News - Europe and Eurasia
Unique GLOBE Games 2016 in the Czech Republic
Four exciting days, 250 students, teachers and scientists from the Czech Republic, Norway, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and Croatia - this was the GLOBE Games 2016 which took place in Czech Republic from 2nd to 4th June. The event was organized by TEREZA, Educational Center with a close cooperation with two GLOBE schools from the city of Karvina: Delnicka Elementary School and Technical High School of Karvina.
GLOBE Games 2016 started with the opening ceremony evening that featured the host school, distinguished guests and all participating teams from 6 countries. Students introduced themselves in the impressive parade, followed by a dance performance by Delnicka Elementray School, funny sketches, singer from Technical Highs School and also a magician.
The second day started with the student conference which was opened by video speech from the director of the GLOBE Program Dr. Tony Murphy. He described his journey towards science and the GLOBE Program and highly appreciated whole organization team working on the GLOBE Games 2016.
After the opening, student teams presented outcomes of their research projects in 6 parallel sessions, out of which 3 were international. They were evaluated by experts and audience consisting of other school teams. The feedback and discussion of results was an important input to their yearlong work in the GLOBE program. Students from Latvia introduced their common project with Estonian school regarding phenology observations. Polish teams addressed the audience with research based on hydrology observations. Teams from Norway and Croatia presented projects on measuring aerosols in Europe. Representation from Norway was accompanied by the GLOBE National Coordinator of Norway, Mr. Karl Torstein Hetland:
„Aerosols are not such a big problem in Norway but it is a major source of air pollution in some regions of Czech Republic. Climate Change topic is related to aerosols so we cooperate with climate scientists and appreciate the opportunity to connect students with the research in the field of climate and aerosols."
said Karl Hetland in an interview with students-journalists.
As a highlight, 12 workshops lead by scientists were prepared as a program for afternoon. Students conducted different experiments and worked with special devices.
The last day students enjoyed being outdoors during the field game which took place in a former coal mining area of Darkov. The landscape was deeply influenced by coal mining in past and is coming through arduous revitalization recently. GLOBE students have the opportunity to ask inquiry-based questions: Is it a cultural landscape or a new wilderness? Where are all the fossils from? Is there any life in nearby spring?
The Festival, a closing ceremony of the GLOBE Games, took place in the city center. It started with the rolling of an inflatable globe, the symbol of the Czech GLOBE Games. Schools prepared learning activities for the public based on what they do in the GLOBE Program. Students bands playing on the stage entertained the GLOBE community as well as local citizens.
Watch the video from the event!
And what about the next year? Organizers already revealed name of the town where the GLOBE Games will take a place in 2017. It is a beautiful small Czech City: Moravske Budejovice. Join us there from11th to 13th May 2017. We are looking forward to see you!
type: globe-newsNews origin: Europe and Eurasia