This was a panflet created by the Portuguese Students to commemorate the World Water Day.

Climate Change Activities by Kan. P.Pullicino, Girls Secondary School, Rabat, MALTA

The very first activity involved raising awareness about global warming to the whole school community. Students were asked to research this topic and then several presentations were made both by the teachers and students about this issue on Wednesday during morning school assemblies. Speeches, charts and banners made by the students were presented and the charts were later displayed in the main school area. Students from each school also prepared special shoeboxes filled with traditional local things and student photos which were then sent to their foreign friends.





This activity was followed by an outing to Wied il-Qliegha (Chadwick Lakes) on Wednesday 17th January 2007 so that the students could observe and appreciate the local natural habitat of the Maltese Islands. Dr Charles Grech, Co-ordinator of School Arbor Committee, was invited to attend this outing so that invaluable information about indigenous trees such as the Balluta and plants could be disseminated to the students. The importance of trees to provide the world with oxygen whilst at the same time removing unwanted carbon dioxide from the air around us through photosynthesis was highlighted. The students were also made aware of the life that revolves around these woody areas and the damaging effects of noise, air, land and water pollution on the environment. Photos were taken and two students were asked to make a presentation about this outing to the whole school. Charts about local trees and plants were also exhibited around the school.


The week after this visit, the four themes of the project to combat climate change were launched: Recycle, Switch off, Turn Down and Walk. Recycle used paper was also launched. Special carton boxes were made by each class so that used paper could be separated from the usual class waste. The classes then emptied these boxes once a week in the appropriate large school paper bins which had been given to the school by WasteServ Ltd. These were also emptied once a week. This week also saw the start of art and craft activities during break where bags were made from used newspapers, plastic bottles were cut out, painted and reused as pots as well as the sewing and stencilling of cloth bags to reduce the use of plastic bags.




A seed –sowing activity of local indigenous trees and plants involving 2 students from each class was carried out during break on Wednesday 24th January 2007. The seeds, pots and peat had been kindly donated by Mr Frank Fabri, Mayor of Rabat Local Council. These pots were later presented to the Head of School, Ms Maria Mc Namara and cared for by the students themselves.

In February 2007, the project co-ordinator Ms Corinne Cilia and the assisting teacher, Ms Annmarie Bartolo attended the first teachers’ meeting EPDR, Portugal, the co-ordinating school. During this meeting the teachers involved in this Comenius 1 project got to know each other well. A powerpoint presentation about the effects of global warning was given by the Portuguese school and the Maltese and German partners had the opportunity to visit a new local waste separation plant and a protected beach in the Atlantic ocean to view the natural fauna of Portugal. The activities for the rest of the scholastic year were also discussed and a common questionnaire to measure students’ awareness from each country of global climate change was drawn up.

During March, WasteServ was invited to give a talk to all students and their parents about domestic waste management. An exhibition by WasteServ Ltd. about domestic and industrial waste management was also displayed in the school main area.




In May 2007, the Head of School, Ms Maria McNamara and two students attended the second project meeting at Merianschule, Germany. The results of the questionnaire were presented by each school and a powerpoint presentation about the activities carried out by each school was given by the students of each country. The Maltese and Portuguese representatives visited a burning plant in Offenbach, the Commerzbank in Frankfurt where cooling is obtained through indoor plants and automated opening and closing of glass panels. The visitors also participated in several laboratory experiments.

An extension of the Comenius project was that students were encouraged, under the direction of Ms Annmarie Bartolo, participating teacher for the Comenius project and Ms Marlene Caruana, art teacher, to participate in a European Poster Competition about the alternative use of energy. Our school was placed second for the under 13s section. The winning student was Caroline Camilleri.


http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurenergia/news_/nominees.htm

Our school, Kan.P.Pullicino hosted the third project meeting during end of May/beginning June 2007. An exhibition of the students’ art and craft products, charts and projects as well as photos of the activities between the three schools during the scholastic year of 2006-7 was displayed in the school’s main area. The entire Comenius group visited the ‘The Institute of Energy and Technology’ at Marsaxlokk to gain a deeper insight into the use of sun and wind as alternative sources of energy as well as ‘hands-on’ experience on how solar panels work.

Benefits of participating in 'Taking Action Over Climate Change' Comenius Project

The themes of the project such as sea, land and air pollution, the greenhouse effect, climate change etc. all formed part of The National Minimum Curriculum (NMC) subjects such as geography, environmental science, general science, physics, biology, social studies etc. and it helped reinforce and make more relevant what was taught in class. Moreover, it encouraged our students to use the foreign languages English and German and to improve their fluency in them. In addition, the project provided opportunities for our students to:

· Experience hands-on activities and realise the benefits and satisfaction of recycling and reusing used paper and plastic as well as aluminium and glass ,
· Realise that each individual can do something for the environment by switching off appliances not in use, using lower temperatures, walking ,recycling and reusing materials as well as sowing seeds and caring for plants and trees,
· Improve their creative skills through the art and craft activities,
· Develop teamwork techniques, better communication skills and new friendships,
· Increase their self-confidence and respect others,
· Responsibility and accountability for their actions,
· Appreciate and learn from other people’s talents,
· Put into practice what they learn in class.

All this which ties in the government initiatives to provide a lifelong holistic education to our students.

On the other hand, the project also helped increase teamwork, collegiality and relational trust between the participating teachers and with the Head of School. Moreover, besides promoting the professional development of teachers and teacher leadership, it also helped increase the sense of pride and motivation of both teachers and students. For example, the Textile Studies teacher disclosed to me that she felt proud when she saw the students using the cloth bags while the Art teacher was very pleased and satisfied that one of her students won second place in the under 13s EU Competition entitled “Alternative Sources of Energy”. The exchange visits also provided the teachers with invaluable information about money management, different cultures, the importance of social inclusion, the diversity of teaching styles and the importance of not being insular at school.

COMENIUS MALTA VISIT PROGRAMME
30th May – 3rd June 2007

Wednesday 30th May

1.40pm Arrival of Comenius Partners , pick up from airport and settling in of
teachers in Victoria Hotel, Sliema and students with host families
3.00pm Lunch
8pm Dinner in Sliema/St. Julians

Thursday 31st May

8.30am Van picks up students from Rabat (in front of BOV Bank)
9.00am Pick up teachers from Victoria Hotel, Sliema
10.00am Work Visit at Institute for Energy Technology, Marsaxlokk
After visit ,students to be picked up by host families in front of St.
Dorothy’s Convent School, Zebbug.
12.30pm Lunch at SeaBank Hotel, Mellieha with whole school
2.00pm Work session at Seabank Hotel
4.00pm Return to Victoria Hotel
8.30pm Dinner


Friday 1st June

8.45am Pick up teachers from Hotel
9.15am Welcome drinks at Kan. P.Pullicino, Rabat
10am Tour around school and visit to school catacombs
11am Work session
12.15pm Meeting with Rabat Mayor
After meeting , host families pick up students
1.00pm Lunch at St Paul’s Band Club, Rabat
3.00pm Visit to Silent City of Mdina and Mdina Experience
8.30pm Dinner


Saturday 2nd June

10.00am Tour around capital city of Malta ,Valletta (St. John’s Cathedral,
St James Cavalier, ‘Barrakka ta’ Fuq’ gardens, ferry ride)
1.00pm Lunch in Valletta
FREE TIME
9.00pm Barbeque night .
_____________________

Think while you're singing II

This is an oldie but still very significant in what concerns the theme of our project.

Michael Jackson- Earthsong 1995

What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain.. .
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?

Aaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaah

What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son...
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores

Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaah

I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far

Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaaah

Hey, what about yesterday
(What about us)
What about the seas
(What about us)
The heavens are falling down
(What about us)
I can't even breathe
(What about us)
What about the bleeding Earth
(What about us)
Can't we feel its wounds
(What about us)
What about nature's worth
(ooo,ooo)
It's our planet's womb
(What about us)
What about animals
(What about it)
We've turned kingdoms to dust
(What about us)
What about elephants
(What about us)
Have we lost their trust
(What about us)
What about crying whales
(What about us)
We're ravaging the seas
(What about us)
What about forest trails
(ooo, ooo)
Burnt despite our pleas
(What about us)
What about the holy land
(What about it)
Torn apart by creed
(What about us)
What about the common man
(What about us)
Can't we set him free
(What about us)
What about children dying
(What about us)
Can't you hear them cry
(What about us)
Where did we go wrong
(ooo, ooo)
Someone tell me why
(What about us)
What about babies
(What about it)
What about the days
(What about us)
What about all their joy
(What about us)
What about the man
(What about us)
What about the crying man
(What about us)
What about Abraham
(What was us)
What about death again
(ooo, ooo)
Do we give a damn

Powerpoint Presentation on Climate Changes (Meeting in Portugal)

This PowerPoint presentation was created by our Comenius students and shown on the work meeting that took place in Portugal, serving as an introduction to the theme of the project and some of its main issues.

second meeting in Seligenstadt

Welcome to the pages about the second meeting of our group. We want to show, how we worked, what we have done and we hope, you get an impression of the atmosphere we had in this time.

First of all:

The timetable

Activity Program for the second Meeting of the
Comenius - Group “Taking action over Climate Change”
2. – 6. May, Seligenstadt


2.May :

Arrival at Frankfurt, transfer to Seligenstadt, distribution of the students to their host families, lodging at the Hotel Elyssee for the teachers

3.May:

740 - 915 Students and teacher take part in normal Lessons (optional)
930 Visit to the School
1030 Welcome Reception at the Town Hall, guided Tour through Seligenstadt
1330 Lunch in the School
1400 – 1700 Work Session at the School


4.May:

740 - 915 Students and teacher take part in normal Lessons (optional)
1000 Work Visit to a Waste Burning Plant in Heusenstamm
1300 Lunch in the School
1500 Work Visit to the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt


5.May:

Individual Program for the students with the families
Individual Action for Teachers, depending on personal interests


6.May

Transfer to the Airport

Pictures:

Over Frankfurt, about 260m high

In the Gardens inside the Commerzbank Tower, the highest Commercial Building in Europe

This is the Tower of the European Central Bank. The home of the Euro:

Taking a look to "Dribbdebach"

Please add here all the pictures you would like to have here.

Moviemaker presentation (Meeting in Malta)

This moviemaker presentation was shown during the work visit to Malta. It contains a brief summary of the previous work visit to Germany as well as a visual account of the environmental awareness activity for younger students carried out at the Portuguese school.

Modell System for calculations

Most of the informations we have about the climate change are based on calculations. Here we present an easy calculation system to study the influences of changes in parameters and their results. We want to describe, what is known as the "butterfly-effect". The name comes from the fact, that if you transfer the principles of a atomic world into the bigger surrounding of the real world, than you will find out,that a small wind from a butterfly in the rainforest will cause a big hurrican after a while. As you can easily see, it is nonsense and nobody will believe it,but it is true, if you don´t think about your activity. The real backround is the non-linear,chaotic behavior that can be observed everywhere.

Here is a describtion of the modell system:

My example is much more simpler. It is called the"logical illustration" and is known since 1844. We look for the population of fishes in a lake (or something else, similar). If we change the starting conditions only in a very, very small number, this small mistake will causes dramatic changes, if you recalculate every year by taking the result of the one before. So, you take the Number of Fishes (Xn) as per cent of the maximum of population. Because of that, Xn will be a Number between o and 1. We calculate the amount of fishes in the next year by the easy equation: Xn+1 = R*Xn*(1-Xn). R is a parameter to describe the fertility of the fishes. For R smaller than 1, the population dies expotentiell. For R bigger than 1 it can stabilise on a special level. For R bigger than 3 it will result in periodic oscillation. For R bigger than 3,57 it will be chaotic, although the Population can be calculated by the deterministic equation exactly! So, lets start calculation. For that you best use Exel. Use R=3,9 and calculate two lines. First one with 0,6 for Xn and the second one with 0,60001 as starting population. You see: the different is very,very small. After 17 steps (=17 years) you will find complete different results. You can easily see that in a graph. For me, this behavior of these systems is one the main points to have a critical look for calculation systems in generall. They are easy to manipulate and it is a general problem to find the right start conditions. I hope, you all understand my explanation how to do this calculation.

Here are the calculation lines:

It is easy to see, that after 17 years it beginn to differ. After 20 years, it is no longer possible, to predict the Number of Fishes!

It is remarkable, that this easy system is not to calculate properly for a longer distance.

Here are the other described lines:

So please give me your ideas!