills and deepen their understanding of sustainable behaviors such as water conservation and recycling. So we did experiments to understand the composition of water and models of the water molecules.
The educational scenario emphasizes the integration of science and art to create multidimensional works (akin to the approach adopted by historical figures like Leonardo Da Vinci). Students are encouraged to explore the deeper complexities of the global water crisis through research and discussion, fostering curiosity and critical inquiry.
Recognizing the significance of starting at the grassroots level, students are motivated to initiate change within their school community and extend their message to their families. A campaign is devised to inform fellow students about environmental issues, including water waste and recycling, using creative mediums such as posters and constructions to inspire awareness and action.
Students are encouraged to build on their previous knowledge and acquire new knowledge in a playful, age-appropriate way, cultivating imagination and creating meaningful artwork. Thus, children prepare presentations on climate change and water scarcity and artworks that we create a digital exhibition with them following the educational scenario.

Learning process
We begin with a brainstorming about the water and the necessity of it for life on Earth.
We upload in the Google Classroom the documentary, ”25 Litre’’ to watch it with their parents.
We read Leonardo Da Vinci’s 3 myths about water, its composition and the water cycle, test students’ prior knowledge about the properties of water, create material to test our students’ knowledge at the end of the project.
We imagine the trip of Leonardo Da Vinci in Greece and especially in Thrace to meet Democritus and to talk to each other about the three states of the water and the atoms and molecules of the water.
We examine the previous knowledge of our students and we share a leaflet with the new elements and with the new knowledge that we discuss about it in our project.
We listen and sing songs about the water and we try to write our poems.
We look for resources in Nasa kids, Esa kids in climate change site and Noesis Greek science YouTube channel.
We create messages about water waste (videos and posters).
We did experiments relevant to the water and the three states of it.
We write a magazine in the Greek school network so that the parents of the school and the school community and the local community of our city can get to know our activities and we create a boarding game to play with our robots.
And finally we met Joan Miro in Europeana platform. We try to imagine and find molecules and atoms as shapes in Miro’s paintings and we also draw molecules and atoms and create a virtual-digital gallery of children’s paintings.
We decorate our school with our paintings and we also create an online gallery with our paintings.
We create our eco smiles and we put them all over our school to motivate the rest of the students not to waste the water and recycle more.
All the students of the school watch the videos that were created. The children create posters and a construction with recyclable materials to encourage the rest of the school’s children to recycle and not waste water on school grounds.
We take feedback from the videos with questions that we did about what the students understand about the new knowledge.

Outcomes (for you as an educator and for the students)
The main learning outcomes for the educators
Educators will observe the profound impact of integrating diverse fields like science, art, and history, exemplified through figures like Democritus and Leonardo Da Vinci, in deepening students’ comprehension of complex issues such as water scarcity and recycling.
They will witness critical thinking stimulated by discussions on global crises, fostering innovative problem-solving skills. Encouraging creativity through engagement with Joan Miró’s artwork allows students to express environmental messages artistically. Collaboration is facilitated as students work together on research and campaign design, honing communication skills.
Through hands-on activities and initiative-taking, students are empowered to address environmental issues with a sense of agency. Exploring diverse cultural artworks cultivates appreciation for multiculturalism, broadening students’ perspectives on art, culture, and activism.

And for the students
Through an interdisciplinary approach merging science and art, students will deepen their understanding of global crises like water scarcity and recycling. They’ll hone critical thinking skills, express themselves creatively through art, and collaborate effectively on campaigns. Empowered to take initiative and armed with cultural appreciation, they’ll integrate previous and new knowledge while developing a sense of responsibility to address environmental challenges. This holistic learning equips them with the skills and motivation to enact positive change within their communities and beyond.
We have incorporated the learning scenario in the following primary school subject, and we worked for it 2 hours per week for 2 months.
Language: the students wrote articles in our online magazine about our activities, they wrote slogans for their posters and they read the three fables of Leonardo Da Vinci.
Science: we did experiments for the three states of the water, we discussed for the movement of the molecules, and the composition of the water molecule
Environmental studies: we talked about the cycle of the water, the process of condensation, evaporation and liquefaction, about the greenhouse effect and how it affects climate change.
Art: we met Joan Miro and his paintings in Europeana platform
Geography: we talked about the geographical divisions of Greece through Leonardo Da Vinci’s trip to Greece

The produced materials for the project are
Educational leaflets, brainstorming and new knowledge
Leonardo Da Vinci fables and the eBook that we have illustrated the fables-link
Our messages about water waste link
The videos with our work
We did experiments for the 3 states of the water(photos)
We did stop motion video for the movement of the molecules link
We used Europeana platform for Joan Miro’s paintings
We created a digital gallery with our artwork link
Creating educational videos with questions for students’ feedback, link 1, link 2

PHOTOS FROM OUR ACTIVITIES

We began with the brainstorming.
We made crafts for the cycle of the water; put them in the class’s window and we observe the phenomena of evaporation, condensation and liquefaction.
We published all our work on a Greek school net site.
We created a boarding game with cards and we played with our robots to follow the cycle of the water.

We used pasta to show the movement of molecules in solid, liquid and gaz.
Students created presentations for the environmental problem with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
We did experiments with the 3 states of the water.

We saw in Europeana platform Miro’s paintings and we decorated our school
We created a digital art gallery

We worked for our campaign to the rest of the students to our school
We made poster
We made our eco smiles to motivate the rest of the kids in our schools not to waste the water
We put the eco smiles near the water taps and the recycling bins
We created our video with stop motion with our motto, not to waste the water

Link to the learning scenario implemented: https://teachwitheuropeana.eun.org/learning-scenarios/water-is-life-give-life-to-the-future-ls-tr-536/

Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.

PDM 1.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Deutsche Fotothek.