News - Lithuania
Trainings in Tartu Loodusmaja for group of new Lithuania GLOBE teachers
A group of Lithuanian teachers spent last week in Tartu. There they attended training courses for GLOBE participants. Most of them are new GLOBE participants, who will be entering the program from the new school year.
Since there are no certified instructors in Lithuania who can provide training and certification, we decided to travel to Estonia, where we were met by two instructors. Modern Tartu nature house was the most suitable place for our needs. The building acts as a nature school, a space for various exhibitions and events, and is built from environmentally friendly materials, uses a variety of alternative sources of energy, and is a great example of environmental sustainability for visitors!
There is a long road to Tartu, so we spent the first day driving, but just the next day we started training! During the second day we listened the theoretical part of atmospheric protocols also participated in practical trainings and made simple observation instruments. At the evening we met the president of Tartu 
Nature House Jaanika Rusma. She showed us their educational programs, laboratories and greenhouse. We ended the day at the Tartu Botanical Garden, where we watched plants that were unusual for our eyes.
Already familiar with clouds and various precipitation, it was time to roll our eyes to the ground and get familiar with soil. On the third day we went to nature, where we spent most of our time.
On the way to the study site, we unexpectedly discovered the reconstruction of an ancient ship and its master. He willingly told me about his own hand-built ship, allowed me on board, and even showed his workshops, where the second ship is also being born.
After this unexpected insertion, finally arrived at the research base, we fenced off an area corresponding to one satellite photo pixel. Remembering triginometry and tangents, we measured the high of trees (and each other), watched the earth cover, and used our newly made devices.
Later we traveled at the beautiful outcrop, where sampled it and even found nests of sand martins!
After returning to Tartu Nature House, we explored the composition of sampled rocks. Through various tests we have found nitrogen, potassium and other minerals, also observed sedimentation of various fractions.
Having been awarded certificates and having completed the official part of the training, we also finished this day extraordinarily. Those wishing (which was almost our entire group) went to the modern AHHAA Science Museum, where we got lost in the mirror maze, watched the development of live chickens from the egg, and human and animal abnormalities.
On our last day we visited the old and rich Tartu Nature Museum. There were both meteorites, fossils and skeletons of prehistoric times, as well as exhibits of modern animal life. It seems we could still be there, but it was time to go home.
We are glad that all these impressions and knowledge will not remain with us, but with thirteen teachers distributed, will multiply many times repeated in their classes. Thank you for the opportunity to learn and teach, thanks to the project funding the U.S. Embassy Small Grants Program!
type: globe-newsNews origin: Lithuania