Birds without Borders Erasmus Project

Project Title

Birds without Borders

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Natural sciences; Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills

Project Summary

Networking has become a substitute of real life for teens, and youngsters are often insensitive to environment. Moreover, doctors warn of the sedentary life of youngsters , so the project motivated participants to be more physically active by walking longer distances to observe birds, by participating in orientation games. Many students involved in the Project come from humble backgrounds, with low motivation for learning and deprived of international cultural experience. 2015 Pisa results revealed that science, maths and reading skills of 14-15 year olds in most partnership countries were lower than average, so these basic competences as well as language skills should get immediate attention from project educators. Therefore, the Project “Birds Without Borders” involving Lithuania, Romania,Turkey, Portugal, Slovenia engaged learners with STEAM lessons by sharing best educational practices and developing them further. The Project embraced a variety of activities under the common topic of birds, such as CLIL lessons, debates and discussions on environment, volunteering in pet shelters, observation of birds and field research at ornithological stations, carrying out campaigns to make bird-feeders and bird-houses, initiating clean ups. Students updated knowledge of birds by reading articles, creating materials with photos of birds of their local area.
Local observation of birds was complemented by bird watching during foreign exchanges. Partners took the guests the most amazing places to spot birds with ornithologists to bring the best experience. For example, in Lithuania participants visited bird ringing station at Ventes Ragas and saw off birds in autumn, in Portugal they visited a birds sanctuary with many rescued storks, a “hotel” for birds, where birds find peace in winter on the other side of river Douro in the city of Porto. Participants welcomed storks in Romanian villages, visited a special sanctuary for storks in Sen Semion, spotted some predatory bird species in Transylvanian mountains when visiting Cheile Bicazului. Our bird lovers also observed birds in nature parks in Slovenia in Skocjan regional park when following a nature trail , also they did bird ringing in Bafra Kızılırmak Deltası in Turkey. To extend knowledge on different bird species, visiting zoos was our must-see in all countries. Students carried put campaigns to save storks and raised awareness to protection of birds in their countries.
Project activities helped develop the 21 century skills, such as Critical Thinking, Creativity, Citizenship, Collaboration. Students learnt about their local birds and presented them to partners. Bird observations were carried out outside and online. Students made bird feeders and birdhouses and fed birds. Project game „Birds GO” encouraged students to go outside, take photos of birds, identify them. Students wrote stories about birds to reveal different environmental problems, and a performance was staged by international mixed teams of “actors” and recorded during each foreign exchange. To illustrate these stories, students made drawings for digital books ” Birds’ Tales”. Recordings were also included into the digital books. CLIL lessons were developed in cooperation by project teachers, which inspired students’ interest in STEAM subjects. In physics students discovered aerodynamics rules, made “bird” rockets and tested them. In chemistry participants made bio plastic. Students traced routes of migratory birds during geography lessons. In maths lessons they calculated ratios related to storks in Romania. In museums students looked for birds that “witnessed” historical events. Debates on environmental issues made students think outside the box, they came up with ways to solve these problems by starting from themselves – students made a Memorandum of a Greeern Citizen during the last LTTA . Consequently, we created CLIL Lesson Plans, Debates Brochure, 5 Local Bird Posters and Birds Leaflets with typical local birds of each project country, Leaflets with Proverbs in 5 languages with important dates related to birds, Birds Photo Album with the best participants’ photos. This Partnership also created a project website, bird observation form. Within the project numerous drawing and photo contests were organized to help students best reveal their talents.
As a result, students became more responsible citizens, more empathic, intellectual people. On top of that, invaluable cultural experiences was shared by collaborating on etwinning platform, by participating in foreign exchanges, by hosting foreign participants. Finally, a range of academic knowledge and competences as well as crucial life-long values were acquired by Project participants in an engaging way. The Project in total will involve at least 500 participants to different project activities and 1500 observers.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 150645 Eur

Project Coordinator

Vilniaus r. Nemencines Konstanto Parcevskio gimnazija & Country: LT

Project Partners

• OSNOVNA SOLA IVANA BABICA JAGRA MAREZIGE
• Tekkeköy Imam Hatip Ortaokulu
• Agrupamento de Escolas de Rio Tinto
• Liceul Teoretic Sfantu Nicolae