Stars and STEM Stories
GLOBE in Spain Inspires Workshop for Environment
Teachers at the I.E.S. "Juan Carlos I" School in Murcia, Spain had long pondered a way to teach students critical thinking as it relates to environmental issues. Almost as if on cue, Spain became a GLOBE Country and some Juan Carlos teachers learned the endless possibilities of the hands-on science education program.
They went to great lengths to create a new course called "Experimental Workshop for the Environment" so they could include GLOBE activities in their official curriculum, according to GLOBE Teacher Rosa Maria Verdu.
"We wanted our students to become critical thinkers of environmental issues, especially as the students mature and realize how their knowledge about the environment will help shape their daily decisions as citizens," the teacher said.
Today, the Juan Carlos I experimental program has expanded from its charter number of 11 students to 25. Ms. Verdu describes her students as "excited to learn about the environment and participate in GLOBE."
The workshop is for 15 and 16-year-old students. During the course, the teenagers address each of the GLOBE Investigation areas as well as various other key environmental topics. GLOBE fits very well into the course components of Meterology, Hydrology, Soil, Land Cover, and even indirectly in the other topic areas included in the lessons.
"Taking regular measurements of the Segura River, and studying other natural areas are some ways how the GLOBE Students at I.E.S. "Juan Carols I" are linking their 'thinking skills' to practical experience, "' said GLOBE Country Coordinator, Clemencia Andres Torres.