PRE-ACTIVITIES- TEACHING POINTS

(the subject matters of the lesson)

1. • Topics(quality of atmospheric air)
2. • Method;
3. • Biological indicators and their characteristics;
4. • Instruments for the study on field.

ACTIVITIES, SUBJECTS AND TEACHING PROCESS

Excursions in the area for:

• technical - perceptive analysis;
• observation/bearing of indicator species.

Development of a learning process based on:

• the student’s central role in the discovery and redefinition of the environmental examination through
• observation and experimentation of geophysical aspects, ecological niches and spatial and chronological sequences of living beings belonging to the same ecosystem.
• Verification and observation of the anatomical and functional characteristics of living beings and of evolutionary and adaptive innovations.
• Verification and transposition of results on thematic maps (Environmental quality papers).

PLACE

TIME: 10 hours

EDUCATORS: Fabrizio Chiavaroli environmental centre “ Il Grande Faggio”

AIMS

• environmental conservation and sustainable development;
• development of a complex approach to the problem of environment and landscape protection; through the enhancement of biodiversity and "sustainable" human activities;
• neuro-physical and intellectual development of the participants.
• identification of physical dynamism (observation);
• selection of those considered significant (analysis);
• re-elaboration and coherent reconstruction of a system of relations between the observed elements (synthesis);

contribute to stimulate use of faculties and abilities that accustom them to look around, to see things inside and beyond the single appearances.

In this process, the knowledge deriving from the direct contact with "the places", "the phenomena", "the situations", is not based on a cold transmission of new pieces of information or definitive contents, but in the learning of a deeper and different method of approach to reality and problems .

• The importance of the "discovery";
• the total involvement of the personality;
• the passage from the personal perceptive-sensorial approach (exploration and selection of the elements considered significant) to the objective interpersonal one (systematic reading);
• will enrich the perceptive capacity of the student and, above all,
• will foster the development of new skills and knowledge.
• Creativity in the research and use of resources for the identification of original solutions,
• skills regarding the ability to face a problem and evaluate possible solutions (problem-solving), communication skills and "negotiation",
• will constitute the keystones for:

enhancing one's own cognitive path,

synchronizing one's work with that of others

It is through this path/process that the pupils:

• verify to what extent the knowledge acquired from the texts and contexts of life or their expectations "correspond" to the actual reality of the environment explored and investigated, experiencing its multiplicity of relationships and complexity.
• "learn to learn", becoming protagonists of their own training path, developing the dynamic ability to reorganize knowledge through the acquisition of their own particular "point of view", supporting it in comparison, as well as modifying it through effective communication.

OBJECTIVES, ABILITIES, COMPETENCES - EXPECTED OUTCOMES

The project wants to promote an "ecological" approach to the environment, stimulating cooperative learning experiences aimed at acquiring linguistic, logical-mathematical, geographic, geological, biological, ecological (interconnection cause-effect) and citizenship (the modification behavior).

By the end of the lessons students will have:

• Learnt how to read the surrounding environment;
• Acquired a dynamic and overall vision of an ecosystem;
• Increased their awarness and understanding of the importance of the concept of evolution of forms and functions;
• Developed an understanding of how to apply a scientific method;
• Increased observation skills;
• Known how to recognize shapes, distinguish them, hypothesizing a functional meaning;
• Acquired a vision of complexity through the analysis of the elements of an ecosystem;
• Learnt to formulate opinions on the quality of the environment explored ;
• Learnt how to read and interpret analytical results graphs;
• Known how to read the symbologies and interpret the observed phenomena;
• Acquired the concept of chemical, physical, biological, anthropic environmental; components and the transformations deriving from their interaction;
• Known how to measure phenomena: unit of measurement, calculation, result, verification and evaluation;
• Known how to grasp the key points of a phenomenon;
• Known the difference between the types of environments (soils and atmosphere);
• Known how to position and use tools and measuring instruments;
• Known how to represent the phenomena resulting from the experiments;
• Developed an undertanding of the use of tools in preparation of the laboratory;
• Used tools during the demonstration phase of the laboratory;
• Used devices in the check and control phases.

METHODOLOGY

The four poles of the method

Theoretical frame

• The know-how is learned more by doing and less by just studying it and , even less , by explaining it with words.

Place of intelligence at work

• Know-how is not a theoretical knowledge ….but a global mind knowledge

Community of learners as a moment for

• beeing with others;
• using different types of communication;

Context that helps "educational resilience"

• Recognizes pupils diversity;
• Makes learning easier;
• improves self-empowerment;
• encourages initiative, autonomy, cooperation;
• Facilitates communication, critical and constructive discussion.

INSTRUMENTS

The proposals include the use of the experimental scientific method, with the aid of technical-scientific instruments, specific cards, maps, multimedia animations.

VERIFICATION OF EXPECTED RESULTS

Experimental verification of the hypothesis

FINAL PRODUCTS AND DOCUMENTS

Thematic maps, artifacts, as well as multimedia and photographic documentation.