WATER FOR LIFE

On the basis of our previous Comenius project called “Forest and sustainability”, France and our three European partners (Latvia, Romania and Spain) have developed the “Water For Life” project.As water is essential to the balance of our environment and to its biodiversity – and as its sustainable management is a challenge for the future generations – we have to be well aware of its fragility, we have to act collectively and sustainably and we have to become educated consumers in order to preserve our water resource.The four schools participating in this project are two primary schools (in Gran Canaria and Rumania) and two high schools (in Latvia and France). The students involved in the mobilities are between 10 and 12 years old.The aims of this “Water For Life” project were: to bring knowledge and to provide education for the behaviors as regards to water, as a complement to the disciplinary programs; to make pupils aware of the responsibility of everyone related to access to safe drinking water, related to the pollution of water, to the waste of water, and to the importance of the consequences of global warming; and to make pupils develop significant cross skills (how to search and deal with information, how to mobilize digital tools in order to learn, how to conduct a science approach, how to communicate in a foreign language, etc) , to give a European dimension to the problems related to water; to exchange good practices by teaching lessons in the partner countries, by comparing the learning methods and by sharing the activities carried out in each school. These aims have been reached thanks to activities completed on the following themes: water in everyday life, the different uses of water, safe drinking water, the cycle of water, weather and climate, the importance of water for the aquatic ecosystems, water as a green energy resource and the 3R rule for the preservation of water. There have been various activities over the past 3 years, such as information campaigns, experiments, field trips, visits of companies linked with water, drawing and photo contests, Day events (Erasmus Days, World Water Day…), exhibitions, works of art, group works, and development of lessons.These activities have allowed us to obtain the results that were initially planned for the project, that’s to say the achievement of productions such as a toolbox composed of a digital teaching tool on the cycle of water (”The Amazing Journey Of Droopy”), an e-book and flashcards, a game on water (“Who wants to be a millionaire?”), a digital dictionary (Water and Seasons Vocabulary), many different little educational games (memory board, dominoes, puzzle, picture/definition matching game); on various informative supports such as flyers, posters, magnets, rulers, photo albums, etc. ; a guide book for teachers including teaching tools (tutorials of experiments, lessons related to the studied themes); collaborative productions such as works of art, a lapbook on the aquatic ecosystems (the river Moselle, the Danube delta, the Baltic Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the marshes of Latvia), a song on 2020 World Water Day (“Thirsty”), a charter on the use of water.The project has had positive impacts on the participants, that have been measured both qualitatively and quantitatively through the past three-year- project. The students have shown how more motivated they had been as far as schoolwork was concerned, thanks to a different learning approach (more participation and attention towards the foreign teachers). They have become aware of the importance of English as a tool to communicate, showing more motivation for this school subject. They have acquired new knowledge about water and they have become aware of the importance of water and of environmental issues. They have developed personal skills in a more motivating school environment (autonomy, reflexion, adaptation capacity while working differently, self-confidence and openness to others, mastering the ICT tools knowledge).The teachers have developed new teaching methods, have shared good practices experiences, have had the opportunity to work in a multi-disciplinary setting and they also have developed personal skills (ICT, English as a foreign language, project management).All the school staff has been involved in the different meetings and activities which enabled better communication within the school, openness to different cultures and higher motivation for school work. Pupils’ parents have been able to improve their skills in foreign languages too and to open themselves to cultures from other European countries when they welcomed the partners.