MARE goes to school

Description

Having regard to the objectives of the National Ocean Strategy (NOS) and Oceanography Center (CO), the main objective of this project is to strengthen the links between research and the school community, stimulating knowledge on marine ecosystems, their relevance to society and threats identified. It will be established and measured an educational program consisting of different theoretical and practical activities that will explore topics such as the biology and ecology of the species, sustainable development, conservation, exploration and integrated management of ocean resources. The will be created and released "Biodiversity Award", that national schools can compete and that should be considered desirable to highlight a schoolar project related to biodiversity in coastal and marine environments. The success and implementation of this project will strengthen and expand the CO action under the ocean literacy, providing greater proximity of students with research in marine sciences.

Summary of project results

MARE goes to school" offers short-term visits to students in which MARE researchers give a presentation followed by hands-on activity (hands-on activities, laboratory activities, interactive games, mystery boxes, guided tours, storytelling) that in the end represent not only a gain for students, teachers and school, but also for researchers. It is important to emphasize in the scientific community that this typology of activities can and should be reconciled with their research activities with personal and professional gain, such as improving their ability to communicate their work, or improving the quality and impact of their work. investigation. By explaining and demonstrating to a varied and unscientific audience complex scientific ideas through analogies and simple language, they can also come to better understand the very science they do. Specific objectives of the project: hold ocean literacy sessions in schools, adapted to school curricula; closer relations between scientific reality and schools; make good practices applicable to the marine environment and its natural resources known; organize a school competition to award prizes to school projects in the sea area; create a network for sharing knowledge and resources about the sea. Activities of scientific dissemination in schools: geographical area covered: Lisbon, Setúbal and Santarém districts; number of schools involved: 102 schools; number of students involved: 8934 students; degrees of schooling involved: pre-school, 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycles of basic education and upper secondary education. The main target group to benefit from the project activities was the school community, namely the 8934 pre-school students (3 to 5 years), basic (1st, 2nd and 3rd cycles, ages 6 to 15 years) and secondary (youngsters from 15 to 18 years old) and their teachers. All actions were requested by schools within the disciplines mostly related to natural sciences (study of the environment, natural sciences, biology, geology, geography). A number of activities were carried out under the "MARE goes to school" project aimed at the general public (children, youth, adults, elderly, families) resulting from partnerships established in the course of the project (Ciência Viva, Museu Nacional de Natural History and Science, Valsassina College, Parish Council of Alvalade). Project website: http://mare-escolas.wixsite.com/omarevaiaescola/sobre-n-s; https://www.facebook.com/O-MARE-vai-%C3%A0-escola-1512814502372779/

Summary of bilateral results