Subjects: Art

Lessons in Grass – learning outdoors

Interested in outdoor education? Want to know how to teach math, languages, arts and crafts and much more outdoors? Lacking inspiration? Do you seek ideas, lessons or worksheets on fractions, human body, universe – outdoors? What will you try first? What will you get? 14 lessons with reflection methods 53 pages 6 worksheets 130 photos 17 useful tips 12 bugs:) The lessons are playful and for various subjects. For example: Why so early: https://lessonsingrass.com/lessons/laboratory/#early Pizza Fractions: https://lessonsingrass.com/lessons/numbers/#pizza Square Meter: https://lessonsingrass.com/lessons/numbers/#metre  LOADS of lessons here too!

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We care about our present and our future

We care about our present and our future: A report. Eco- Schools 11th Young People’s Summit… © 2022 Nature Trust – FEE Malta Any part of the publication can be reproduced as long as the source is properly cited and credited. Citation: Nature Trust – FEE Malta (2022). We care about our present and our future: A report. Eco-Schools 11th Young People’s Summit. Listening to children’s voices for sustainability There was a time, in the not-so-distant past, that the notion of listening to and acting on children’s voices was unheard of and even frowned upon. Children were considered as incapable of making value judgements, of evaluating issues and propose solutions to problems unless they were told how to do it by adults. Most of the opportunities offering children a platform were mostly (at best) different forms of tokenism. Children were expected to listen to and uncritically absorb what adults had to say on issues and themes that had a direct relevance to the children’s present and future. Education for Sustainable Development seeks to empower individuals irrespective of age to become active citizens seeking to promote sustainable lifestyles and choices. Nature Trust – FEE Malta sought to actively facilitate this by implementing the international Eco-Schools Programme (locally called EkoSkola). The EkoSkola programme is mainly driven by student initiated and managed actions that start off at school, but then spill over into their households and their community. Since its inception in 2002, the EkoSkola program has worked hard to bring the voice of children to policy makers, both local and overseas. So, over the years EkoSkola has created different fora to achieve this, like: EkoSkola Parliament sessions, consultation meetings with various Maltese presidents and ministers; meetings with the main political party leaders during which they presented a memorandum prior to the General Elections; and countless meetings with mayors and councillors of different localities. Another forum that promotes children’s voices is the annual Young People’s Summit, during which primary and secondary school students discuss various sustainability issues and propose ways how these issues can be addressed. These issues are collated into a declaration that is then presented to members of parliament. There were even cases where these recommendations were also presented to international fora such as during the Informal Meeting of the EU Environment Council; during international conferences about sustainability, and to delegates attending the CHOGM 2015. As part of the COP 26 follow up, the British High Commission sponsored five mini sessions that explored Climate Change from various dimensions that were attended by students from 103 schools (63 primary and 40 secondary). During the online summits, students discussed with local experts the various perspectives of the issues explored and proposed practical actions that could be implemented to address the issues. These proposals were collated in this special publication together with several other inputs from younger children in the form of drawings and craft projects. An interesting spin off from this series of mini summits, was an interest in learning what children from …

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BeMED 15. Creating a Collage from Plastic Waste to Reduce Plastics in the Marine Environment

Title Creating a Collage from Plastic Waste to Reduce Plastics in the Marine Environment Author Lino Xerri Age Guide Year 7 Subject Area Art Preparation Time Preparation of a large cardboard to support the collage with the students’ works. Estimated Duration 90 minutes Site If lesson is held out of class, the hot glue gun is to be portable and images of marine life are to be projected in a different way instead from an interactive board. Educational objectives Learning to express creatively one’s ideas Learn how to fight against marine pollution by reusing Develop technical skills of plastic sculpture Learning Outcomes – I can investigate, observe and gather data information about my environment. – I can demonstrate and discuss the developments in my work as I gain new techniques, skills and confidence with 2-Dimensional and 3-Dimensional media. – I can justify the importance of identifying problems, reflecting critically, thinking creatively and having a wider vision in order to plan for the future and become an effective agent of change. – I have a future-oriented perspective for how I live my life as a citizen of the world. Link to SDGs SDG 14: Life below water Educational resources required Plastic bottles, craft knife, permanent marker, hot glue gun, round-edged scissors, paint brushes, palettes, watercolour paints, interactive board. Appendix 15.1 – Sea Creatures Remote preparation Students will research and document by producing sketches and photocopies of marine creatures. Planning Considerations Working with plastic as a medium requires the use of round-edged scissors and a craft knife. Teacher supervision must be constant and the student per teacher ratio must be adequate. Method Introduction Discussion about the importance of keeping the sea clean, especially closed basins like the Mediterranean, is highlighted. The beauty of the sea that surrounds our islands and about the creatures that live in it must be a positive keynote to mention. The teacher shows images of sea creatures (Appendix 15.1) and helps students observe the shapes, lines and colours perceived in the images. Teacher gives a demonstration on how to draw a fish on a plastic bottle using a permanent marker and how to cut it out. Development Students are grouped in teams so that although they work on an individual piece, peer suggestions and help are still considered. They use a permanent marker to draw fish, seahorses, shells, seaweed and other marine creatures on plastic bottles and other plastic items they have brought with them. Using scissoring skills and with the help of the teacher, they cut out the figures they drew using a rounded-edge scissors and craft knife. Students paint the back of the plastic figures using bright watercolours to obtain a translucent effect. They are instructed to observe the shapes, lines and colours of the marine creatures they have researched and documented beforehand in the remote preparation for this lesson. Students affix the figures using hot glue on a pre-prepared cardboard in order that all the student’s creations are displayed as a large collective collage of an …

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