Description
The protection of the Ocean is a global and essential priority especially for Portugal, a country with a long coastline and a significant Exclusive Economic Zone. This protection can only be achieved by the increase of scientific knowledge about the Ocean and through the integrated discussion of its influence on Man, the influence of Man in the Ocean, and through initiatives such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and its Good Environmental Status descriptors (GES). The project proposes the creation of a specific laboratory (the OceanLab) to receive young people, their teachers and families in CIIMAR, leading them on a holistic approach to Ocean Literacy, through a program dedicated to carrying out a series of hands -on scientific experiments. These young people can put into practice, in a laboratory setting, experiences about the principles related to Ocean Literacy, its integrated management and maintenance of GES. Access to the OceanLab by the children will be done by visiting their schools, through holiday activities for young and/or Open Days organized for the general public. The support for OceanLab shall be the "The CIIMAR in School" (http://www.ciimar.up.pt/oCIIMARnaEscola/) and the Science Blog (https://ciimarnaescola.wordpress.com/) recently associated this program. It will thus benefit from the implementation this program already has in the school community, and it will promote the students contribution for CIIMAR Science Blog articles, based on the experiences that take place in the OceanLab.
Summary of project results
The objective of this project was the creation of a specific laboratory (the OceanLab) to receive young people at CIIMAR, leading them in a holistic approach to Ocean Literacy, through a program dedicated to the realization of a set of hand- in which young people put into practice, in a laboratory context, principles linked to the integrated management of the oceans and the maintenance of Good Environmental Status. The access of the young people to the OceanLab was made through visits of their schools, activities of vacations for young people and Open Days organized for the general public. The access of the young people to the OceanLab was made through visits of their schools, activities of vacations for young people and Open Days organized for the general public. There were 41 youth visits with their teachers to the OceanLab. These visits covered 646 students who attended the 3rd cycle of Basic Education or Secondary Education, in the curricular areas of Biological Sciences and Natural Sciences (groups 230 and 520) and their respective teachers. These visits allowed the young people to have contact with several research topics: Blue Biotechnology, Environmental Monitoring and Impact of Pollution, Ocean Acidification, Integrated Aquaculture and Bioremediation of Organic Compounds. Youth vacation weeks were also carried out, targeting young people attending the 3rd cycle of Basic Education and Secondary Education, covering 58 and 22 students respectively. At the end of both the visits and the Holiday Weeks, evaluation questionnaires were carried out for the youngsters and, in the case of visits, their teachers. There were also 3 Open Days organized with ca. 9000 visitors, who allowed to present all the themes associated with the Ocean to the general public. The OceanLab-Blog of Science Prize was promoted, with five applications from students in the 3rd cycle of Basic Education, which were released to society through the Science blog (
https://ciimarnaescola.wordpress.com/). At the OceanLab Award Gala there were representatives of three applications that were attended by their teachers and family members. These last two events have made it possible for the general public to be made aware of the importance of the Ocean and the need for its protection, as well as for the different research themes related to the Ocean, increasing its Ocean Literacy and contributing to the formation of informed citizens. Project website:
https://www2.ciimar.up.pt/outreach_projects.php?id=41;
https://www.facebook.com/ciimar.up.pt
Summary of bilateral results