Erasmus+ project and Geoparks for dissemination of Geology

An Erasmus+ project is a great opportunity to promote Science and Interculturality in schools. That kind of project connects interdisciplinary learning with a strong emotional context of friendship across the borders. Particullarly, I’ve already run two successful e-Twinning projects in the past (“Our S-COOLest world-2012” and “Knitting our Common European Future with Threads of our National Culture-2015”). Students and teachers keep  unforgetable feelings and learning experiences from those projects.

The Middle School IES Nuñez de Arce in Valladolid (Spain) has received funds from the Erasmus+ programme. Taking advantage of that chance, the Biology and Geology department is really interested in disseminating Geology and having geoparks as our main focus.

Objectives of our Erasmus+ partnership:

• Stimulating scientific experiences and promoting passion for Geology and Earth Sciences
• Appreciating our geological heritage (Geoparks are devoted to global understanding and sustainability)
• Transnational exchanges and visits in different geological and cultural environments
• To deep the understanding of climate change, both in the Earth history and in last decades, natural and human-induced climate change)
• Students will develop various competences (autonomy, organization, cultural awareness, communication strategies, foreign languages)
• Teaching innovation and developing good practices at school

Our school and the closest Geopark to us:

• IES Nuñez de Arce (Valladolid, Spain) has about 1,000 middle-class students without any behavioral problems and education-concerned.
• The students involved in the project would be 15 to17 year-old.
• Las Loras Geopark is a bit more than one-hour far from our school.
• Las Loras Geopark covers an area of 95,076 ha. and its nature, biological diversity and art are outstanding.
• Some of the most relevant geological features of the area include limestone moors, fluvial canyons, karst and structural reliefs, Mesozoic  sedimentary palaeoenvironments, statigraphic sequences of the western edge of the Vascocantábrica basin, alpine folds, faults, diapiric structures, oil fields and active geological processes.

The project outlines:

• Short international exchanges (1 week) between students (about 20 students aged 15–17 each country), 2 participant schools at a time.
• Working on the project within international teams (PBL).
• Several educational programmes have been developed by the Geopark over the years to support school teachers on site.

Not only teachers of languages are concerned in Erasmus+ projects: if you’re a teacher of Science, don’t hesitate to involve in an Erasmus+ team.