Approximate date

Activity

Location

 (in the case of mobility : from / to)

September 2005

All schools to send relevant diary dates, information on teachers, classes and groups of children to be directly involved in the project and any other information which may be of interest or useful to all other participating schools. All partners inform members of teaching staff, pupils, parents and local community about the beginning of the project.

October 2005

All schools receive an indicative package of resources and relevant information (e.g. web sites, texts, book references etc.) from the coordinating school and are invited to write down their lists of proposed activities and projects to be discussed at the kick off meeting, which will be held at the 9^th Primary School of Rethymno, Crete, Greece, at the end of October 2005.

VISIT TO GREECE (CRETE)

(kick off meeting of the project, discuss ideas and set up activities to be followed in the coming months)

November 2005

All schools set up partner classes and/or groups of pupils participating in the activities of the project and are encouraged to send pen pal letters to link people together and build up a basis of confidence and mutual respect to promote joint project activities. Meanwhile, the teachers work on introductory topics about solar energy such as: “the Sun-energy for life”, “solar energy-reaching the earth”, “solar energy-heat and light” etc. and prepare activities like a simple sundial and shadows watching in the school yard, triggering discussions about the Earth rotating the Sun etc.

December 2005

All schools deal with a couple of introductory activities like “The Sun in our cultures” and/or “Solar Energy around the world”. Pen pals exchange Christmas cards and small pieces of craft or drawings with “the Sun” and/or “solar energy” as a topic. Attempt to establish e-mail communication depending on resources and competences.

January 2006

All schools discuss in classes and groups of children issues about energy crisis, renewable and non-renewable sources of energy at local and international level.

February 2006

All schools discuss solar energy further by using a global solar energy map, attempt to locate solar energy applications in local, national and international contexts and compare information with other partners. Teachers exchange ideas on experiments and investigations on aspects of solar energy to be treated with pupils in the following month.

March 2006

All schools set up solar energy experiments and investigations such as: solar water heating in various containers, greenhouse models, simple box solar cookers, experiments with photovoltaic cells etc. The pupils are encouraged to exchange data and information with their pen pals. Teachers are requested to prepare a list of solar energy projects for the meeting in April 2006 and start preparing the children for a science fair.

April 2006

All school partners meet in Portugal in the beginning of April 2006 to discuss and evaluate the project activities so far and plan ahead the organisation of a science fair in each school. Upon their return back to schools, teachers are expected to distribute project work to children and supervise the development of the solar energy projects to be presented in the science fair.

VISIT TO PORTUGAL

[from Greece to Portugal]

(solar energy projects discussion and planning of a relevant science fair)

May 2006

All schools work on the solar energy projects and prepare the set up of the science fair. Pupils exchange ideas and information with fellow pupils in the project countries and the coordinating school provides advice and hints for the development of solar energy projects and constructions.

June 2006

During the first week of June 2006 a science fair on solar energy will be conducted in each school and video snapshots and/or photos will be exchanged and put up on the web site of the project. Each partner school will prepare a short report, collect some relevant material and send them to the coordinating school to join them together and produce a final report of the 1^st year of the project, which will be sent back to the partner schools, collaborating institutions and national agents.

July 2006

Participation in the 3^rd International Conference of the “Hands-on Science” project (Comenius 3 Network: Project Nº. 110157-CP-1-2003-1-PT-COMENIUS-C3). A report on the developments of the first year of the project is to be presented.

“Hands on Science” Comenius 3 Network event

[from Greece to Portugal]

Ongoing Activities

Send and exchange any work produced by pupils and teachers that would be of interest to other schools and partners.

Send photos, video tapes, creative activities etc. that take place throughout the year, in order to be put up on the web site and shared with all partners.

Information on relevant school trips and/or visits.