Natural disasters, a consequence of climate change in recent years, are becoming more frequent. We are witnessing more and more earthquakes, floods, and long periods of drought, affecting everyone on the planet. In this context, teaching specific content on climate change to schoolchildren is essential for building specific skills towards protecting nature. In recent years, Erasmus+ projects have become an opportunity for exchanges of experience between educational institutions to support children and young people in developing into responsible adults. Starting in 2021, as a result of the Erasmus+ accreditation obtained, the "Otilia Cazimir" Secondary School is an institution that supports students in the formation of specific skills to prevent natural disasters, a consequence of climate change. Thus, the three projects implemented so far, "Supporting Teachers for Implementing Leadership", "Hands on Our Future" and the one currently underway, pursue the objectives of sustainable development, thus supporting the formation of sustainable communities. The Romanian students, together with students from Germany, Portugal, and Lithuania, and their teachers, carried out activities to understand the effects of irresponsible environmental behavior and the consequences of these actions on climate change. Collaborative videos, inter-school visits, training courses for students and teachers, discussions with experts, and non-formal education clubs are some examples of relevant activities to train primary and secondary school students to develop the necessary skills for a sustainable future. Inclusion of all participants was ensured in the learning experiences, thus meeting diversity and responding to individual needs. In addition, the eTwinning project "Artificial Environment Resistant to Natural Disasters" implemented in the school year 2022-2023 started as a result of the earthquake in Turkey. Romanian students, together with Turkish and Georgian ones, learned more about natural disasters, how they occur, their causes, and how they can be prevented. They created experiments, drawings, videos, posters, and logos to understand how earthquakes, floods, vegetation fires, and droughts occur and proposed specific solutions to prevent them in the future. The results of the projects implemented in our school have been disseminated over time through social media, workshops, posters, and billboards, becoming sources of inspiration for other institutions to teach young generations. Therefore, Erasmus+ and eTwinning projects represent added value in the educational process, being an important contribution to the formation of generations responsible for the environment and climate change.

How to cite: Opria, S.: Erasmus+ and eTwinning projects in developing school students' specific skills related to climate change, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2186, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2186, 2024.

        Education can encourage people to change their attitudes and behavior; it also helps them to make informed decisions. In the classroom, young people can be taught the impact of global warming and learn how to adapt to climate change. Education empowers all people, but especially motivates the young to take action. Not having a subject related to the ecology of the environment, we teachers are obliged to carry out actions to protect the environment in which we live and carry out our activities. For many years our school co-opted students in the international project PORTI VERZI-GREEN GATES, but We  have expanded this topic by getting involved in an eTwinning project My Plan@. During the My plan@ project, students from the 9 participating countries interacted and carried out activities through online meetings using the Zoom platform, through digital materials created with the help of teachers using different applications and tools web 2.0. such as Bookcreator, Canva, Postermywall, Genially, StoryJumper.The purpose of this project was to accumulate new knowledge about science and nature, combining art, to increase students' interest in educational activities in which they can use their knowledge of the English language. Among the objectives of the project are the following: receiving a scientific and age-appropriate education based on evidence, informing the target group: students and teachers about climate change, accustoming the child to correct recycling behaviors and the use of materials for making of useful objects in school activities, and the use of the English language in various contexts, the integration of technology in the teaching-learning process. In order to achieve the educational objectives of the project, we used means and teaching methods adapted to the age characteristics of the students.The project was conceived primarily through a transdisciplinary approach: science and art. The integrated approach of all activities (science, literature, art, music, English, IT) allowed our students to develop creativity, communication, research and decision making.The activities carried out were in accordance with the proposed general objective, and the results of the project exceeded our expectations. General purpose: the project connects art and science to encourage more open-minded and creative students. Students are artists, scientists and entertainers at the same time. At the beginning of the project, the logos were created by each of us partners, and then the winner was chosen by the vote. The logo created by Veronica Florea, our student, won the attention of the partners. Collaborative activities were carried out by making a journal THE FUTURE HISTORY, which captures pictures from nature and stories about the nature of the future without destruction and in harmony with man. We celebrated together WATER DAY - March 22 and EARTH DAY - April 22 with planting, recycling and games (puzzle) activities. Project dissemination was achieved through the organization and celebration of EUROPE DAY, eTWINNING DAY on May 9.We believe that the objective was achieved within the activities, the final products of the activities can be found both on Twinspace and on the school website. 

How to cite: Hajnal, M. and Daniela, B.: My plan - responsibility and action for a green future!, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2803, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2803, 2024.

It is important to study climate change from the earliest school days. It is also a great opportunity for a STEM approach to learning and learning science through hands-on experiences. In this article, we will present some of our experiences in working with students.

With our students we participated in the Eco-STEAM Challenge together with 11 other schools from Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This competition, within the Scientik network, aimed to raise awareness about climate change and possible mitigation measures.

In the course of a month, students regularly measured the temperature and humidity of the air around our school in four selected places. Using the Arduino set, we made a temperature and air humidity device. We later processed the obtained data and made a proposal for improving the school environment in order to mitigate at least a little the effect of climate change in our micro environment.

Our school is located in the center and is surrounded on three sides by busy streets.

During April, the students also conducted an experiment testing the air quality in different parts of the school yard. They came to the conclusion that the air is most polluted in the part of the park that is next to the main street and the large parking lot.

Knowing that the air is not heated directly by the sun's rays, but rather by the foundation, which later emits the energy it has absorbed, we realize that it is important what materials we are surrounded by. Asphalt, concrete, brick are among those that heat the air the most. Guided by that knowledge, we came up with the idea of how to adjust our space (school yard) and thereby reduce heating, but also enable other species to come and live in our environment.

By measuring during the project, we came to the conclusion that in some days, in addition to high temperatures, we also had extremely low humidity. Plants have the effect of increasing air humidity, so our proposal for adjusting the yard will also take this into account.

We would make a natural environment (hotel) for insects out of metal construction and wood. In this way, we will encourage the presence of insects for which our climate is a natural habitat and strengthen urban biodiversity.

That's how the whole project got the name "Hotel in our school for insects is cool".

We had the opportunity to share our experience with colleagues from Serbia, Turkey and Portugal within the project Learn and Experience Science Together Online (lestoproject.com) where we created learning scenarios. One of the scenarios was created precisely on the topic of global warming.

How to cite: Borovnica, D. and Grujic, M.: Eco-STEAM Challenge Green Hotel, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2935, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2935, 2024.

The water cycle plays an important part in climate change. This activity games the construction of the water cycle by students taking the role of a water molecule as it moves between reservoirs. The processes involved will be described and explained, however, students will have to work collaboratively in order to complete the water cycle in its entirety.

The factors that power the movement (gravity and state changes) will be determined and linked to changes in the amount of water found in each reservoir. Although gravity can’t be changed, the heat budget can, and this will affect the change in state of water, leading to unbalancing the water cycle.

Thought experiments and discussion on possible effects of climate change, especially through global warming, will allow students to understand its effects on the water cycle and the subsequent effects on the climate, in particular:

• Positive feedback of decreasing albedo and increased water vapour in the atmosphere.
• Increase in liquid water resulting in sea level rise and flood risk.

After using the Water Cycle Game, students will have a better understanding of the complexities in the water cycle, its effect on the climate, and have an appreciation of how climate change can have a local and global effect in a highly likely future.

How to cite: Blue, K.: Gaming the Water Cycle: a student-led activity to explore climate change., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2936, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2936, 2024.

The fight against climate change is often associated with large-scale actions in urban areas. However, the school serves as an engine for change, where all staff, both teaching and non-teaching, can alter their attitudes, values, and behaviors regarding environmental education.
With this project, we aim to raise awareness and promote good environmental practices within our school. The objectives of our project include:

1. Promoting awareness among students about their role in the fight against climate change by emphasizing the value of plants as CO₂ reducers.
2. Involving the families of students in the design and implementation of proposals.
3. Encouraging public discourse on utilizing private and public spaces as CO₂ sinks.
 4. Integrating the fight against climate change into all areas of secondary education.

This project comprises some activities, ranging from awareness talks to planting vegetables in the green areas of the school and establishing a compost bin.

The main activity of this project involves experimentation.  In this activity, students measure CO₂ and temperature values under different conditions, such as the presence or absence of plants. 

Analyzing the results allows them to become aware of the importance of plants as CO₂ sinks, and thus, as tolls in the fight against climate change. 

How to cite: García, L.: Green School Project, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3094, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3094, 2024.

Like the Goncourt for high school students, the aim is to have a book prize awarded by pupils on the theme of the environment and more particularly the Ocean.
The objectives of this project are:
- Get pupils to read / awaken the pleasure of reading in pupils
- Provide knowledge on ocean ecosystems, in partnership with Nausicaa, the largest aquarium in Europe located in Boulogne Sur Mer.
- Create a link between collège and lycée (key stage 4 and 5 pupils)
- Develop oral skills by arguing choices (when choosing the winner of the prize) and presenting their final work in Nausicaa.

The books (one manga, one novel, one graphic novel, one graphic documentary and one comic) were selected last June by the instigators of the project.

Set up :

A call for proposals was launched in June 2023 to secondary schools (collèges and lycées, key stage 4 and 5 pupils) in Boulogne sur Mer and the surrounding area. Thirteen colleagues from five different schools responded favorably (in total the project gathers 190 pupils).

Pupils from these schools work on these readings all along the school year. Various activities are carried out with their librarian teachers, science and French teachers.

Examples of activities carried out at the Branly high school are: cards game to discover the books, reading sheets, “speed reading”, and the production of a “bestiary” around the animals found in the books as final task.

At the same time, all these classes regularly visit Nausicaa during the school year, which is an occasion to supplement the knowledge provided by the readings, and to enrich the final works.

A collège-lycée meeting is planned for next April. On this occasion, pupils will present their final work and discuss about the readings to elect the winner of the prize.

The high point of the project will be on World Oceans Day (7^th of june) in Nausicaa.

The winning author of the prize will be invited, as well as all the students who participated in the project. This day will be an opportunity to highlight work carried out during the year and to meet the prize-winning author. 

How to cite: Spilmont, H., Van Ommeslaeghe, S., Jarnier, N., Masset, K., and Klawinski, A.: Fisrt edition of an “Ocean Readings Prize, a better knowledge for a better preservation”., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3179, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3179, 2024.

As a biology and geology teacher, I have followed virtually, with some of my students, the HIPER campaign off the coast of Ecuador in 2022-2023, and from the 28^th of january 2024 to the 23^rd of february 2024, I have the honnor to take part in the SUPER MOUV campaign on the french oceanographic ship Pourquoi pas ? in Ecuador.

The scientists left me an additional place on one of the most innovative ship in the Ifremer fleet, in order to spread geology tools use on board in destination to teachers and their students in college and highschool, not only in France but also all over the world in the french schools abroad or the french classes abroad : http://edumed.unice.fr/data-center/oceano/supermouv.php

During this campaign, the aim is to prepare some challenges connected to SUPER MOUV activities for schools :

- students can indeed discover geodynamic in Ecuador west coast which is located in the ring of fire, and shaken by several earthquakes due to the subduction of Nazca tectonic plate under south-america tectonic plate,

- they can also discover how rocks or fluids are collected by Nautile submarine, how sediments are collected by coring, how highligths geo-mechanical properties of rocks or methods for fluids analysis,…

- and furthermore, they can learn about life on board a deep sea vessel (way of life, different jobs,..) during videoconferencings between the ship and the pupils in their classrooms ! 

How to cite: Gendron, F.: Teacher on board the deep sea vessel Pourquoi pas ?  for SUPER MOUV campaign off the coast of Ecuador , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3220, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3220, 2024.

Understanding contemporary climate change requires studying the climate system, how it works and evolves.

Various tools, such as palynological studies, oxygen isotope ratios, numerical modelling, etc. can be used to trace the evolution of the climate. Much of this data is accessible through the publication of databases and numerical modelling. In addition, the increasingly powerful numerical tools are mainly available to classrooms: use of spreadsheets, graphs, free softwares such as SimClimat, etc.

Leveraging these tools in my lessons and the training of my students seemed natural to me in a world where digital technology and information are available to all.

The poster I am presenting showcases some numerical activities carried out with students from the Groupe scolaire Sainte Louise, in Paris, aimed at helping them grasp those fundamental concepts of climate system.

The integration of digital technology not only enhances the dynamism of learning but also motivates students to actively participate, opening up exciting educational possibilities.

How to cite: Ait Ouferoukh, L.: Using digital technology to teach climate science, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3256, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3256, 2024.

Coding education is gaining more and more importance today. Coding improves general thinking skills by giving individuals the ability to solve problems. It also encourages creativity and innovation, giving students the opportunity to develop their own projects and create new solutions. One area where coding can be used is the climate crisis problem that threatens our planet. ECOding aims to integrate environmental and climate change education with an interdisciplinary approach while providing coding education to students. Within the scope of the project carried out in a vocational high school in Türkiye, while teaching coding to students in Object Oriented Programming, Internet of Things (IoT), Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning courses, the focus was on the environmental problems that our world faces. Coding examples shared with students, homework assignments, and project studies focused on the climate crisis. This situation not only raised students' awareness but also supported them to create technology-supported solutions to the climate crisis. Students measured their carbon footprints with the software they prepared and gave suggestions on how to reduce their carbon footprints according to their answers. A project that enables students to open the right waste bin in seconds for easier recycling of a waste shown on a camera with object recognition gave students the opportunity to participate in an international project competition. The students, who designed an educational software introducing hydrogen fuel cells using gamification, succeeded in winning the first prize in an international project competition. Within the scope of the project, which has been carried out for about 3 years, more than 200 students have received coding training with this approach. At the end of the academic year, the opinions of the students were taken and all of the students stated that seeking solutions to the climate crisis through coding made them happy, fun and instructive. More than half of the students stated that they developed a project idea for the climate crisis at the end of the course. The successes in the implementation process made the project visible in the international arena in a short time. In 2021, the project coordinator was awarded the Green Skills Award organised by the European Training Foundation (ETF) and UNESCO. Finally, the project coordinator was selected by JCI as one of the Ten Successful Young People of the World in the category of Environmental Protection and Moral Leadership. The project, which is frequently shared both in Türkiye and Europe, has started to be implemented in many schools.

How to cite: Arslan, S. Y.: ECOding: Putting climate solutions at the heart of tech education, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3347, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3347, 2024.

Defined by Howard in 1818, an “Urban Heat Island” corresponds to an urbanized area where the temperature is higher than in natural or surrounding environments. With climate change, this phenomenon affects more than 80% of urban populations and is linked to the storage of heat in the asphalt during the day and the stagnation of air between homes. Water runs off the surface of the waterproofed soil and the vegetation must be watered constantly.

With the regular increase in temperatures, the Roosevelt high school in the city center of Reims (Champagne, France) becomes a furnace from spring to autumn. In fact, with its tarmac square schoolyard surrounded by high dark red brick buildings, we measure recurring morning temperatures above 30°C and afternoon peaks above 40°C in classrooms.

This work, carried out by students, aims to define adaptation strategies and propose feasible modifications in this enclosure, which is classified as a “historic monument” and which must therefore maintain its total integrity. Roosevelt high school contains the “War Room” which is the surrender room where the end of the Second World War was signed on May 7, 1945 and it’s impossible to change its appearance.

After identifying the causes favouring the “Heat Island” effect in their highschool, the student carried out measurements of albedo, runoff and impact of the scare vegetated areas were carried out. Analog and computer-assisted experiments have been developed to propose solutions to limit heat accumulation and soil drying and promotes humidification and CO₂ trapping in the ground.

This work conducted by the students allowed them to propose non-invasive solutions improving the quality of life in their work environment.

Through its local and experimental approach, this work has made concrete highly mediatized notions whose causes and consequences are not always well associated. Moreover, the major role of soil and soil preservation, in modulating climate change, has been clearly highlighted.

How to cite: Veltz, I. and Bour, V.: Hot spot in the schoolyard, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3374, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3374, 2024.

STRUGGLING WITH CLIMATE CHANGES
 
Karolina Damjanoska
Master of Science in Physics Education and Physics Teacher in High School “Orde Chopela”,
Prilep, North Macedonia.
 
e-mail: kdamjanoska08@gmail.com
My students from SOU "Orde Chopela" have participated in many projects as citizen scientists,
such as the Globe at night project, which has been going on for sixteen years. The project is
enables students to do light pollution measurements by observing diverse constellations in the
night sky. That way, they get educated about the importance of maintaining a healthy
environment as well as the human impact on a changing climate. Over the years, I have gotten a
significant experience in the field and my students have achieved excellent results in domestic
and international competitions, which has motivated me to continue passing on my knowledge to
colleagues in my country and abroad.
For many years, I have been a leader and SOU "Orde Chopela" school coordinator for the
GLOBE project. Additionally, I am an official trainer for the GLOBE project and its Atmosphere
protocol. Measurements made during this protocol closely relate to those in the GLOBE project,
due to the importance of the visibility of the night sky. Besides that, while implementing the
project, the students have had the chance to delve into taking care and contributing to a healthy
environment.
Active participation in projects like these, give the students a chance to be properly formed as
individuals who advocate for a healthy environment and are able to think and act appropriately.
Their awareness of preserving the environment is at a very high level, they work on authentic
problems for which they seek and find solutions. Ultimately, the goal is contributing to the
common good.

How to cite: Damjanoska, K.: Struggling with climate changes, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3396, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3396, 2024.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND COSMOGRAPHY

Introduction

A beautiful universe, with the small earth at its center mediating knowledge and carrying it everywhere. From schools, universities and science museums. In our museum this year, the theme of our museum is extantas and cosmography in general. In addition, climate change has unexpectedly arisen, following the heavy rainfall that characterizes our planet and especially our region (Mouzaki-Karditsas 2019).

https://kpem.gr/kyrio/mm/mm.html

Many times there are events that outweigh our personal promote and require collective efforts to get better results. Our school is directly connected to our society, because our students live in it almost all day long. Their concerns are our concerns. Thus, in the events that occurred in the Municipality of Karditsa and the Municipality of Mouzaki concerning the floods, as a school with published educational activities we will give the historical and social dimension of the problem. Our pedagogical approach is intended as another message to be a reminder of the mechanisms that can help our region. Students exhibit their photographic material.

Climate change. Recent Historical Document

It is very important, especially after the continuous disasters in recent years in Greece, neighboring countries and around the world caused by floods. It is also important in planning related to the environmental management of water resources and as applications of ecological engineering, which is necessary for our region and our country in general.

The effects of global warming are not evenly distributed over all latitudes and longitudes. Climatic phenomena such as droughts, floods are expected to occur more frequently. The picture I encounter on the way to my school where, farms still have water, plants muddy is nightmarish. The Headmaster of the school on the morning calling after a week of suspension only asked who has no books due to water ingress at home. There are rumors of students who have lost their homes. After the second week was over we began to discuss the damage everyone has suffered, and it is normal to have lost part of your home, furniture and clothing.

Social dimension of the European project OSOS (Open Schools for open Societies)

Everything that is happening today should end quickly. The school to find its normal rhythm. The idea of OSOS has entered our lives as a basic tool and not as an accumulated knowledge or as an interactive tool for solving exercises in various forums. That is how we will try to continue our coursework. To approach the physical teaching of the classroom with complementary activities outside of it. So we too offer interactively as a classroom group, as a school and as a science museum to our local community, to worry to hope for something better.

Five years later 2023 in the region of Trikala, Farkadona and Karditsa(Palamas) exactly the same flooding events occur. The photographic material describes IANOS and DANIEL.

The OSOS logo contained in four words captures a new vision for schools : Feel - Imagine - Create - Share.  

Thank you

How to cite: Vagenas, A.: Climate change and Cosmography , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3803, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3803, 2024.

The « Climate Fresk » is a french innovative educational tool designed to raise awareness about the challenges of climate change. Developed by the French organization CliMates in 2018, it engages students in an interactive and collaborative learning experience.

This activity lasts around 3 hours and takes the form of a board game where students organized into groups of 4 to 7, working together to understand the complex dynamics of climate change. The game incorporates a set of 44 cards representing various factors related to climate change (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, sea level rise, deforestation, ocean acidification, aerosol). The course is organized as follows:

• Step 1: The students’ goal is to place cards on the board, creating connections between different aspects of climate change. Behind the cards lay explanations about the item to help them solving some complex issues (e. is ice melting and sea level rise connected?).
• Step 2: The students will be given some sheet and materials to stick the cards on it, draw the links and add additional decorations of their choice.
• Step 3: The different Fresks are displayed on the classroom walls, and the group can present them, explaining their layout choices or items that particularly moved them.
• Step 4: A discussion about the solutions is engaged

The primary objective of the Climate Fresk is to enhance participants' understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change while fostering discussions about possible solutions. By actively involving individuals in the learning process, this activity aims at empowering them with knowledge and inspire collective action.

Teachers often find the Climate Fresk to be a valuable resource for education in high school settings. Additionaly to scientific knowledge, this approach encourages critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving but also creativity since the students will take some time to do a nice and efficent layout. The visual and interactive nature of the Climate Fresk makes it an effective tool for conveying complex scientific concepts in a simple and accessible educational tool. Moreover, it promotes active learning and brings a different learning experience based on creation of an mural fresco.

Other similar works have been created since, such as the Plastic Fresk, the Soil Fresk, the Digital Fresk.

How to cite: Widmann, M.: Exploring the Complexity of Climate Change with an Interactive and Collaborative Learning Tool: The "Climate Fresk", EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3871, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3871, 2024.

The Project is based on the Miedwie Lake, which is 5th largest lake in Poland and it was conducted by 6 13yo students. The project had a lasting impact on the community, ensuring sustainable water use practices, and reducing the impact of climate change on the environment. The  objective of this project was to create awareness among the community about the importance of water resources from the Miedwie Lake. This project aims to educate the community about the negative impacts of climate change on water resources and how sustainable water use practices can mitigate these effects. Also, to show young people that they have a huge impact on their communities and they actually can change the world.

The project was focused on different stages.

• Meeting with the Head of Kobylanka Municipality Mrs. Julita Pilecka. The mayor shared with us the problems as well as the development plans of the Kobylanka municipality, as well as gave us a glimpse of the threads concerning the city of Stargard.
• TRIP TO THE WATER PRODUCTION PLANT IN ŻELEWO. The trip was held for educational purposes, to learn more about how water is purified and what needs to be done so that the water from Lake Miedwie can be brought to the inhabitants of Szczecin. 
• Presentations and workshops for junior classes 1-3. Junior students were able to actively participate in the presentation.
• Professor of hydrology Hubert H.G. Savenije from Delft University visited our school. Our meeting with the professor of hydrology was aimed at introducing and explaining why water is the blood of the Earth. 
• Meeting with  Mr. Zenon Wiśniowski.  DIRECTOR OF THE POLISH GEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE – NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 
• Next was making a podcast. One of the project’s participants, conducted an interview with her grandfather, who’s the chief of Stargard District Fishing Guard. The interview was recorded and was played on the official conference.
• FIRST STUDENTS CONFERENCE FOR ADULTS Observing and monitoring the key variables governing the global water cycle is essential to our understanding of the Earth’s climate, forecasting weather, predicting floods and droughts, and improving water management.  It was a summary of all work done in the project. Every student could show adults how much he has done and how much efort gave to make the project succesful.

Using SDGS:

• Our activities helped us see that the health of residents cannot be threatened by poor water quality.
• Educated themselves at all times during all activities in areas such as science, technology, math, engineering, hydrology, geology.
• Our entire project involves researching, learning and exploring.. All our activities were about convincing ourselves of the safety of the population and making sure the water around us is clean.
• In the laboratory we researched and learned about a whole list of vegetation and animals that live thanks to water.
• The study of water and conversation with a geohydrologist showed us what life on land looks like and how the chain of life functions.

We did not sleep, we lost our tempers, but it was worth it. And this is what STEM education should like.

How to cite: Markowicz, R.: Miedwie Lake as a source of life. Implementing SDGs in STEM lessons., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3943, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3943, 2024.

Energy and climate changes are complex issues with rapidly developing science and the potential for controversy. The amount of time teachers are spending on these topics is going up significantly, but how can educators effectively bring these important subjects into their classrooms? My response applied to 11-14 year-old students is to start from plots nearly without any discussion before. Simple plots that show the most important indicators of climate change (i.e., time-behaviour of concentration of CO₂, surface temperature, sea level, arctic sea ice extent, etc.).

Time plots do not end in the present time but are extrapolated to the next 20-30-40 years using models from qualified scientific literature, that show how the choices of decision-makers and also our behaviour can affect the climate changes. This becomes a powerful starting point for a discussion that will arise from students as soon as they realize on how the situation is rapidly changing. The discussion will naturally end-up with students that focus that a combination of strategies is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The most immediate strategy is conservation of oil, gas, and coal, which we rely on as fuels for most of our transportation, heating, cooling, etc. In students life that means to modify some habits in order to save energy and limit gas emissions. Student achieve this conclusion by their selves, while the teacher has only the role to coordinate the work.

Some strategies to keep this subject interesting and stimulating are used: plots are done by students not in their notebooks during desk-work but in high dimensions in the school-gym, using when possible the lines of basket of volleyball pitches and completing them with paper tape. This involves the students usually less interested in the activities in traditional classroom work and allows team work in groups of 3-4 students. This also reinforces math abilities and demonstrates how math theory merges with reality, a link that is not always caught by young students.

How to cite: Martelli, M.: From plots to theory: young students build their good practice on climate changes, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4148, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4148, 2024.

Nowadays, in Portugal, the challenge of Natural Sciences (NS) for middle and high school teachers is to make science education more attractive to young students. One way to achieve that is through practical work. Unfortunately, this kind of work is not very common in geology teaching. 

The Curricular Autonomy and Flexibility Project (DACP) with Biology/Geology, Mathematics and Physical/Chemistry was intended to increase the quality of teaching and learning, based on the Students Profile at Completion of Compulsory Education reference document and the guiding documents for Essential Learnings, which will provide help in the planning and assessment of teaching and learning.

This work is an example carried out through the interaction of different learning environments, inside the classroom, and outdoors, and of different types of practical work, namely laboratory and fieldwork.  The organisation of the activities followed a pattern: the field trip to the Valongo Anticline (North of Portugal) and Problem-Based Learning (PBL).

The Valongo Anticline allows  the observation of evolution of life during the Paleozoic, based on animal and plant fossils, as well as the possibility of dating the strata from the fossils they contain. It also presents some particular lithology evidence, namely the presence of icebergs, the existence of submarine volcanism, and the presence of beaches. The tectonic action is evidenced by the existence of folds and faults.

The Problem Question (PQ) was based on an outcrop from the Paleozoic where we have the geo-trails that cover rocks of different ages of the region of Valongo. In this site it is possible to observe the variation in sedimentation environments (marine and continental) from nearly 540 to 300 M.y. Also, in this region we can find several outcrops with diamictites beds.  This   glaciomarine record of the Hirnantian (end-Ordovician) glaciation is evidence of the climate changes that occurred over Earth's history.  

In this poster we discuss some ideas about what students learn from different activities and which other factors influence their learning process as students. The idea of interdisciplinary learning is to allow students to realize that certain fundamental concepts don’t belong to a single science subject. On the contrary, these concepts can be applied in many subjects.

In conclusion, this poster presents some formal and non-formal educational practical activities that the students developed, in groups, during the year 2023 and 2024 and that can be used in the teaching of geology. 

How to cite: Correia, N., Neves, V., and Gandra, A.: The Role of Interdisciplinary PBL Activities: Climate of the Past, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4396, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4396, 2024.

Recently, in the news programs on TV channels, we frequently come across news such as the melting of glaciers, weather events such as sudden and heavy rains and storms, the increase in atmospheric temperature and the increase in forest fires. At the same time, we observe some of these events in our immediate surroundings. There is also a sentence frequently mentioned by the public: the seasons are changing. The students asked questions such as why all these events occur and what has changed between the past and the present.

We all know that they need to understand global warming in order to understand these changes, but as a science teacher, I guided them on how to achieve this so that they can have the ability to use experimental methods within the project-based learning approach. They first conducted a preliminary literature review and then designed an experiment. In the experiment, they tested the hypothesis that the water inside a glass bowl covered with black cardboard heats up more than the transparent glass bowl. Thus, they tried to investigate the impact of greenhouse gases on climate change.

 In the experiment, two glass bell jars were used to represent the atmospheric layer. The inside of one of them was covered with pieces cut from black cardboard at intervals. Black cardboard was used to represent greenhouse gases because black color absorbs light. The same amount of water was filled into two beakers of the same size. A thermometer was placed inside them and the bell jars were turned upside down on the beakers and closed. Two thermometers were used to measure the temperature of the water in the beakers. The first mechanism (not coated) is also the control group. The second device (covered with black cardboard) is the experimental group.

 In the experiment and observation phase, the independent variable is the bell jars and the dependent variable is the water temperature. Control variables are bell jar size, beaker size, amount of water and environmental conditions. After the installation of the mechanisms, the initial temperature of the water was measured and recorded. The students carried out this research by placing the mechanisms in a sunny place on a sunny day. They recorded the data in tables they prepared at certain time intervals.

Later, they shared the results with the participants at the science festival. Thus, they tried to explain the causes of the global warming problem and draw attention to the necessary measures to prevent this problem.

How to cite: Öncü, G. S.: The Greenhouses Affect, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4421, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4421, 2024.

Global anthropogenic climate change is real and so it is essential to include this topic in our curricula to enable students to understand the scientific evidence and the possible effects this might have on our lives.

This poster provides an insight into some of the practical ways that climate change topics might be taught using the free online ‘Earthlearningidea’ website (https://www.earthlearningidea.com/English/Resources_and_Environment.html#clchange). As such, it is designed to reflect the GIFT 2024 workshop run by our EGU Geoscience Education Field Officers and to demonstrate the range of ELIs undertaken in their respective countries. It is also presented in fond memory of Professor Chris King who was the instigator and inspiration of this and so many other geoscience education projects in the UK and abroad.                                   

These climate change activities and others are available at the Earth learning website (https://www.earthlearningidea.com/), a repository containing more than 400 activities ready to use and translated into different languages. All are designed to develop students’ critical thinking and research skills, while developing their knowledge and understanding of Earth processes and products.

EGU Geoscience Education Field Officers (GEFO) are a team of geoscience teachers and researchers who provide professional development to schoolteachers who have elements of geoscience in their teaching curricula, through interactive hands-on workshops. The team is supported by the European Geosciences Union Education Committee and is active in eleven countries around Europe. (https://www.egu.eu/education/).

How to cite: Loader, P., Realdon, G., Coupechoux, G., Juan, X., and P. Correia, G.: Teaching Climate Change: using Earth Learning Ideas, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4432, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4432, 2024.

The coasts of Ecuador and Colombia have been hit by several earthquakes of magnitude greater than 7.5 over the course of the 20th century. An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck near the town of Pedernales in April 2016. It was the most powerful earthquake to hit Ecuador in 70 years, claiming hundreds of lives and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in economic losses. The seismic data revealed the complex slip behaviour of this part of Ecuador's subduction zone. The shallow part of the megafault is characterised by slow-slip earthquakes that can last from a few days to a few months and do not generate seismic waves (asismic rupture), so are not felt by the population. What controls these slip events is still poorly understood, even though they play an important role in the seismic cycle that governs the periodic loading and release of the megafault. The aim of recent oceanographic missions (the HIPER and SUPER-MOUV expeditions) is to understand how structure, temperature and fluids affect slip behaviour and the transition from seismic to asismic rupture. Many schoolchildren were involved in these scientific missions, following the mission's progress on a daily basis. Each following school was in contact with an education team on board and on land. Working closely with the researchers, the pupils were able to follow the work on board the ships, solve weekly scientific puzzles and take part in live video conferences from the oceanographic ship. Allowing students, the future citizens of the world, to experience first-hand how science works... these are essential elements in strengthening the link between science and society. 

How to cite: Berenguer, J. L., Gendron, F., Saliby, C., and Balestra, J.: HIPER motivated students follow the SUPER-MOUV sea campaign, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4440, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4440, 2024.

InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) is a discovery program, lead by NASA, that has landed a single lander on Mars and other sensors, such as a seismometer, a heat flow probe, and more others sensors that provided a lot of data.

The main payload is the seismometer called SEIS, that is the first seismometer (after Viking fail) to record signal with a very deep precision. The goal of this mission is to investigate the dynamics of Martian tectonic activity and understand all the processes that shaped the Red Planet.

Students were able to benefit from the data recorded by SEIS, and transmitted, with little delay, to schools by the science team. In this presentation, we will show all the practical activities done with kids, teens and students in France and other countries during the space mission (2018-2022).

This work has been done by a French team of teachers, in international cooperation with others countries (with UK, USA, Switzerland, Spain, Romania ...) and can be found on this specific website: https://insight.oca.eu

As the InSight mission draws to a close, a survey was conducted within the Education community to assess the impact of such an education component in a research programme.

How to cite: Berenguer, J. L., Saliby, C., and Balestra, J.: Insight Education : When highschool students and teachers are involved in the science team., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4443, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4443, 2024.

Encouraged by the problem of constantly air pollution, especially in the winter mounts, a group of students from the Josip Broz – Tito High School from Bitola, North Macedonia, under the mentorship of the geography teacher and in cooperation with the NGO Geosfera, conducted a school project. The main objectives of the project were: raising awareness among pupils about the harmful effects of PM particles on human health, identifying the city's air polluters, measuring PM particles concentrations in different locations around the city and informing the public and preparing draft mitigation measures of air pollution.

First, the students held an educative lecture in front of the rest of the pupils at the school about the harmful effects of PM particles on human health. Then, we started a campaign to involve students and all citizens of Bitola in identifying the city's air polluters. Through the social networks, instructions were given, such as through an online Аpp and the GPS signal from the smart phone, to take a picture from a suspicious air polluter and to post the image with the given geographic coordinates on our Facebook group. A working group of students, according to the given coordinates of the citizens, put the polluters on an interactive map of Google Maps. A link from the map was sent to the authorized environmental inspector in the municipality, with the goal of faster response and inspection to those polluters.

The absence of multiple measuring stations created numerous speculations among the citizens, but also with the institutions in the city, where the enormous air pollution originated, whether from the Thermal Power Plant Bitola or from the city itself.

Therefore, in cooperation with the NGO Geosfera, we decided to measure the current concentrations of PM10 particles in two periods of the day, between 14 and 15, and between 19 and 20 hours. The measurements were made with a mobile particle detector at 14 locations. After the measurements were made, using the Google Earth, two maps were created, showing the results of the measurements. The obtained results confirm the suspicions that the cause of enormous air pollution in Bitola is not TPP Bitola, but households that mostly warm their homes with firewood (over 60%, Source: State Statistical Office). Also, a large number of citizens of our Facebook group have commented that part of the problem are Forest enterprises, which usually supply wet firewood. According to the US EPA, wet wood produces three times more PM particles compare with dry wood.

The students from the school, in cooperation with the NGO Geosfera and the geography teacher, developed and submitted to the Municipality measures for reduction of air pollution. All these proposed measures were placed on an interactive map on Google Maps, through which all the citizens of Bitola will be able to visualize them.

The action received positive reviews from the public in the city and achieved the desired effect, which is raising awareness among young people and alerting the competent institutions to solving the accumulated problems.

How to cite: Ristov, M.: Take a photo, post it, alert it!, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4448, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4448, 2024.

               In the context of global climate change, the importance of understanding and effectively managing the environment is becoming more urgent. The digitization of geography, through Geographic Information Systems (GIS), is an essential methodological component for identifying, monitoring and managing geographical phenomena with major impact on climate. Teaching climate change at school is based on examples of good practice, learned and applied through the Erasmus+ project "GIS for Gist of Europe".

             The project addresses the issue of climate change by including GIS in the curricular area sciences, the objectives and priorities of action being in the field of school education.The partners of the Erasmus + project ” GIS for Gist of Europe” bring to our project diversified experience and invaluable resources, these being EUROGEO VZW from Belgium, Riga Secondary School No. 25 from Latvia, Universidad de Zaragoza from Spain, Yenilikçi Eğitim Derneği from Turkey, Sint-Lodewijkscollege from Belgium. Each partner brings a unique perspective and meaningful skills to achieve our common goals.

            Through the LMS-Gis for Future platform, teachers are taught to digitize geography, as well as how to understand, use and apply geospatial technology. Topics related to exploiting desert infrastructure, climate migration of people, supporting alternative resources and desertification are easy to apply as a result of completing this course.

            The second product of the project materializes in a learning module because the technology of geographic information systems allows us to model and see very complicated relationships and ways to respond more intelligently. As there is a need to promote GIS knowledge, monitor elements of local interest and centralize urban issues, this climate change learning module can support the teaching of geosciences. Learning the working methodology in disciplines such as meteorology and synoptic, remote sensing and photointerpretation and applied informatics in geosciences.

            The third product of the project is based on case studies related to climate change. With the help of GIS, the integration of climate change leads to the formation of a new generation of young people prepared to understand and face the challenges of climate change.

            The project is not only limited to providing theoretical knowledge, but also provides the tools to turn this knowledge into concrete actions. By facilitating the understanding, monitoring and management of geographical phenomena associated with climate change, a generation of young people responsible and involved in environmental conservation is prepared.

            Thus, integrating GIS into school curricula is not only a necessity, but also an opportunity to actively contribute to the formation of a conscious society. Students become change agents, able to propose innovative solutions and participate in global efforts to combat climate change. In the end, this project not only achieves its goals, but also represents an investment in a sustainable future, where education plays a central role in saving our planet.

            Keywords: GIS, Erasmus+, climate change

How to cite: Elefteriu, C. A.: GIS for Gist of Europe, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4452, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4452, 2024.

The aim of this project is to investigate the impact of game design with AR-VR-supported cards on elementary school students' knowledge of Energy Resources and to explore students' opinions about the game. The project used a single-group pre-test-post-test quasi-experimental model, with a sample of 12 students from the 5th grade. A game designed to be played using AR-VR-supported cards was created in the project. Unity software was used for the design of AR-VR-supported cards, and 3D apk files that can be loaded onto phones were generated. AR-VR target images for this application were selected from visuals in the Canva program. Physical environment prints necessary for the game were also printed on hard cardboard.

The designed game was played with 12 5th-grade students in different sessions. Before and after the game, an Energy Resources Information Survey and a Game Feedback Form were administered to the students to assess changes in their knowledge. The application steps of AR-VR cards and opinions about the game were also collected.

As a result of the project, it was concluded that the game with AR-VR-supported cards increased students' knowledge of energy resources, made them aware of the positive and negative characteristics of resources, and received positive feedback from the students regarding the designed game. The project also contributed to the educational environment by introducing a game design incorporating AR-VR-supported cards.

How to cite: Uz, G. Y.: Augmented Reality Supported Renewable Energy Game, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4568, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4568, 2024.

Plastics include different types of polymers, often mixed with additives which give them the desired properties (flexibility, rigidity, color, fire resistance, etc.). The diversity of properties and possible uses of plastics, combined with their strength and lightness, have made them a preferred material in many sectors (packaging, medical, construction, etc.). Their use has grown exponentially since the 1950s, today reaching 400 million tons per year.

Plastics are therefore present everywhere, whether in aquatic environments or in terrestrial environments. Today, the omnipresence of plastic waste at sea and on the coast has become a subject of major public, scientific and public health concern.

"Microplastic" refers to tiny plastic particles that measure less than 5 millimeters and that can be found in landfills, rivers, soils and mostly in oceans. These microplastics come from various sources such as the breakdown of larger plastic items (bags, tyres, bottles), microbeads in personal care products, and synthetic fibers from textiles. This widespread contamination rises a serious threat to marine life, ecosystems and human healthcare.

 Although microplastic pollution is major environmental concern, this topic is not yet included in school programs. In order to involve students to this crucial pollution problem, we are experimenting a science club with all volunteer students since September 2023.

The club is part of two national participatory science projects which consist in collecting data, conducting experiments, and analyzing results and communicate with researchers. The first project has been initiated by the Tara Ocean foundation. This project is an educational operation serving education in science and sustainable development which offers students the opportunity to contribute to the inventory of plastic pollution on beaches and banks in France.The database created feeds scientific research and contributes to political decision support at different levels. We had to choose a sampling site on the banks of the Seine which has to be approved by scientists. The, we will collect plastic samples and, back at school, we will sort plastic according to their size. The data collected are used to complete a database which is freely accessible by any researcher.

The second participatory project in which the club is involved is the “Plastizen” project, lead by the CNRS . It aims to study the fate of biodegradable plastic bags in the soil by taking into account different ecological factors (temperature, humidity, pH). Some samples of conventional plastic and biodegradable plastic are buried in the soil. pH of the soil is measured. Then, each month, the samples have to be removed, measured, pictured and the results are sent to CNRS.

These two projects allow discussing the scientific contents and methodologic approach of science with the students.  But we also plan to organize local cleanup events, and awareness campaigns (creation of informational posters, comic strips, …).

The poster will describe the challenges of this work, the way it has been driven and the first results. The exchanges with the students and their perception of these participatory projects will be summarized and discussed.

How to cite: Pointu, A.: Microplastic Pollution Projects and Participatory Science, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4698, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4698, 2024.

The concept of sustainable development has been at the centre of public debate since the 1980s, but the challenges to sustainability have become more urgent in recent years due to rapid environmental changes that threaten the planet's biological support systems (United Nations, 2015). These threats include, but are not limited to, global warming, with a growing number of extreme weather events causing natural disasters, rising sea levels and ocean acidification, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, resource depletion and international migration driven by these factors.

Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world, new approaches to sustainability education are needed. One such approach is based on the teaching of evolution using socio-scientific issues (SSI). In fact, understanding evolution is necessary to understand and predict ecosystem responses to rapid environmental change and their consequences for human societies, so that to devise possible solutions informed by evolutionary biology.

SSIs are ill-structured problems and dilemmas, controversial in nature, without immediate and clear solutions, which require evidence-based considerations and can be informed by various ideas and perspectives, such as economic, political, and ethical ones (Zeidler, 2014).

The SSI-based pedagogical approach uses controversial and personally relevant issues that require scientific reasoning but include social aspects that require "students to engage in dialogue, discussion, debate and argumentation; they integrate implicit and/or explicit ethical components that require some degree of moral reasoning" (Pessoa et al. in Sá-Pinto et al., 2023).

In this session, we intend to present a teaching resource produced within the COST Action EuroScitizen project.

This resource is an open access e-book entitled "Learning evolution through socio-scientific issues" http://www.euroscitizen.eu/2023/02/03/learning-evolution-through-socioscientific-issues/

It is the result of contributions from 34 authors and 29 reviewers from 15 different countries. The authors of this poster were involved as editors, authors and reviewers (Sá-Pinto and Pessoa) or as reviewer and coordinator of the Italian translation (Realdon).

The e-book comprises two parts:

- chapters addressing theoretical and methodological issues related to science literacy, SSI education approach and evolution education;

- chapters presenting good practice examples with the use of the SSI approach in formal and non-formal evolution education.

The resource focuses on a number of examples (biodiversity conservation, health issues, e.g. pandemics, antibiotic resistance, agriculture and pesticide resistance, ...), but the SSI approach can be profitably exploited in other diverse and interdisciplinary contexts, such as natural resource use (water, minerals, fossil fuels), energy production, land management, waste disposal, climate change mitigation and many others, all of which are related within the framework of sustainability education.

References

• Sá-Pinto, X., Beniermann, A., Børsen, T., Georgiou, M., Jeffries, A., Pessoa, P., Sousa, B., & Zeidler, D.L. (Eds.). (2022) - Learning Evolution Through Socioscientific Issues. UA Editora, 219 pp.
• United Nations. (2015) - Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development department of economic and social affairs. United Nations
• Zeidler, D.L. (2014) - Socioscientific Issues as a Curriculum Emphasis: Theory, Research and Practice. In N. G. Lederman & S. K. Abell (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Science Education, Volume II, Routledge, 697- 726

How to cite: Realdon, G., Pessoa, P., and Sá-Pinto, X.: Teaching evolution for sustainability in the era of climate change: the Socio-Scientific Issues (SSI) approach, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4721, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4721, 2024.

Over one-third of global food production is estimated to contribute to the waste stream, leading to greenhouse gas emissions. Composting food waste emerges as a sustainable solution, effectively mitigating emissions by sequestering carbon in the soil, while also offering various environmental, economic and social benefits. However, food waste management pathways are mainly landfilling and controlled combustion, only a little fraction ends up being composted.

Our secondary school is actively engaged in promoting recycling and sustainability within the scholar and local communities. With the active collaboration of students, we initially focused on separating light packing and paper, but we recognized that a substantial portion, approximately 40%, of our waste was organic waste from the school canteen. In response, we launched a composting initiative to convert this organic waste into valuable fertile soil.  Presently, four composters are consistently fed twice a week, yielding compost that enriches the soil in our school vegetable garden.

This poster shows the comprehensive procedure, detailing the collection of food waste and the employed composting methods, including vermicomposting. The final product is a nutrient-rich organic material that enhances soil structure, fertility, ad moisture retention.

This experience has not only significantly reduced our school’s waste output but has also played a pivotal role in raising awareness and educating students about climate change, waste-related issues, and the importance of local actions. Through active collaboration, we aim to install a sense of responsibility and environmental consciousness among students, fostering a sustainable mindset for the future.

How to cite: Molinos Solsona, M.: Reducing our school's carbon footprint through composting the canteen food waste, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4734, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4734, 2024.

Teaching about the ongoing climate crisis feels many times emotionally exhausting. This is particularly because it is often sensed that a large number of our students are hopeless about climate change and its impact. In our experience, we have also recognized that classroom discussions may result in misleading conclusions, namely that “if there is hope, is not for us”.  

Therefore, in recent years, I have been trying to explore new methods to approach this subject. I have searched how students' interest about climate crisis, i.e., global warming and climate change, as well as their engagement as citizens to deal with climate crisis could be awakened.

The aspects that I have particularly explored are as follows:

1).Geological field studies together with scientists provides new insights into climate crisis

Since 2013, I have been working on several projects in collaboration with researchers at the Department of Geological Sciences at Stockholm University. This collaboration began when I participated in a Research Council. Since then, I have been co-leading several projects, which had resulted in that many of my students participated in scientific activities, including making observations, collecting data, and doing fieldwork. By doing fieldwork my students have got new insights into and the time to reflect over the present as well as the past climate changes. This is a way of learning that the “climate crisis” is in fact “a geological problem”.

2). Engagement creates hope

I have been involving my students in several cultural projects where they had the opportunity to express their thoughts about climate crisis to politicians, dream about future solutions, and to search why other people in the society make their voice heard through climate demonstrations. By participating and expressing their thoughts in such activities, my students realized that they could contribute making “Earth a wonderful planet to live on”. For examples, a group of them participated in a workshop co-organized by Stockholm University, the Researchers’ Desk, and Lava at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern. The students created textile messages to politicians and decision makers about climate change.

In another project, my students have participated in the research project “Utopian stories”, a collaboration between the Department of Literary Studies and the Centre of Digital Humanities at the University of Gothenburg and the Bolin Centre for Climate Research at Stockholm University and the Nobel Prize Museum.

How to cite: Bredberg, C.: “Climate crisis and its impact: New ways to awaken curiosity and hope in the classroom environment”, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4750, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4750, 2024.

In France, during the COVID—19 pandemic, I received many questions from my students while we were “at home”, like “I have read that, is it true?” or “I am aware because I have read that …”. This questioned me a lot, especially since they spend more than 7 hours a day on their phones and social media!

In response, for their last grade in French curriculum focusing on the theme of climate change, I decided to have an approach based on what they read on social media, to warn them not about what they read but more about “how could you know this information is true?”, “How could you trust what you are reading?” or “Why do we want to trust this information (which is eventually wrong)?”. As I am also a user of their social media, I felt it was a good way.

My approach is based on the book “La démocratie des crédules” and “Apocalypse cognitive” written by Gerald Bronner, a famous French sociologist. This book adresses misinformation and cognitive biases and has received awards such as the “Europe Social Sciences Award”. It explains for example that nowadays, fake news are more and more present because we don’t have enough motivation to fight fake news online, allowing misinformation and their consequences to spread.

The lessons begin with students analyzing recent and controversial news. Then they must raise cards indicating, for example, the need for verification or identifying logical errors. They have several cards in hands, and they need to choose the better ones according to the information I show them. This interactive process forms the basis for further discussions, linking the lessons to the overarching theme.

One of the projects also involves students creating a forward-looking climate report, and it needs to be futuristic (for example, as if they made it in 2050). I will show some videos they made thanks to QR-code in the poster. Linked to that, the course incorporates elements inspired by the movie “Don’t look up”, offering a perspective on the challenges the world must face in order to trust scientists or to be really warned by the climate change. It’s also interesting for them because my high school is renowned for offering an artistic curriculum.

The culmination of the course is a Fake News competition, testing students' ability to discern misinformation within the context of climate change. This project not only evaluates their critical thinking skills but also empowers them to actively combat the spread of false information.

To resume, the goal of this lesson is to equip students with the tools to critically evaluate information not only information related to climate change, but also future scientific information they will encounter (vaccination, DNA editing …).

How to cite: Dubreu, E.: Critical thinking in high school science education: a focus on Fake News and Climate Change., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4753, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4753, 2024.

The lesson employs a hands-on approach, involving a Greenhouse Effect Simulation using an Arduino UNO. This approach, following the principals of J. Bruno’s learning by discovery and trying to avoid the criticism to the original greenhouse effect experiments raised by a recent paper (M. Bertò et al, 2014) aims to make the subject more interesting for students, fostering practical skills in science and technology. Students experiment with modifying variables in a simulation setup, which includes a glass basin with limestone gravel, an infrared lamp, and a sprayer. The simulation introduces the concept of acid rain and its interaction with limestone, resulting in the release of CO2. Three scenarios are explored: one without CO2, one with water vapor but no CO2, and one with "acid rain on limestone," generating CO2. The sources of atmospheric CO2, including natural and anthropogenic processes, are discussed within this context.

To monitor temperature changes in the simulation, students use Arduino, a temperature sensor and an infrared sensor allowing them to analyze and understand the impact of different scenarios on temperature patterns. The lesson emphasizes the importance of monitoring temperature changes in correlation with climate patterns, providing students with a tangible connection to real-world challenges. Note that basic Arduino concepts are introduced to familiarize students with microcontrollers, sensors, and programming.

Subject: Geology - Geography, Chemistry, Informatics

Grade: 12-14 years old

Duration:  two class periods

General Objectives:

This lesson includes a brief overview of greenhouse effect and its causes and impacts on temperature patterns and climate change.

Lesson Plan - Objectives:

• The students get familiar with greenhouse effect and systemic correlations.
• The students experimenting with a Greenhouse Effect Simulation.
• The students monitor the Temperature in Simulation

How to cite: Louvaris, K. and Mammi, A.-Z.: Simulating and Studying Greenhouse Effect in your classroom with Arduino UNO, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4765, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4765, 2024.

The CLIMAte change teachers’ acaDEMY (CLIMADEMY) aims to create a European partnership of teacher’s education and training providers across Europe in order to develop the European and international dimensions of teacher’s education, contributing to the achievement of the objectives of the European Education Area. CLIMADEMY aims to offer a comprehensive program where teachers will interact and learn how to educate the next generation of European citizens on climate change issues.

Climate change is unequivocally attributed to human activities and is already affecting Europe, leading to heat waves, extreme drought and flood events, forest fires, biodiversity loss, decreasing crop yields and affect human health. The European Parliament acknowledges that ‘education for young people represents one of the most effective tools for compacting climate change’. However, climate change is not yet broadly incorporated in school science curricula.

CLIMADEMY aims to fill this gap by developing and establishing a network and community of practice to create innovative strategies and programs for preparatory and continuous professional development for serving and student teachers on climate change and its impacts. The consortium consists of four EU countries (Finland, Germany, Greece and Italy) and once operationally established, it will be open to new members.

Educational material focused on the drivers causing the human-induced climate perturbations, the impacts of climate change and the measures for sustainability, will be tailored for initial education and professional development and made openly available to all education institutions across Europe.

The material will be jointly developed, designed to be easily accessed, adopted and replicated, using modern educational practices and tools, with teachers acting both as trainees and co-designers. It will be the basis for the Teachers’ Academy for climate change education to be established through one common virtual Climate Auditorium (CLAUDI) and four hubs in separate countries with specific foci driven by the regional particularities.

The CLAUDI platform will host the material, online courses, and the forum where all teachers and learners meet and exchange ideas and experiences, thus building the Teachers'. The material will be developed in English, German, Italian, Greek and Finnish.

During the three years of CLIMADEMY, the first 200 serving and student teachers across Europe will have piloted the activities through online, physical and blended training and will be the seed that will lead to the growth of the network and distribute its aims. Substantially more teachers will be virtually trained and schools involved, contributing to the Education for Climate Coalition of the European Environment Agency.

Further information

CLIMAte change teacher’s academy (CLIMADEMY)

Programme: ERASMUS2027 (Teacher’s Academy)

Project ID: 101056066 EUROPEAN EDUCATION AND CULTURE EXECUTIVE AGENCY (EACEA)

Duration: 36 months (1 June 2022-31 May 2025)

Location: Greece, Italy, Germany, Finland

Webpage: https://climademy.eu

How to cite: Kartsonakis, E.: CLIMAte change teachers’ acaDEMY (CLIMADEMY), EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6146, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6146, 2024.

The NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) Mentorship Program from 2023 hosts a spin-off program dedicated to teachers and educators. During its first year this pilot effort connected a GPM expert with Italian middle- and high-school teachers to learn about the water cycle, climate change and precipitation through the lens of the GPM mission. Given the success of the first year, for the 2023-2024 school year the program has been extended to every school grade, from kindergarten to high school, involving students from 5 to 18 years old. The main focus of the project is to provide information and tools to teachers in order to be able to pass the scientific knowledge to their students. After three lectures about water cycle, weather and climate, and the GPM mission and its applications, the teachers aided by the GPM expert develop a practical project with the students. The project is multidisciplinary and focused on precipitation, from measurement using rain gauges deployed in the school yard, to data analysis comparing measured data with GPM satellite retrievals. Classroom discussions on precipitation trends and changes lead to climate change awareness and link this project to other programs on sustainability developed by the schools. This paper will provide an outline of the program and an overview of the practical projects led by the teachers. The program is in constant development, expanding into Portuguese-speaking communities and other countries such as Turkey, to develop educational material in different languages to reduce language barriers and increase exposure opportunities of Earth observation data.

How to cite: Milani, L., Barozzi, R., Bononi, M., Cantoresi, E., Ciantra, G., di Angelo, P., Davì, A., Insogna, L., Milan, S., Paganelli, A., Patrizio, T., Piccioni, I., Ricci, E., Samiolo, L., Ventura, C., Zanella, M., Portier, A., Mantas, V., and Janney, D.: NASA GPM Mentorship Program - Educator Track, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6609, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6609, 2024.

The IPCC experts attribute unequivocal human influence to the observed climate change. The global temperature has increased by approximately 1.1 degrees celsius compared to the preindustrial era, with negative impacts on worldwide populations and ecosystems.

A world climate simulation is an in-person role-playing excercice of the UN climate change negotiations. The simulation aims to rise awarness among students about the issue of climate change by having them take on roles of responsability, allowing them to become active participants during the mock UN summit. Participants work in groups, with each group representing a specific nation, negociating bloc or an interest group. To achieve the objective of staying below 2 degrees celsius of warming above the preindustrial levels, participants must discuss strategies, negociate, make decisions and collaborate to propose greenhouse gaz emissions reductions, land use changes and climate finance pledges. They can predict the impact of their proposals on the global temperature by using a computer simulation of the dynamics of the climate C-ROADS.

The project unfolds in three parts :

• Understanding climate change : students engage in activities about the reality of climate change and its origins.
• Negociating at the international level : preparing for negociation and participating in a negociation simulation.
• Taking action locally and globally for the climate : discovering projects to take action for the climate.

How to cite: Thabet, S.: World climate simulation, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6621, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6621, 2024.

Present an ongoing project named “ Eco-Enigma Expedition Escape Room”. The aim is
to an immersive escape room experience designed to raise awareness and promote
action against climate change. The storyline is about a critical mission, 60 minutes to
Rescue the Planet. By solving a series of puzzles and challenges within a limited
timeframe to prevent an impending environmental catastrophe caused by climate
change. Each puzzle/challenge/enigma reveals important pieces of information or/and
action that can help mitigate the crisis. The Escape room is composed by 6 activities,
each of then relates action for change the climate or behavior to do it and a specific
ODS substantiable goal. In each activity, players will collect a code that will be use to
open the door that drove them to a healthy planet. The escape room will be created
with students from Hight School, given this project a Win-Win situation, not only the
have to investigate, gather information, be creative, reflecting STEAM experiental
learning context, and at the same time, we produce a game that can be played by all
school, representing more that 1000 students.

How to cite: Salzedas, E. and O'Hara, K.: Eco-Enigma Expedition Escape Room - The soils and climate change. , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6738, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6738, 2024.

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.

How to cite: Aragón, A. R.: Erasmus+ project and Geoparks for dissemination of Geology, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6739, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6739, 2024.

The high school “Liceo Scientifico V. Sereni” teachers are aware of climate change impacts and aim, through their teachings, to increase students' awareness and attention towards this issue. This year students are involved in two main projects on climate change: “Green School” and “Green It Up”. The “Green School” project aims to reduce schools' environmental impact through the implementation of sustainable practices and environmental education to promote ecological awareness among students and school staff. Last year, the entire school participated led by the 4LES class; this year, the entire school is involved again, coordinated by the 2LES and 4A classes in Laveno and 4C in Luino. The main activities that engaged students included:

• Initial analysis of water, energy, and paper consumption; interviews with school staff and class representatives to understand any difficulties in implementing serious waste separation.
• Contacts with the Municipality to highlight issues (water leaks, lack of suitable bins for waste collection).
• Creation of news broadcasts to inform about proposed good practices.
• Meetings with experts on various subjects: bloggers for textile impact, a lake expert on temperature rise consequences.
• Designing and implementing a challenge in various classes to identify and reward the most eco-friendly class.
• Designing sustainable packaging for take-away food.

This year our school participates also to "Green It Up" with two classes: 2A in Luino and 3A in Laveno. “Green It Up” is an interdisciplinary educational project addressing biodiversity loss and climate change. It engages students in understanding the causes and effects of these issues while offering practical solutions for sustainable development. Through workshops and hands-on activities, students learn about environmental and social impacts of human actions and develop their own project on biodiversity. Community involvement is crucial: the project not only educates students but also encourages their active engagement in promoting sustainable practices within the school and the community. The project's impact is twofold: it educates and empowers students as change agents. Participants become ambassadors for eco-friendly solutions, positively influencing their communities and advocating for responsible lifestyles. The aim of both projects is to move students from climate change awareness to action.

How to cite: Porazzi, E., Maiolino, A., Martorana, M., and Marra, P.: Teaching Climate change at school: increasing sustainable minded students and communities., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-7367, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-7367, 2024.

How to cite: Gravina, T. and Iannace, A.: Revitalizing Earth Science Education in Italian Upper Secondary Schools: Crafting New Educational Materials Aligned with National Guidelines , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-7797, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-7797, 2024.

The GLOBE Program (www.globe.gov) presents protocols delving into biosphere studies, emphasizing biometry, phenology, and the GLOBE Observer application. These protocols offer a multifaceted approach to understanding and monitoring global ecosystems. Biometry involves precise measurement and analysis, fostering a global network of students, educators, and citizen scientists. Standardized biometric protocols contribute invaluable data to scientific research, unraveling the intricate web of life.

In phenology, GLOBE introduces protocols to observe and record life cycle events, deepening understanding of interconnected relationships in ecosystems. Participants contribute to a comprehensive grasp of the biosphere's dynamic nature through systematic data collection and analysis, recognizing patterns and trends.

The GLOBE Observer application is pivotal, empowering global scientific participation. Users engage in real-time observations, capturing vital information related to land cover, clouds, and the urban environment. Democratizing scientific involvement, the application enhances spatial and temporal resolution of biosphere data.

In summary, GLOBE Program's biosphere protocols provide a systematic framework for studying our planet's living systems. Incorporating biometry and phenology methodologies, along with the GLOBE Observer application, the initiative fosters scientific literacy and contributes to a global understanding of the biosphere. Amidst the challenges of a changing world, GLOBE biosphere protocols stand as a beacon, guiding a more informed and interconnected global community.

Keywords: GLOBE Program, biosphere protocols, biometry, phenology, GLOBE Observer application, ecosystem monitoring, scientific literacy, global collaboration, citizen science, data collection.

How to cite: Aceska, N.:  Unveiling the Biosphere: A Comprehensive Overview of GLOBE Program Protocols, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-9584, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-9584, 2024.

The European Commission, in its guidelines for Learning for the green transition and sustainable development, encourages Member States to integrate sustainability across educational institutions and operations. Since 2022, Member States are urged to establish supportive learning environments that foster hands-on, interdisciplinary teaching and are relevant to local contexts. The Commission emphasizes active involvement of students, staff, local authorities, youth organizations, and the research and innovation community in promoting sustainability in education. This initiative aims to instill a comprehensive understanding of sustainability, aligning educational practices with the broader goals of environmental consciousness and climate action.

The Shire and the Real Food Garden: a students-based Eco-Team effort

CLIP's Eco-Team, comprising students and teachers, transformed an adjacent land into The Shire, focusing on planting endemic species strategically chosen with geospatial digital tools and expert databases, and the Real Food Garden, an organic vegetable garden. This initiative, involving students from Pre-K to Upper School, aimed at maximizing ecosystem services, enhancing climate change remediation strategies, and ensuring food security based on local produces. Regular curricular and extracurricular outdoor activities promoted physical sensory learning, fostering a more empirical and long-lasting understanding on how the environment works, and how they can be a part of its conservation and management. The students have been responsible for planning and managing these spaces and delivering the produce to the school bar and canteen, this way promoting ownership and emotional connection to their natural surroundings.

CLIP student: an environmentally conscient citizen

Throughout their academic path, students develop conceptual knowledge on their environment, entangling interdependence between its elements, and how human societies impact over it. However, in CLIP, year 9 students engage in the Ecothon, where they are invited to spend a whole school day researching about ecological issues related to areas like Resources Management, Sustainable Mobility and Waste Management, choose one to focus on, come up with an innovative solution, and pitch it to a jury. The winners bring their projects to national and international contests.

This inspires students to pursue subjects like Environmental Management, that demand not only for a theorical understanding of ecosystems processes and the dynamic interconnection and interdependence between biotic and abiotic factors, but a more experimental approach to learning about ecological management issues, with consequent elaboration of an investigative report. This Coursework results from fieldwork activities in natural environments in the region the school is located in. Samples are collected, and qualitative and quantitative data gathered and analysed through the application of in loco and lab techniques.

With the work done within these subjects and initiatives, CLIP students grow their ecological awareness while working on skills like organization of information, definition of coherent methodologies, analysis of results, taking conclusions over initial hypothesis and evaluating the work done, as well as improving their presentation and communication abilities. They are not afraid to feel challenged, they assume themselves as life-long learners, they think globally while acting locally, developing as principled and active citizens.

How to cite: Fernandes, E. and Rebola, M. J.: School life as an ecological background for principled citizenship, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-10910, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-10910, 2024.

Awareness about coastal environments and concerns over its behaviour and evolution has recently become a main issue in several countries around the world which have dealt with rapidly changing coastlines owing to climate change. In Portugal this theme was introduced in curricula of basic and secondary schools, some years ago, highlighting the variety of coastal landforms and their changing patterns. However such as with other subjects, students are quite limited to book contents, and practical coastal observation and monitoring (in a perspective of citizen science) are usually absent from the pupils activities, preventing the schools communities from realizing that they may be part of the solution. With this in mind, the EDUCOAST project, funded by EEAGrants (https://www.eeagrants.gov.pt/en/programmes/blue-growth/projects/projects/educoast/) realized three editions of a training course under the theme “The Coastal Zones: a changing world”, specially conceived for teachers of these levels. It´s a hands-on course that aims to provide teachers with the necessary qualifications in coastal related subjects, contributing to updating of their knowledge and equipping them with field and lab-based teaching skills and tools.

The courses were taught at the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) Tavira Station, that lies adjacent to the unique nature-based setting of Ria Formosa lagoonal system (South of Portugal). The 25 hours training focused, in four modules: (i) theorical sessions about morphodynamic characteristics of coastal zones, its evolution from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present day, and the prospective scenarios of its future; (ii) Field work on beach and salt marsh study methods guided by a know-how approach, using alternative methodologies that may be easily used and build by students; (iii) Lab treatment of sediment samples, and observation under binocular microscope; (iv) data processing of the obtained results, including altimetric beach profile and estuarine water parameters survey. Following each training course, participants evaluation was based on a final report corresponding to a field guide and subsequent lab protocols oriented for the students. These reports included direct application in school interdisciplinary activities from the classroom to the field work of STEAM. The final survey to assess the effectiveness of these course show that 100% of the teachers consider the overall formation activities excellent. The quality of teachers final outputs show that they are very enthusiastic, motivated, and even passionate about coastal zones study, when they feel their selves comfortable with field and laboratory methodology, as well as data processing. These activities, undoubtably contributed to the improvement of training, interest, and awareness of teachers in teaching their students about coastal geosciences and it also showed a positive outcome for the continuation of these or similar initiatives between schools and the scientific communities.

This is a contribution of the EDUCOAST (EEAGrants, PT-INNOVATION-0067) and EMSO-PT (PINFRA/ 22157/2016) projects.

This work was funded by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) I.P./MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) – UIDB/50019/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/50019/2020), UIDP/50019/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/50019/2020) and LA/P/0068/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0068/2020).

How to cite: Fatela, F., Drago, T., Silveira, T., Freitas, M. C., Taborda, R., Cascalho, J., Santos, J., and Rosa, M.: The Importance of “Hands-On” Training for Basic and Secondary Level Science Teachers., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11644, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11644, 2024.

If there is a problem, we are the solution

As a physics teacher for seven years, I have discovered that students learn best by doing and enjoying the subject when they love it. By using the project-based learning (PBL) method, I observed that when they encountered a problem, they made the best use of their knowledge and skills and produced solutions. We discussed the problem of global warming for our world, and throughout the year, we aim to find solutions together as students by researching alternative solutions to solve this problem. Every year, we exhibit our work at the school's science fair and provide the opportunity for other students to examine the work done. In this way, they learn different solutions together. That's why I chose the topic "if there is a problem, we are the solution" for the poster session.

I plan to show examples of the projects my students have done, what problems or challenges they solved, how they worked and eventually developed a product or presentation, and how I guided them in my poster.

How to cite: esen, S.: If there is a problem, we are the solution, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11736, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11736, 2024.

The format, illustrations and organization of the 6th assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have changed to fit the evolution of people's perception on Climate Change (CC). Educators face the same changes in the educational world even though CC remains an abstract concept that is challenging for learners to understand. To facilitate the educational process, we propose to tackle simultaneously three complementary perspectives:

• Climate,
• Biodiversity,
• Meteorology.

When carefully limited to a corresponding level of abstraction or difficulty, all the elements of one perspective enhance the understanding of the others, contributing to the consolidation of global knowledge. The pathway to CC is divided into three progressive conceptual leaps that correspond roughly to primary, middle and high school.

In primary school is built the basement of CC conceptual tower. Pupils rely mainly on their feelings and observations as they discover their planet: understanding the latitudinal and altitudinal zonation of "environments" from both biological and climatological perspectives. They perceive the effects of warm/cold dry/wet status of the atmosphere on life.

In middle school, they learn to measure temperatures, precipitations and describe meteorological situations, understand the origin of the climate zonation and the effects of solar radiation; they also learn how to recognize plants and biomes and discover the strong links between weather, seasons and ecological systems. They have a fist contact with risks threatening ecosystems.

In high school, students are initiated into models, come to understand that observations of the past can lead to formalizations and equations that enable to explain past phenomenon and open a window to the future. It's time to understand that the climate has changed in the earth's history, that the atmospheric behavior can be modeled for accurate weather forecast and long term climate projections, and time to understand that the evolution of ecological systems is linked to climate change.

A multidisciplinary approach carries many benefits and provide a transversal consolidation of knowledge, facilitating the understanding of Climate Change. It should maintain and gain a greater place in secondary school programs and teacher's training sessions.

How to cite: Larose, C., Vidal, G., Le Jan, E., and Eyraud, C.-H.: An educational strategy to Climate Change integrating three interconnected Perspectives, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11909, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11909, 2024.

The 2023 edition of the Insegnaci Etna School brings together a number of schools from Eastern Sicily. It aims to teach various aspects of geosciences directly in the field, not only about the nearby Etna volcano, but also about earthquakes, tsunamis, meteorology, geo-environment and the relationships between all these elements and the inhabitants of this area. There were scientific conferences on Etna's eruptions, active faults, earthquakes and ground deformation and also presentations by students from local schools. There were three laboratories where teachers can carry out various practical didactic activities on earthquakes, seismic data analysis, the "Sismobox" experiments, and satellite images analysis. And finally, there was an excursion to the slopes of Etna above Bronte with the support of the Bronte section of the Club Alpino Italiano.

I am going to detail one of these laboratories organised by EduMed an educational observatory supported by the University of the Côte d'Azur in Nice, France.  This observatory and its European partners have extended the scope of their educational activities to all aspects of geosciences and geohazards in the Mediterranean.

In this workshop, the main goal is to allow teachers to analyse data from seismometers stations in Etna’s area.

How to cite: Larose, C. and Berenguer, J.-L.: InsegnaciETNA 2023, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11943, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11943, 2024.

Our high school belongs to the network of Sustainable Schools of the Community of Madrid, so we develop lines of work in all the sustainable development goals (SDGs), with a transversal approach (SDG4 Quality Education) in a general goal named Planet (SDG6 Clean water and sanitation, SDG12 Responsible consumption and production, SDG13 Climate action, SDG14 Life below water and SDG15 Life on land) that we show in our poster.

We offer information of the facilities and the experiences that we do with our students, for example:

• Urban garden: study and caring of species that are more resilient to water scarcity.

• Amphibian pond: to mitigate the effect of loss of these spaces in urban or rural environments due to global warming.

• Insect hotel: refuge for insects in an urban environment.

• Composting of organic waste.

• Regeneration of the garden trees with species better adapted to high temperatures.

• Vertical garden: more efficient irrigation systems for extreme heat or cold (continental climate in the area).

• Bicycle parking to encourage the use of sustainable transport.

• Selective waste collection and recycling at the high school.

• Awareness of reducing energy and water consumption: electricity, heating, etc.

• Adaptation of the buildings to the increase in temperatures in summer.

instagram.com/marquesostenible

https://site.educa.madrid.org/ies.marquesdesantil.colmenarviejo/index.php/ecoescuela

How to cite: Lopez Perez, I., Garcia Sevilla, L., Martinez García, A., Martinez Serrano, D., and Leon Colmenarejo, M.: Understanding Climate change within a sustainable school in Community of Madrid (Spain), EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12128, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12128, 2024.

One of the challenges we secondary school teachers face is the difficulty that younger pupils have in imagining how an outcrop or geological structure has formed or explaining why certain geological hazards occur in certain areas. On the other hand, climate change is often associated with rising temperatures, but not with how it affects geologically related aspects, such as the depletion of aquifers through massive water extraction or subsidence. Presenting a field trip as a geoday can motivate pupils to learn geology.

A geoday, as explained on their website https://geolodia.es, is an outreach event in which geological field trips are conducted guided by expert geologists, free of charge, and open to the general public. The information about the chosen site, which is of great geological interest, allows us to see and understand how the Earth works and helps us to understand the value of our geological heritage and the need to protect it. 

The Baix Empordà region, in the province of Girona, is an area where it is easy to locate rocks from different periods, as well as landforms related to orogenies and distensions. Thus, with a simple explanation of the geological history, 3D representations using QGIS software, topographic and geological maps - students will be able to locate and identify the types of materials present in the town and surrounding area. They will also identify deformations and geological structures and discover how this knowledge has been used to exploit mineral resources. For example, a small outcrop allows them to see a fold, erosion, stratigraphic discontinuity, graded stratification, and a quartz dyke. Here students can apply the concepts seen in class and learn to deduce the series of events that gave rise to this set of structures. The teacher's task will be to provide clues to arrive at a good deductive result.

Geosciences must be understood in a transversal way. Thus, the geoday will be included in a transversal project -in preparation- on the Gavarres mountain range -https://n9.cl/7vshu-, which relates knowledge about forestry or agricultural exploitation according to the type of soil and climate, historical settlement of populations in high areas due to the incidence of floods, or exploitation of mineral deposits in specific areas. Similarly, geological risks can be studied by associating the massive extraction of groundwater and subsidence that can be detected in some areas of the town using online viewers.  Students will have to discuss whether climate change, which we have been experiencing for years, will bring about any noticeable changes in the management of natural resources and risk prevention. Finally, they should think of possible actions to slow down the loss of natural resources in our area.

Subject: Biology and Geology

Grade: 11-14 years old

Duration: 4 hours

Objectives: Students will: learn to identify geological structures, rocks, explain geological history by using topographic and geological maps and 3D printed terrains, and think about climate change and natural resources.

The poster presents photos of this activity.

How to cite: Benito, M. I.: A geoday in our town, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12559, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12559, 2024.

Environmental education is a type of education that aims to increase individuals' environmental awareness, raise awareness on sustainability issues and use natural resources more effectively. Providing environmental education to students provides many advantages and this education has both short-term and long-term outcomes. Some of these outcomes can be listed as sustainable life skills, social responsibility, innovation and solution orientation.

In the short term, effects such as students' awareness, application to daily life, social participation, and basic environmental knowledge can be seen. In the long term; Students are expected to see effects such as sustainable living habits, leadership, innovation, environmentally friendly professions, and ecosystem protection.

Finally, regarding climate change education in schools, which is this year's theme, it can be used to raise awareness among students about climate change awareness, sustainable energy use, environmental footprint awareness, climate justice, and sustainable use of natural resources. These connections between environmental education and global warming enable individuals to act more consciously, responsibly and effectively against environmental problems. This can contribute to society's greater resilience against major environmental threats such as global warming and climate change.

Sustainable development training will be provided within the scope of science course. The training consists of various sub-headings. The duration of the training is determined as 20 lesson hours. Since the science course has 4 lesson hours each week, the training will be completed in a total of 5 weeks. As for the training implementation calendar, the practices will start after the semester break. The educational contents will be created by the researcher by scanning different sources and considering the science curriculum. The age level and readiness levels of the students will also be considered.

Teaching activities will be alternated individually or as a group according to the characteristics of the activities. During the creation of the groups, different applications designed by the researcher will be organized in order to enable students to interact with different people in the class. A student-centered approach will be adopted in the teaching process.

The aim of the training to be given is to raise awareness about the economical use of water resources, household solid waste materials, household liquid waste materials, recycling and reuse. In addition, local and global environmental problems, endangered living creatures, endangered species, unconscious hunting and conservation of species are among the targets. Finally, students are expected to be informed about energy resources and energy consumption. In line with these goals, it is expected that the cooperative learning of the students will develop in a positive way.

How to cite: Özdemir, B.: Sustainable development training and outcomes (poster only session), EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12636, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12636, 2024.

           Climate change is a recurring content in Natural Science and Biology/Geology programs. Despite being discussed almost daily in the media, the lack of perception among most students regarding the importance of their role as agents in resolving the problems associated with global warming is notable.

            The relevance of the topic leads to debates and the development of strategies in which the necessary awareness of the evident changes and of changing attitudes occurs, in an attempt to mitigate their consequences. To empower our young citizens to make decisions, the Basic and Secondary School of Macedo de Cavaleiros was part of the ClimActiC project - Citizenship for the Climate – Creating Bridges between Citizenship and Science for Climate Adaptation promoted by 4 Research Centers (Sciences of Education, Psychology, Physics, and Engineering) from the University of Porto. Our school was one of the 8 schools in the North of Portugal that participated in this initiative, which aimed to create spaces for co-creation between young people, scientists, activists, economic agents, and political decision-makers.

             During the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 academic years, students and teachers of the school subject “A Nossa Terra”, taught by Natural Science teachers of 8th-year classes, administered questionnaires and participated in laboratories climate collaboratives; sessions with partners belonging to the Terras de Trás-os-Montes Intermunicipal Community; Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations and Higher Education Institutions and seminars where they presented the results of research work and awareness-raising actions in the community. Teachers also participated in training and education workshops on climate change through community profiles and research partnerships. During the 2 years of the project our country suffered successive heat waves and a lack of precipitation, with extreme drought situations in several regions. In our opinion this was the turning point in changing awareness about the consequences of climate change. We were able to prove this by analysing the questionnaires (with questions about global warming; agricultural techniques; water saving measures...) created by the students, with supervision from partners, and applied to around a hundred members of the educational community in each year. The impact of the drought was more visible in the second year, with a clear trend toward the need to save water in all age groups. After this diagnosis, co-creation spaces were created where young people could be heard and awareness-raising strategies were outlined. Throughout the year, young people created online games; theatre performances; conducted interviews and videos as community awareness strategies to change attitudes towards climate change, particularly drought. All students involved in the project participated in several actions to reduce the Greenhouse Effect with exhibitions and awareness sessions for younger students on the importance of preserving the native forest, sowing acorns and planting hundreds of native trees in areas destroyed by fires. This was a unique opportunity for more than 200 students to develop teamwork skills and become aware of the importance of changing attitudes towards climate change, internalizing the idea that each person's action can effectively make a difference.

How to cite: Freitas, C., Silva, M., Martins, E., and Carvalho, A.: ClimActiC Project , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13038, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13038, 2024.

Portugal has some of the world's most important lithium reserves. Its exploitation in the country has been the target of public opposition. However, is this an informed opposition?

The work presented was developed with 10th year students within the scope of a DAC (Domain of Curricular Autonomy) involving the disciplines of Biology and Geology and Physics and Chemistry A.

Using lithium, its exploitation and applications as a basis, the aim was to work on essential learning in Physics and Chemistry A, studying the characteristics of metals, and in Biology and Geology, studying the impact of lithium exploitation on ecosystems. The applications of lithium were correlated with its potential to mitigate climate change and its effects on biodiversity.

The students carried out a group research project in class, produced a final product in the form of a powerpoint or using another tool of their choice and finally presented their work to the class in a joint lesson between the two subjects.

The assessment of the final product and presentation was carried out using an assessment rubric previously discussed with the students, resulting in a grade on a scale of 0 to 20 for the written communication and another for the oral communication. The grading was agreed between the Physics and Chemistry A and Biology and Geology teachers, and was integrated into the field of science communication in each of the subjects. There was also a formative assessment of the students' performance during the work and feedback was given by the teachers who accompanied the work. The students also carried out a self- and hetero-assessment of their performance.

How to cite: Marques, S. and Belo, J.: Lithium: a problem or a contribution to reducing climate change?, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13071, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13071, 2024.

The importance of the topic of global climate change is on the rise, so nowadays in most schools in the world we try to implement topics related to this change into our school curricula. Other means of raising awareness of this topic can be school activities that do not take place directly in the classroom. Undoubtedly, the work of the school's eco team ranks among them.

We founded the eco team at our school two years ago. Since its establishment, our eco team organized many interesting activities for students and teachers of our school, which are connected with concepts such as sustainability, ecology and, last but not least, global climate change.

We are aware that the creation and systematic work of a school eco-team must be well thought out. With this presentation, we want to point out the pitfalls of ecoteam work and introduce colleagues to the concept for managing and cooperation within an ecoteam. We will also present the activities that the eco team can offer to the school and from which both students and teachers can profit in their subjects. The work of a high-quality eco-team certainly has a positive impact on the knowledge, skills and attitudes of pupils in matters of environmental protection.

How to cite: Veselsky, R.: Raising awareness of global climate change through a school eco-team, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13105, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13105, 2024.

The issue of climate change is a critical topic.  In particular, for the current generation of school age children, who need to be fully informed with the facts. However, in the English national secondary curriculum climate change may not follow a coherent path as it is currently spread over various subjects. For example, the evidence for climate change placed in the Science curriculum and the impact in Geography.

The argument has been made that the teaching of the causes and impacts of climate change should go beyond a basic understanding of how the climate system works. Within the Science curriculum, climate change is placed into the end of the GCSE Chemistry (ages 14-16) topics within a section on the Earth’s Atmosphere. The allocation of curriculum time within the exam syllabus suggests that no more than three hours teaching time should be used.  Another issue it that as Geography is not compulsory from the age of 14, the impacts are often taught well before the causes and the evidence. 

With the topic of climate change appearing at the end of the Chemistry GCSE curriculum, the implication is that it should be taught at the end of the course in year 11 (age 16).  A major barrier to the delivery is that in England, 32% of schools have insufficient numbers of Chemistry teachers. This shortage of chemistry teachers means there is a strong possibility that a non-specialist will be teaching climate change. Many schools move the topic into year 9 (age 14) as it perceived as easy to teach and easy for the students to understand. However, in the textbooks for example, where it is placed near the end of the book, the topic brings together concepts such as combustion and hydrocarbons.  These are concepts that the students have not yet been taught at the beginning of their GCSE course and so they may not be able to fully understand the evidence and causes for climate change at that stage.

The new Natural History GCSE, which is planned to be offered from 2025, will address some of the issues, but it will be a non-compulsory subject.  It has been suggested that leaving environmental education to non-compulsory subjects and to the final years of secondary education tells the students that it is not important and is not something they need to know.   The other major issue is that schools will only be able to offer it if they have the staff with a background in biology, geography and chemistry.  As there is already a increasing shortage of teachers in these subjects, it would appear unlikely that many schools will be able to introduce it in the near future.

How to cite: Parry, S.: The challenges of teaching climate change within the school science curriculum, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13130, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13130, 2024.

Commonly, efforts to raise students' awareness of global warming often involve impactful videos or images that focus on consequences rather than causes. However, these resources, while realistic, can feel distant from students' daily lives, falling short of instigating the environmental consciousness educators seek. To address this challenge, we propose an alternative approach—utilizing graphs of real data records and their interpretation. This method could be even more impactful than images and allows us to work on various mathematical skills, such as graph description, pattern identification, and trend analysis.

This poster introduces an activity designed to be carried out over two or three sessions of one hour, and utilizing two famous graphs: The Keeling Curve and the Vostok ice core record. The prerequisite concepts needed to carry out the activity are the energy balance and the greenhouse effect. Initially, we must erase the CO₂ values from the Y-axis of both graphs.

The Keeling Curve serves as the foundation for introducing concepts such as instrumental data and variation patterns, allowing us to observe the continuous increase in CO₂ concentration throughout the entire record. The teacher assumes the role of a skeptic, posing the question: "Can we unequivocally attribute this increase to human activity?" This query prompts students to consider the data needed for certainty, leading them to the realization that preindustrial CO₂ concentration data are crucial to answering the question.

Following this, we present the paleoclimatic record of atmospheric CO2 extracted from the Vostok ice core in Antarctica, covering the past 800,000 years. However, we omit the current outlier data (since 1950 to present), leaving it for participants to complete at the conclusion of the activity. During the session, students are guided to understand core concepts through graph interpretation. Upon observing the glacial-interglacial pattern, students are tasked with predicting CO₂ fluctuations for the next 100,000 years by extending the graph. After that, they receive the erased CO₂ Y-axis values from the graph and are tasked with finding the corresponding CO₂ concentration for that specific day to add to the chart. This value entirely disrupts the predicted pattern, and the resulting graph often prompts cognitive dissonance, leaving a lasting impact on students.

This activity enhances scientific understanding of climate change and also emphasizes the seriousness of the current environmental emergency.

How to cite: Iglesias, O.: Exploring climate change: A graphical journey through time, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13145, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13145, 2024.

This study aims to instill environmental awareness and sustainable consumption habits among 5th-grade gifted students over a three-month period. The primary objective is to investigate the impact of classroom activities on reducing carbon footprints and promoting respectful consumption. The research question guiding the study is whether altering eating habits toward sustainable choices can contribute to minimizing plastic waste and fostering healthier, environmentally friendly lifestyles.

The research begins with students conducting a comprehensive analysis of their classroom and school waste disposal habits, focusing particularly on plastic-packaged food and fruit waste. Using statistical data collected before and after the activities, students question the sustainability of their current consumption patterns and explore alternatives to decrease their carbon footprint. Utilizing tables and graphs, students compare the prevalence of packaged food versus natural fruits before and after the study.

The investigation takes a deeper dive into the sustainability of natural fruits by examining the life cycle of plants, including seed germination, plant growth, and the relationship between flowers and fruits.

The study extends beyond the classroom as students organize a school-wide campaign to raise awareness about the detrimental effects of plastic-packaged food on nature and personal health. Through the design of posters, slogans, and brochures, students advocate for a reduction in plastic consumption and an increase in the consumption of natural fruits and vegetables. The campaign also encourages all students to collect and deposit seeds from consumed fruits and vegetables into seed banks in their respective classrooms.

To further contribute to sustainable practices, students design and implement a microcontroller system using Arduino Uno to germinate the collected seeds. The system, equipped with humidity and heat sensors, ensures optimal conditions for seed germination. This innovative approach not only fosters a hands-on understanding of technology but also emphasizes the practical application of electronics in environmental sustainability.

The research concludes with the students planting the germinated seeds near the school premises, actively engaging in a campaign that promotes the importance of ecological responsibility and sustainable living to decrease the carbon footprint. The findings of this study suggest that integrating practical, student-driven activities into the curriculum can be an effective way to nurture environmentally conscious attitudes and behaviors in young learners.

How to cite: Gökce, A.: Fostering Sustainable Habits: A Classroom Initiative on Reducing Carbon Footprint by Decreasing Plastic and Increasing Seeds, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13203, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13203, 2024.

Climate change is a global concern of society and, in particular, of the populations living in coastal areas. Individual awareness and collective actions must be promoted to prevent cliffs, slopes and beaches, unique geological formations, transformed into natural beauties, from disappearing in the short term.

With this in mind, our 11th grade Science and Technology students, as part of the disciplines of Physics and Chemistry A and Biology and Geology, of the portuguese curriculum, attended a lecture and visited an exhibition entitled "Do you know where you lay down your towel?" The exhibition focused on the geodiversity of the Municipality of Alcobaça was developed under the anual theme of the Blue Flag Programme, bringing to the local community, the results of a scientific research guided by Prof. Doctor Paulo Trincão, Director of the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra.

Following this visit, the 26 students, working in groups of 3 to 4 elements, collaboratively created scientific posters, interconnecting key learnings from Physics and Geology.

Physics explains the fall of debris from cliffs by the analysis of real rectilinear movements of free fall or on inclined planes. By rechearching and data collecting on the position of the debris in cliffs (considering a given reference frame and the inclination of the geological formations, as well as the forces to which they are subjected), Students realise the necessary precautions we must take, when choosing the right spot to lay down our towel or when walking along the cliffs.

On the other hand, Geology explains geological deformations based on the mobility of the lithosphere and the behaviour of the materials we learn to identify at local cliffs and landscapes.

The geological context of São Martinho do Porto, located in the municipality of Alcobaça, was the learning scenario, linking the curriculum to reality.

Following the scientific posters task, students will carry out a case study on coastal intervention, considering the vulnerability scenarios for the region and climate change. Using an application,[1] developed by researchers from the Faculty of Sciences in University of Lisbon, Students will discuss, in the form of Role-play, as local decision-makers in 2050, about prevention and mitigation strategies to climate change in the near future (eg. Heavy engineering works, dune protection, tourist pressure on local coastal ecossistems, walkways construction, building permits, etc).

Students will presente their work, at the end of the school year, to the educational community and municipality council.

Please note that students have laptops provided under the government program PADDE[2].

How to cite: Crisostomo, C. and Nunes, A.: What future for our beaches?, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13234, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13234, 2024.

Petro Kuzmjak school is a small school in rural area and it is attended by 500 students from 7 to 18 years old and it is always something going on. Last yea,r in April, we have been part of one international project organized by Serbian Center for Science Promotion where students explored the level of noise pollution in our school.

Noise pollution is excessive, undesirable, or disturbing noise that interferes with normal activities and disrupt the balance of human or animal life. It is considered as a form of environmental pollution and some of the source of noise pollutions are: traffic, industry, aircrafts, public events, or household appliances. Constant exposure to noise can cause health issues, sleep disturbance, reduce quality of life, but also disrupt wildlife habitats, affecting animal communication, migration patterns, and overall well-being.

Implementation of noise regulations, sound barriers, and development of quieter technologies potentially mitigate noise pollution. To diminish noise pollution we need to raise public awareness and involve community, and that why is the project that we conducted in the school related to noise pollution has a great importance.

The role of researchers was taken by our eight grade students (15 years) who measured the level of noise in our school with the help of NOIXAPP application in the scope of their mathematical lessons. First step was introduction of application and setting the rules of the use of phone in the school.  NOIXAPP is an application developed by the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics and it measures acoustic pollution in urban environments. The application uses mobile phone microphones to collect data on urban background noise and sends it to a platform that allows a full picture of the acoustic space of an area to be reconstructed. The solution is based on mobile application software, where it is possible to record, calculate the average values ​​of the sound pressure level. Georeferenced data is transferred and anonymized, integrated, validated and mapped on an open data web portal. Beside the measurement itself, students learned about noise pollution, which is one of the least discussed, although it is very important for people's health.

With this measurement, students evaluated the level of noise in our school. It was an additional motivation for students to take part in the research and to find out if our school is a pleasant and safe place in terms of noise. Students measured the noise in various parts of our school to get a more realistic picture. Measurements were made in the hall, school yard, corridor, hallway, etc. The results were presented graphically, and it was a way to connect collected real life data with mathematical knowledge.

How to cite: Budinski, N.: Do you hear the noise pollution?, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13443, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13443, 2024.

In the socioeconomically challenged Narlıdere Boarding Middle School, a project addressing environmental challenges was implemented. This self-sufficient model engaged students and parents in decision-making, focusing on UN Sustainable Development Goals. In this case, I improved a Green curriculum, including some implementations towards school and science lessons. These activities were implemented during one school year for 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students. Here are the key concepts and applications of these implementations:

Waste management at school was the main goal. Within this scope, recycling bins were placed in the school based on the idea that not all waste is garbage. The recyclable waste was sent to the nearby Bitlis Solid Waste Management Facility (BIKA).

Domestic waste generated in the school canteen was evaluated as compost, and greenery was grown with the produced compost.

Soap was made from the accumulated waste oil in the school canteen, and the soaps produced were used in the school. In this context, students brought the waste oil accumulated in their homes to the waste oil collection point at the school to be evaluated in the same context.

An educational trip to BIKA for waste management and recycling was organized. Scientific knowledge was provided to the students in this field.

We conducted an analysis of local water sources and mapped them with students.

To be aware of our environment, we created a plant map of our local area using mobile applications. We collected rocks, classified them, and made an exhibition from them.

We also built an insect hotel to raise awareness of the little animals that we share our lives with. I aimed to make my students aware of nature.

The project notably increased environmental initiatives, aided national exhibition participation, and improved students' expressive abilities. Positive feedback and student engagement laid the foundation for broader project dissemination. This study highlights the significance of green skills in combating climate change for a sustainable future.Steps aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals enhanced students' environmental awareness and waste perception. Soap production from waste oil contributed to the economy and improved students' skills. There was a noticeable increase in environmental projects at school. Educational activities facilitated students' participation in national exhibitions. The science fair strengthened students' expression skills. Positive feedback throughout the process laid the groundwork for wider project dissemination. Embracing sustainable steps became the primary motivation for students. This study can be seen as a valuable step towards a sustainable future, emphasizing the importance of green skills in fostering awareness regarding climate change.

How to cite: Olğun, H.: The Green Curriculum To Fight Against Climate Change, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-14601, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-14601, 2024.

Creating School Seismology Labs For the Development of Students’

Cristina Simionescu^1,2, Dragos Tataru¹, Eduard Nastase¹, Bogdan Cerbu¹, Adina Vanciu-Rau¹ & SEISMOLAB project team

¹National Institute for Earth Physics, Romania

²University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geology and Geophysics

Using the topic of seismology in school education allows teachers and students to dive into scientific topics and concepts while practicing and improving intellectual and soft skills (i.e. science understanding and knowledge, scientific reasoning, computational thinking and skills, geospatial understanding, collaborative problem solving, creativity, critical thinking, communication, etc.). 

Throughout the Erasmus Plus project, SEISMOLAB - Creating School Seismology Labs For the Development of Students’, over 2000 students and 100 teachers in 5 countries benefited from activities that reinforced their interest in science and were offered access to content tools and services for personalized science learning and citizen science.

One of the aims of this project is to bring together seismologists, pedagogues, curriculum developers, local authorities, advanced educational developers, and schools to join forces during the implementation and co-design, develop and validate an innovative professional development program for supporting the in-service training of teachers on topics related, but not limited to seismology education. 

In 2023 students had the opportunity to work with scientific concepts, handle and study specific seismological equipment and participate in meaningful and motivating science inquiry activities on earthquake disaster mitigation. They were guided to use concepts such as energy transfer, wave properties, and resonance to understand elementary models of earthquakes' causes and effects.

Teachers participated in a specially designed training program that supported them in the establishment and implementation of the SEISMO-Labs, including training on innovative methods such as inquiry-based and experiential learning and were given the specially created material - Seismo-Lab Demonstrators (educational scenarios for seismology). They were then able to develop “bottom-up” STEAM curricula, related to seismology, for their schools. 

In Romania, we organized 5 regional multiplier events in order to achieve a greater impact by accessing a more significant number of beneficiaries, national coverage, and the chance for teachers from rural areas to travel to participate in the workshops. From the 152 participants from over 60 school units, we selected 20 schools that were further engaged in the SEISMO-Lab network. The chosen schools also joined the Romanian Educational Seismic Network and responsible teachers participated in workshops and online support meetings that offered them the knowledge to implement seismology innovative activities with their students. Also, 20 semi-professional Raspberry seismometers were installed in the selected school units, allowing teachers to use data from the international Raspberry Shake network, in their lessons. 

Teachers received training on the approach and the pedagogical methodologies and they participated in an evaluation activity for mapping and monitoring the impact and effectiveness, both quantitatively and qualitatively, at the student, teacher, and school/institution level of the SEISMO-Labs.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was done in the framework of the project “Seismo-Lab” which has been funded with support from the European Commission under the Erasmus+ programme (Grant agreement number 2021-1-EL01-KA220-SCH-000032578).

How to cite: Simionescu, C.: Creating School Seismology Labs For the Development of Students’, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-14665, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-14665, 2024.

Good data collection is among the first phases of a correct scientific method. During the 2023/2024 school year, in two classes of the "Ilaria Alpi" secondary school in Chiavari (Genoa, Italy), we collected data on the consumption of water, food, energy and on the methods of travel of the pupils and their families. The objective was to understand the extent and type of consumption, with the aim of proposing positive daily actions to reduce consumption.

We created questionnaires and collected data. We then represented the data with different graphical methods and discussed them. We then moved on to the discussion and the proposal of actions, which we disseminated within our school and, in the case of mobility, to the administrators of our Municipality.

How to cite: Rizzi, E.: Collect and analyze data to make informed choices, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15679, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15679, 2024.

In the ever-changing world of education, the swift progress of technology requires a transformation in teaching methods to meet the evolving needs of learners. The significance of open education resources becomes crucial in such a scenario. At the same time, there is an increasing acknowledgment that more educated citizens play a vital role in reshaping the education paradigm towards sustainable development. There is a need therefore to adapt our educational systems. This involves embracing formal, non-formal, and informal approaches facilitated by Open Schooling and Open Learning activities. The ultimate objective is to nurture a lifelong learning process that corresponds to the dynamic demands of our changing society, enabling individuals to actively contribute to sustainable development throughout their lives.

Geography, with its interdisciplinary nature, offers a comprehensive perspective through which students can grasp the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic aspects. This presentation seeks to investigate how integrating geography into Open Learning can enrich students' holistic comprehension of sustainable development.

This presentation offers a perspective of  how the integration of geography within Open Learning environments for secondary schools can effectively contribute to Education for Sustainable Development, aiming to equip students to address contemporary global challenges and cultivate a lifelong commitment to sustainability.

How to cite: Cristea, L.: Education for sustainable development within the geography curriculum, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-17945, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17945, 2024.

Climademy is the Erasmus+ Climate Change Teachers’ Academy, which aims to provide a comprehensive framework where educators can learn how to teach the next generation of European citizens about climate change drivers, impacts and mitigation and adaptation measures, using an efficient methodology. Climademy aims to create a network of initial training and professional development organizations that will offer formal and non-formal education and training opportunities for in-service and training teachers.  The network supports and provides the necessary infrastructure, digital tools and resources, and promotes the educators’ climate competences.

In Climademy four national hubs have been established to offer training activities for teachers, with specific foci driven by the regional particularities: the Greek hub in the Mediterranean, focusing on the chemistry of the atmosphere, the Finnish hub in the Arctic, focusing on atmospheric physics, the German hub in continental Europe, focusing on satellite observations and modelling tools for climate change projections, and the Italian hub on the transformation of all information to knowledge and awareness through the environmental education process. The CLAUDI digital platform is at the heart of Climademy and hosts all educational material, online courses, provides links to open data, and supports the community forum. Material is available in English and in the national language inside each national hub areas. CLAUDI is openly available after registration and can be assessed through the Climademy website (https://climademy.eu)  and directly through http://claudi.chemistry.uoc.gr.

The Climademy activities carried out in the hubs have been enriched with a «pedagogical identity» through the development of a model to convey the message that the teachers do not only have to teach new scientific content, but also use new pedagogical approaches. Additionally, a Climademy competence framework was developed, combining the GreenComp and the University of Helsinki’s Competence Framework for Climate Change.

The first teachers who participated in the training activities also served as co-developers of the content and the methodology. The following 100 teachers to participate in the Climademy training activities have been recruited from the 4 countries.

How to cite: Kanakidou, M., Kalivitis, N., Levrini, O., Tasquier, G., Riuttanen, L., Vrekoussis, M., Tsaknia, T., Ginoudi, A., Bellentani, G., Stavrou, D., Michailidi, E., Dan, M., Lavonen, J., Lauri, K., Ruuskanen, T., Ladstätter-Weißenmayer, A., Zouraris, E., Bittner, S., and Pavlidis, I.: Climademy: The Erasmus+ Climate Change Teachers’ Academy , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18773, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18773, 2024.

Natural hazards constitute significant risks for both the society and the environment. Thus, it is essential to emphasize in educating younger generations against the consequences of climate change. Addressing this crucial need, the SpaceEDUnity/Erasmus+ project*, was launched in May 2023. This innovative educational initiative strategically utilizes remote sensing and geoinformatics to provide a learning experience regarding natural hazards. SpaceEDUnity targets secondary education school students and teachers, having already reached over 700 students in Greece and Cyprus. The project's core lies in its approach to tailor content specifically to the geographical areas of the participating schools. This strategy focuses on natural disasters relevant to each region, significantly enhancing student engagement and understanding. The project's methodology integrates interactive presentations, quizzes and hands-on workshops. These workshops are particularly focused on applications, such as the monitoring of wildfires and mapping of flooded areas utilizing tools like the EO Browser, GIS, and SNAP software. This approach not only introduces students to the technological aspects of studying natural hazards, but also equips them with practical skills in satellite data processing. A key component of SpaceEDUnity is the development of extensive, user-friendly tutorials for teachers. The purpose of this educational material is to give teachers the opportunity to replicate each activity easily in classroom and therefore ensure sustainability and long-term impact of the project. By empowering teachers with these tools, SpaceEDUnity fosters a continuous learning environment, enhancing the resilience of local communities against natural disasters. SpaceEDUnity stands as a model for integrating science into school curriculums by focusing on localized natural hazards and providing hands-on experience with cutting-edge technologies. In addition, the project not only increases awareness of climate change, but also actively involves young citizens in the protection of their communities.

*SpaceEDUnity is co-funded by the European Union

How to cite: Theodoropoulos, E., Sigourou, S., Salta, F., Loulli, E., Hadjichristodoulou, M., Papoutsa, C., and Kontoes, C. (.: SpaceEDUnity: Introducing natural hazards to younger generations utilizing advanced technologies, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-19968, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-19968, 2024.

The field of Earth Observation (EO) is perpetually evolving attaining remarkable advancements that improve our understanding of the underlying physical phenomena behind climate change. One of the latest EO advancements is the Aeolus mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Aeolus is the first satellite to deploy a Doppler wind lidar instrument, utilising laser technology to accurately measure wind profiles. This innovation significantly improved weather forecasting, atmospheric modeling, and climate research, enabling better predictions of extreme weather events and advancing our knowledge of atmospheric circulation patterns.

By following the rapid advancements in Earth Observation (EO), climate change and sustainability education has a promising opportunity to capitalize on these developments for the mutual benefit of EO and climate literacy. In this context, we designed an innovative educational programme, the "AeolusEdu[1]", with the support of the ESA Education office and the Greek ESERO office. We implemented AeolusEdu during the Aeolus Science Conference in Rhodes (May 2023), which attracted 150 6th grade students from the 1st, 12th, and 13th Primary Schools of Rhodes.

Throughout the program, students were engaged in an interactive learning experience, delving into the factors influencing winds, understanding the underlying physical principles of atmospheric circulation, and exploring the "Doppler Wind Lidar" technology employed for space-based wind monitoring through thoughtfully designed hands-on experiments. Additionally, students were able to interact with both historic and  modern ground-based instruments used in wind monitoring. At the program's conclusion, students had the unique opportunity to meet some of the world’s leading space and  weather experts involved in the Aeolus mission and discuss, in a notably extended Q&A session, their work and the motivations driving their careers as scientists.

According to the feedback received from participating teachers and students and the overwhelming applause and farewell scientists received, AeolusEdu admittedly captivated students and ignited their curiosity for EO and Earth System Science (see relevant ESA article[2]). The implementation of AeolusEdu illustrated that young school students can not only comprehend the fundamental concepts and principles behind atmospheric circulation, extreme weather events, and groundbreaking satellite technology but also find them genuinely exciting. The success of the first AeolusEdu pilot programme inspires us for future development of freely available EO-based information material for all teachers.

How to cite: Asimakopoulou, P., Tsikoudi, I., Tsichla, M., Nastos, P., Cruz Niggebrugge, C., Gisiger, M., Fehr, T., and Parrinello, T.: Aeolus Satellite: A Breath of Fresh Air for Climate Change Education, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-20057, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-20057, 2024.

Ecological transition is a process that aims to initiate a new economic, cultural and social system that will make human societies more sustainable. 
Important tool for the implementation of this transition is the United Nations 2030 Agenda, which sets out in detail the urgent ecological measures required to combat climate change and protect the environment; these include the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, complete decarbonization, the adoption of advanced technological solutions and the use of renewable sources. Schools are called upon to raise students' awareness of these issues.
As part of teacher training, an experimental course was undertaken with experimental activities to reflect on some of the causes and consequences of environmental warming in order to gain a greater awareness of how seemingly disjointed phenomena are actually interdependent within the Earth's complex ecosystem. The course provided an opportunity to experiment with different teaching approaches including IBSE (inquiry-based science education).

How to cite: Christille, C., Courthod, M. C., and Occhipinti, S.: Ecological transition, what does it really mean?, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-20061, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-20061, 2024.