Good practices
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 Working Group:Early Inquiry, Low Achievers in ScienceCountry:CyprusLanguages:English, GreekAge of students (target group/s):13-14Contact person information:Cyprus Center for Environmental Research and EducationThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. "The past few months, seaweed has been observed in large amounts at a famous beach in Ayia Napa. In this particular region, the sea is starting to become green. The seaweed has multiplied so much that it now appears "gigantic". The seaweed appears sporadically in various areas from Dekelia to Protaras. It seems that something has disturbed the previous balance of the ecosystem in such a way that the population of seaweed now develops at an alarming rate, a situation that has that worries the municipality in regards to the current condition of the sea. Their main concern is that the rapid development of seaweed can affect the survival of other organisms in the environment as well as the growth of tourism. The problem must be addressed as soon as possible in order to find viable solutions before it is too late.” Stage 2 & 3: Inquiring & Decision-making Students are asked to help the municipal authorities to address the "gigantic seaweed" problem by examining the questions below: • What is this giant seaweed that made its appearance on the beach? • What causes the rapid explosion of seaweed population? • Which changes took place that has affected the balance of the ecosystem? • Is this change a result of natural factors or/and human intervention? • Which phenomenon is responsible for this particular issue? • Which material relates more to this particular situation?Strong points and opportunities:• Activates the motives of students • Raises the interest and participation of low-achieving students • Relates to the everyday life of students and a common problem in Cyprus coasts • Relates to current events – It is an authentic issued derived from Cyprus’ newspapers • Raises the self-confidence of studentsLimitations:Structured inquiry The structured inquiry is considered that it has a level of weakness because it limits the degree of self-acting and ownership of students and teachers. However structured inquiry is considered the optimum educational approach if the teachers and students are not fully prepared to implement an open inquiry.Added value with regards to the 3 topics of the MASS project:Short duration inquiry based learning Incorporation of ICT by videos and animations Raises the interest of low achievers with rich audio-visual learning material | ||
