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SUSTAINABILITY IN THE SCHOOL FOR OUR FUTURE!

Hosted by OSOS , contributed by yairbh_nc on 8 May 2018

The influence of technology on the environment

Goals and challenges: 

7th and 8th grade students, together with young mentors from the nearby college, will investigate their school environment, looking for hazards. The students and mentors will develop, according to the Engineering Design Process, a technological product to improve their local environment and advance education for urban sustainability.

 

AVAILABLE PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Mentors from a local college

  • Support the school students in through their project
  • To give scientific lectures to the school students

Parents and Families

  • The Parents' Committee can announce the publication of the projects throughout the city
  • Assisting parents in conducting surveys, observations and interviews with residents and experts
  • Parents can give lectures if they are engaged in any relevant field for projects

Local Government

  • Logistical and professional assistance
  • Assistance in recruiting experts from the local institutes/industry to meet with the school students and to make them involved in the research process.
  • Assistance in the production and performance of the urban fair at the end of the project.
  • Participation on the day of the exposure of the project to the school students.

Local Industry and Business

  • Assistance in funding
  • Meeting with experts (food waste, engineers ....)
  • Help build apps

 

Responsible Research and Innovation

One of the key aspects of OSOS is the inclusion of RRI - Responsible Research and Innovation principles (more information at RRI-Tools.eu). This is how the NanoChannels Accelerator fits into the RRI model:

 

Governance

students will be responsible for involving different stakeholders, with whom they will maintain a continuous relationship with the objective of improving problems in the school environment.

 

I.e.: Students will be in continuous contact with stakeholders, who will be involved in the different phases of the activity in order to achieve the best results of the project. students will communicate the different advances in a transparent and reflective way.

Public engagement

Students will encourage the participation of stakeholders in the activity, making it proactive. Students will be able to make decisions collaboratively, sharing responsibility for the final results with stakeholders.

 

I.e.: students will get in touch with families and neighbors, whom they will interview and ask about problems around the school. In addition, all these external agents will be able to communicate to students both their opinions and what solution is better from their point of view, which will help students to make collective decisions.

Gender equality

When considering the scientific project, from its conception to its final solution, students will take into account the gender dimension. To do this, they will make equal decisions and ask both men and women, analyzing if there are differences in their opinions.

 

I.e.: Equal work division between female and male students when working in groups.

Science Education

Students will involve their environment to solve social problems and challenges through technology and science. The stakeholders can participate as active elements during the project.

 

I.e.: students will be supported by various types of stakeholders during different phases of the project, including both the search for challenges and problems and the proposal of solutions through Science that can solve them.

Ethics

Students will align their research with social values ​​and the needs of the environment. For this, they will share the responsibility with different stakeholders (such as neighbors and families), whose opinions will be taken into account when reflecting on the problems of the school environment.

 

I.e.: students will be able to take advantage of science to improve the dangers that may exist around the school, providing a technological solution that will be innovative and also social.

Open Access

Students will be responsible for creating a series of materials that they can then disseminate to families and neighbors. To do this, they will study the types of licenses that exist and determine which are the most appropriate for their materials.

 

I.e.: the highlights of the projects and all the materials will be published to the public. The project will be advertised in local media and the facebook pages of the Municipality.

 

RESOURCES NEEDED:

Recruiting experts from the academy and local industry, to inform and mentor the students in the fields of sustainability, engineering, programing, design and communication.

Learning Objectives
1. Familiarity with environmental problems, their causes prevention. 2. Designing technological or research projects to promote sustainability in their close environment. 3. To foster a connection between the school and the local college.

 

Addressed Challenge: to solve a problem, first we must know what problem it is ... and how we can propose that solution. This FEEL phase will first introduce our students to the methodology we propose for this Accelerator, including the opinions of experts and scientists, and then we can accompany them to the school environment to find all these new challenges. Once known, the following phases will allow them to delve into them and begin to propose solutions.

 

# Session

Duration

Description

Resources needed

Location

1

90m

Exposure of the project to the students:

  • Opening remarks by the representative of the local authority and the project manager at the school.
  • Short inspiring lectures (2-3 lectures, 15 min. each) on sustainability from partners which will be involved in the project.
  • Presentation about the milestones of the project.
  • Short scientific experience for the students – they are invited to participate in the activity independently during the break or after the lectures.
  • A suitable space for school students from all the participants' classes.
  • Finding and coordinating suitable lecturers
  • Planning a short suitable scientific activity for the students – you can ask for help from a local science museum or a similar institution

At school

2

45-90m

  • Observations in the neighborhood (school yard, the municipal center, park) for the purpose of introducing and raising ideas.
  • Raising research issues and research questions

 

 

School’s environment

 

# Session

Duration

Description

Resources needed

Location

3

90m

  •  Meeting with mentors to conduct the research - accompanying with all the science team at school
  • Raising needs and ideas
  • Coordinate meetings with experts and mentors

At school

4

90m +

Beyond school hours

  • Conducting targeted observations, surveys, questionnaires - assistance by mentors from local academy and teachers

 

Out of school

5

90m

  • Raising solutions and planning them – assistance by mentors from local academy and teachers

 

 

At school

 

# Session

Duration

Description

Resources needed

Location

6

5 hours -can be divided to 2 sessions

  • Building the prototype – guiding and technical assistance by experts (parents, teachers, experts from science museum, engineers from the local industry, mentors from the local academy etc.)

1

 

2

  • Coordinate meeting with experts and parents
  • Resources for building according to lists were prepared by the students before the meeting.

At a science museum or at school

7

Beyond school hours

  • Writing the work – working individually and in groups. The teachers follow and give instructions.

 

 

At home

 

It's important to share photos, videos and summaries of the activities on the OSOS portal so that others can learn from it. 

 

# Session

Duration

Description

Resources needed

Location

8

2 hours

A pick event – a provincial Fair including a selection of the best projects for a regional competition

 

At school or at a dedicated space set by the local authority

9

2 hours

Final event - An urban environment fair in the commercial center or in the park near the school

  • Presenting the projects
  • Making shakes from vegetables and fruits that were candidates for injection (in cooperation with a social organization)
  • Selling products of urban gardens
  • Integrating industry display stands - engineers or researchers engaged in environmental and sustainability related fields
  • Recruiting and coordination with all the involved partners.

 

In the commercial center or in the park near the school