Etwinning

Enjoy Learning Science

It's never too soon to start experimenting with science. This is the motto of the project 'Enjoy Learning Science' that we wanted to highlight this month. The teacher involved is Mar Bermejo, from CEIP San Juan Bautista school in Madrid, who is working jointly with another eight European partners from Bulgaria, Romania, Portugal, Poland and Slovenia.

This project - which is still under development - is aimed at pupils from Infant and Primary education and attempts to promote discovery-based learning. It starts by asking simple questions that awaken pupils' curiosity and make them feel the need to observe, compile data, verify, debate with others and draw conclusions in teams. This process allows pupils to discover and observe their surroundings, understand their place in the universe and manipulate and experiment with different materials. They can also learn to use ICTs to search for and compile information but also to communicate, create and share resources creatively. The language used to work is English, which contributes - as well as other the features - to the fact that the project must fulfill the needs of bilingual teaching and the integrated syllabus (CLIL).

Participants must describe each of the stages of development in the TwinSpace and use it as a tool to coordinate with the other partners, although they can also use Wikispaces (http://enjoyscience.wikispaces.com/) as a place to save and present materials, as well as exchange various experiments. Since September 2011, we have noticed  that many contents have been dealt with, such as My Body, My Family, My House, My Food, Living and Non-living Things, Water, Weather, My Neighbourhood, My Birthplace, Day and Night, etc.

Many aspects could be highlighted about the participants' work but we would especially like to mention the enthusiasm, the colour and the creativity transmitted by each and every one of the proposals carried out until now. We have also noticed that good coordination amongst partners was achieved by using a common task calendar, which allows all participating schools to reply to contents and experiments simultaneously. 

Many aspects could be highlighted about the participants' work but we would especially like to mention the enthusiasm, the colour and the creativity transmitted by each and every one of the proposals carried out until now. We have also noticed that good coordination amongst partners was achieved by using a common task calendar, which allows all participating schools to reply to contents and experiments simultaneously. 

It is incredibly invigorating and motivating to see how eTwinning can be integrated in school life and help achieve significant results at a very early age.