5.3 Objectives_final

5.3 objectives of the partnership
- What are the concrete objectives of the partnership?
- Explain what subjects or problems you intend to address.
- What approach will you take to achieve your objectives?

The goal of this Comenius School Partnerships Project is to conduct research on the environment which we live and to create a Virtual EDEN while developing KEY COMPETENCIES.

The basic objectives of the Virtual EDEN project are:
1.Communication in mother tongue
- To promote creative writing - pupils will be able to compose a text: purposefully, logically, coherently, and using various styles; they will be able to write a story about a fictional hero, a comic, an interview and a report.

2.Communication in foreign language
- To promote the learning of a foreign language and to focus on linguistic diversity, pupils will be able to introduce themselves in various languages and use some social expressions in certain circumstances as well as write emails.
- To promote teachers’ linguistic skills teachers will be able to communicate with teachers from partner schools and to converse in English, on a basic level, on professional topics.

3. Maths literacy; scientific competence + technology
- To make mathematics more engaging, the project method will be applied. Pupils will independently create extra problems for their pals in partner schools; pupils will do calculations to make a report, which will be posted on the Internet.
- To apply integrated knowledge and abilities for solving problems. Pupils will be able to analyse a problem, create and work out a plan of solution and present outcome.
- To determine the goal and describe facts, relationship and dependency, pupils will be able to identify regularity in processes and systems, they will be able to indicate the influence of pollution on the environment.

4. ICT skills
- Pupils will be able to set up a blog, send an email, participate in Wikis, upload the photos
- To promote teachers’ ICT skills and knowledge, teachers will be able to use an interactive board, make a Power Point presentation, create digital content and use an interactive board.
- Pupils will be able to improve their ability to use photography equipment; pupils will be able to use various lenses depending on the type of photography; pupils will apply their knowledge about perspective and composition; and they will be able to compress files.

5. Learning-to-learn
- To improve motivation for learning and learning to learn new skills, pupils will be able to use various sources of information, write a report based on their own research, and work in teams.

6. Interpersonal and civic competences
- To initially provide pupils with ‘transversal’ key competences, teachers will develop an innovative method of team work – CLIL. Biology and mathematics lessons will be partially conducted in English.
- To promote positive attitudes about ecology, openness and curiosity.
The theme of the Project is the natural environment with its existing potential dangers and the optimum ideal state for the land to reach its fullest potential. The project will encourage the students and teachers involved to adapt a more active pro-ecology attitude about their environment in Europe.

CLIL and WebQuest methods will be used with older students: they will learn to work in a group, use various sources of information, use English and use ICT. In Biology /Science lessons students will learn about the state of the environment in their area. They will conduct some research on the consequences of the pollution of air, water, and soil. They will determine the acidity of the soil and the concentration of sulphuric acid in the air. The teachers of other subjects are included in the project: Chemistry – analysis of water; Geography – drawing the maps; Mathematics – solving problems and presenting them as diagrams, tangrams. Students will present their results to the local authorities responsible for the environmental protection and to the local community.

During the project's timeline, students will search for the most typical and/ or most unique tree. They will make a record of the chosen item/ tree e.g. height/ width/ age/ population in its native country. Students who are artistically talented will take photos of or draw these trees. The photos will be the basis for the creation of the Virtual EDEN on the Internet. ICT skills will be improved while constructing the Wiki, searching for information and communicating via blog and Skype. The digital camera and video camera will be used for documentation, and the interactive board will be used in lessons and the documentation of the project.

Younger pupils at schools, if they attend, will be joined by the International Stork Club. They will set up mini-gardens, conduct the weather observation activities and bird watching, participate in Spring Alive - the European Programme, draw and write a joint book/ comic, and integrate ICT. All their activities and results will be documented on the blog / the Wiki.

The use of English during mobilities and everyday communication will encourage students to learn it more intensively. The project gives the opportunity to learn less widely used languages. Students will create thematic mini-dictionaries and be conscious of Latin as a language of Science. The lichen scale which is a scientific tool in research is easy to use when the Latin names are applied.

Because of the collaboration of teachers of various subjects from partner countries, they will have an opportunity to compare their curriculum, share their expertise, and improve foreign languages. They will jointly prepare Science and Mathematics lessons using the WebQuest method.

Teachers of Mathematics will have an opportunity to compare their methods and their effectiveness during the International Mathematics Competition arranged jointly by them.