8 DIMOTIKO SCHOLEIO NEAS SMYRNIS,

ATHENS, HELLAS

In the beginning of the project our students answered the common and the local questionnaire and we found
out that they are following an environmental lifestyle more or less. Then the students of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and
6th grades made the illustrations and looked for the texts for the 2011 environmental calendar. It contains
illustrations of the flora and fauna of Greece.

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Since we wanted to send some presents to our
Romanian friends, the 6th graders made bookmarks
with handicrafts of dolphins, the monk seal
Monachus monachus and the sea turtle Caretta
caretta which live in the Greek Seas. They also wrote
poems in English about them.

We took part in the logo competition and exhibited

our works of art in the entrance of our school for a
week.

We introduced the eco

patrol. Two students of the 6th grade, in a green T-
shirt with the project logo on the back, advise their
students every day during the first break to keep
In December our students donated books and toys the school premises clean.
they didn’t use to a children’s guest house in our area
in order to reduce. They also made Christmas cards
that were sent to all partner schools.

We created green corners in most of our classrooms

with pots of flowers and plants
as well as Comenius corners.

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In October we registered in the etwinning platform and in November we set up our school blog:
blogs.sch.gr/8dimnsmyrn/. The coordinator of the Greek school set up the first and the second issues of
the project e journal with the material provided by the coordinators of all partner schools.

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An Italian artist, father of a student in the 1st
grade, made the outlines of a fresco on a wall in the
entrance of our school. The students of the 6th
grade painted it and the teachers of the partner
schools also painted a small part of the fresco during
the meeting in Athens.

From February 19 to 26 we hosted the 2nd project

meeting. During the meeting we had teaching
sessions, planted a tree, painted part of a fresco,
presented a short play and dance with environmental
content and visited places of cultural interest, the
Acropolis and the new museum of the Acropolis.

Under the Headteacher’s guidance and in cooperation

with the Municipality the students of our school In March we wrote the tip of the month with advice
planted flowers and herbs in our small garden and about saving energy and participated in the “Hour of
they will have the task to water the plants and take the Earth” activity on March 26th by turning off the
care of them. lights in our houses for one hour.

Every day two students in every

class are in charge of turning off the classroom
lights during breaks or during the lessons when it is
sunny.

We also had chats with the Italian, Belgian, Danish

and Cypriot schools and made presentations to our
students about the partner schools after each
meeting.

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 MORE ACTIVITIES

1ST GRADE

November: A poster was put on a wall of the

classroom pointing to the recycling bin. All pupils
throw used paper in it.

December: The students always remember to switch off the lights during breaks and to water the flowers
they keep in pots in their classroom.

January: They worked on endangered species and

found out information about them. They also made a
collage with pictures and paintings.

February: Saving water month – They have learned

how to save water when they wash their hands and
teeth.

At the end of the school year the students of the 1st grade will act a short play based on their work for the
project.

2ND GRADE

The 2nd class is working on the olive tree. First the

students walked around the school and observed the
branches, leaves and the olive oils of the olive trees
that are growing there. They planted an olive tree in
a big pot and that tree was later planted by the
partner teachers in the small yard of our school
during the meeting in Athens.

The students drew olive trees, watched videos about

the cultivation of the tree and the production of
olive oil, read fairy tales and poems about it and
solved crosswords, puzzles, anecdotes, etc. They also
collected old recipes and sayings and they are
preparing small bottles with olive oil scented with
herbs.

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 3RD GRADE

The students are working on the forest. They have

read books about the trees growing in Greek forests
and the animals that live in them. They made
paintings and during the project meeting in our
school they acted out a play about “The emerald
forest” which was in danger and all trees and
creatures that lived in it saved it from being burnt
down.

They made puppets and played a short play about

recycling. They are now preparing an activity n which
they will “interview” various trees.

They also visited with the 5th grade the Botanical

Gardens and the Environmental Education Centre of
our area.

4TH GRADE

Litter and recycling They solved crosswords and answered Right/ False
questions. They made posters, coasters using old,
First the students read a fairy tale about a
useless CDs, glue and paper cut from magazines and
mysterious man whose trees grew very big because
leaflets. They also made pencil cases using glass jars,
he fertilized them with compost made by him. Then
paper napkins and glue.
they watched videos about litter and recycling, read
brochures and newspaper and were shown how to
separate litter for recycling. After that they
recycled their own litter in the recycling bin which is
just outside our school.

In the Environmental Studies subject they made

artworks showing what they would like the world

They also made comics with the title: “Clean city

calling!”. They also wrote the texts and made the
illustrations for the “ECO BOARD GAME”.

For the end of the project they will make leaflets

about recycling and other environmentally friendly they live in to be like.

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behaviours and will hand them out on June 5 to They will also try to make a cartoon video with
customers of a supermarket situated nearby our characters made out of plasticine.
school.

5TH GRADE

The students collected information from the
internet as well as newspapers and magazines about
the various types of forests and their flora and
fauna, the dangers Greek forests face, discussed
about them and made a poster using various
materials, paper, buttons, feathers etc.
They also visited with the 3rd grade the Botanical
Gardens and the Environmental Education Centre of
our area. In the first visit, they saw a lot of trees
and plants and were informed about their cultivation.

During their visit in the Environmental Education

During the project meeting they danced a dance
about sea pollution, and sang the Cypriot Comenius
Centre they watched videos about forests and the
ways to protect them and then they walked on the
mountain of Ymitos and were informed about the
plants and trees that grow there.

project song.

Finally, they made some research about endangered species in Greek forests and they are going to
prepare a power point with information about them as well as a board game.

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 6TH GRADE

The students of the 6th class collected information from the internet as well as newspapers and magazines
about sea pollution, discussed about it and made posters.

Then they visited the port of Pireas and saw pictures of it, past & present, observed in the microscope small
creatures that live in the Greek seas and then walked around the port. They calculated the pollution of the
air, which is due to the ships coming into and leaving the port, as well as the noise pollution. Finally, they
discussed about the consequences the works that take place on the ships cause to the sea.

During the welcome event in the project meeting in Athens, they sang the Belgian project song. They also wrote
“Recycling stories”, prepared games, puzzles, crosswords and found information about endangered sea
animals that live in Greece. Finally, in May they are going to clean the beach nearby our town.

blogs.sch.gr/8dimnsmyrn/

by Stavroula Makaronopoulou