Students got to know biodiversity in the mobility in Finland!
Before the mobility students got to know what biodiversity means and at the same time they learned some vocabulary. Students made a presentation about biodiversity in general and in Finland. During the mobility, learned facts were compared, when presentations were presented to other participating countries. In this task students also learned presentation skills. Students also estimated their connection to nature. Let´s see, if their connection have changed at the end of the week...
Biodiversity presentations going on during the first day of the mobility.
The first day of the mobility was all about getting to know the school, other people etc. Students had planned different activies and they also got a group work: which group will build the tallesta snowman. This was a real challenge, because snow wasn´t so mouldable - we had some minus degrees on Monday. The winner group was rewarded with chocolade!
Students building a very tall snowman in groups.
On Tuesday students had the chance to go to a Finnish forest and study the biodiversity of the forest. Measurements were made with different parameters that typically tell about biodiversity. Measurements were made in at two different forest areas. As a result students learned how to do scientific observations in boreal forest. They also learn which things increase biodiversity in boreal forest and what makes a forest worth protecting. The results of the measurements were used in another task during the mobility.
Observing the parameters of biodiversity in boreal forest.
On Tuesday evening we also had a Culture night, were students presented their own cultural features of their country. Presentations were this time "tongue twisters" and this was a lot of fun! Students also had some music performances and traditional food from each participating country were served during. Parents and families were also welcome to the culture night.
Finnish songs were presented by the Kaisaniemi school band.
Students and their families were invited to Culture Night.
On Wednesday students started their main task for the week: a joint exhibition about biodiversity at the local library. In this activity students studied more closely biodiversity or some phenomenon that is related to it. Students learned for example about extinctions, how climate change and consumption affects biodiversity and how ecological and social wellbeing are linked together. Students didn't learn just facts, but they had to think again about their own connection to nature through different creative tasks like poems and picture collages. Work continued on this task also on Thursday and Friday. On Friday the exhibiotion was set up at the library. City mayor Maria Sorvisto and the head of the education department of Ylivieska Eija Saarela visited at the exhibiotion. Thank you for the visit!
Maria Sorvisto and Eija Saarela visited at the exhibition.
During the week students also had the chance to visit at the Museum ofNatural Sciences in Kokkola and had some fun sledging, skiing and skating or just spending time together. Families took visitors also to different places in Ylivieska and the surroundings. Students also had the chance for ice hole swimming. And of course they went to sauna
The whole week was a success! Student made a wonderful exhibition at the library. This exhibition is on display also at Kaisaniemi and Taanila school after library. It is possible also to put on display at our partner school (Gamca, Bratislava; Ernst-Ludwig-Schule, Bad Nauheim; IES Candas, Candas). Students thought that they learned new things about biodiversity and especially how to measure biodiversity. They also learned about different European cultures and improved their language skills. Students estimated that their connection to nature increased during the mobility week!
Thank you visitors, teachers and everyone who participated! We will miss all our guests and hope to see you soon!