“GREEN BINGO” IN THE FOURTH ECO PATROL WORKSHOP.

The fourth workshop of Argonaut’s Eco Patrol, which is carried out as part of the project “Kornati – it’s important to know about the sea”, called Green Bingo, was held on March 16 in the premises of Vodice Elementary School with fifth and sixth grade students. In this workshop, the goal is to emphasize the independent work of each child and his connection with nature. By exploring nature through segments of green bingo, children will discover various natural materials, sounds and shapes that they may not have paid attention to until now. Through practical work, they will understand the theory, the connection between elements, processes and living beings, and in this way express their gratitude to nature.

In the first activity, “How many trees have you planted?”, the children had to imagine a number from 1 to 50, and then we added up all the imagined numbers and came to the number 236, which represented the number of trees in one forest. They concluded that this forest should have many plant and animal species that would represent an ecosystem. They linked the importance of forests to the production of oxygen and discovered that the imagined forest could annually supply twice as many people with oxygen as there are trees. They were disappointed by the data because they learned that such a large forest would still not be enough to supply their place with oxygen, and they understood the role, importance and value of forests. Through this activity, they acquired the ability to use simple calculation operations and developed a positive attitude towards environmental protection.

In the second activity, “Green Bingo”, the children received cards with a list of materials they should find in their surroundings. They found gravel, soil, something prickly, something decorative, small plants with roots, moss, twigs, stones, and during the search, some of the students took a break and tried to listen to the nature in which they were staying. After gathering everything they needed, they placed the materials in a jar and created their own ecosystem. As the jar quickly became dewy after closing, it was clear to them that their ecosystem had started to “work” – it had become self-sustaining. They linked the dew on the glass to condensation and photosynthesis and quickly linked the processes needed for the ecosystem to function without watering. Through this workshop, the students developed an interest in exploring nature, finding solutions and using various materials and objects for different purposes, they developed a positive attitude and empathy towards the natural environment.

In the activity called “Green Bingo in Application”, the children made a compass with the help of a jar, water, a symmetrical sheet and a magnetized needle. After making the compass, the children had to make models of insects with materials they find in nature. The goal of this activity was to learn how to make your own compass, to understand the concept of sustainability, to develop orientation, research and fine motor skills.

In the last activity, we evaluated everything we learned in the “Green Bingo” workshop. Most children think that they will plant as many trees as they imagined in their lifetime. Some even remembered last year’s planting of Patrolaš and hope to participate in more such activities. They think that it was fun for them to find the required materials in nature, and they say that they had no problems finding them. They couldn’t decide whether they found the compass-making workshop or the ecosystem workshop more interesting. Everyone made the ecosystem without help, but when making the compass, a few needed help, and it was interesting to watch how they helped each other. The children were very satisfied with the activity and consider this module one of the more interesting modules. They state that it is fun when they do some practical work that they can take home, and they would like more such workshops.

And how it was for us, look through the photos!

Follow us until the next workshop when we will carry out an afforestation campaign in our local community!

The project holder is the Association for the Protection of Nature and the Environment and the Promotion of Sustainable Development Argonaut, and the project partners are the Municipality of Murter-Kornati, JU NP Kornati, Kindergarten Spužvica Tisno, Center for Education Šubićevac, Aurora Association, Veterinary Faculty of the University of Zagreb and Elementary school Vodice.

The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Science and Education.