After a varied weekend filled with excursions to the immediate and wider surroundings of Banská Bystrica, delicious culinary experiences, and plenty of quality time spent with partner families, students and teachers from the three partner schools gathered in the auditorium of Moskovská 2 Elementary School in Banská Bystrica, where, following an official welcome by school representative Katarína Riečanová, everyone could get started on their project work. A varied program awaited the students, which began with a tour of the partner school led by Slovak students. They took their classmates from Augsburg and Valmorea to various classrooms, including specialized ones, as well as laboratories, the school’s training kitchen, technical workshops, gyms, and the fitness room, and tried to introduce them to some of the activities that are part of the curriculum. Some classmates were drawn to interactive whiteboards in the classrooms, while others were intrigued by the relaxation area in the library. As they put it themselves: “The school was very modern and well organized; the teachers explained many interesting things to us. I really enjoyed the visit because I learned a lot about their school system and the different activities students can do there.”
Exploring Island Nations and the Impact of Rising Sea Levels
As part of a classroom activity, students were divided into eight groups, each assigned a different island nation. The goal was to research and gather basic information about their assigned island, answering a set of guided questions. After completing their research, each group presented their findings to the class.
The “Rising Tides Game”
Following the presentations, the class participated in this interactive game. The purpose of this activity was to simulate the real-world effects of rising sea levels on island nations. Each group stood on a piece of paper, which represented their island. As music played, the students had to remain on their “island.” When the music stopped, the paper was folded in half, symbolizing the rising sea levels and the shrinking land area. The challenge was to stay on the island as it became smaller. Some students climbed onto each other to avoid “falling into the water,” highlighting the importance of teamwork and cooperation in the face of environmental challenges. This game helped students visualize the real-world impact of rising sea levels, particularly for low-lying island nations.
Lecture by Mr. Kanka
After a short break the school could once again welcome Mr. Robert Kanka, Ph.D., Head of Department of Ecological Analyses, from the Institute of Landscape Ecology SAS who held a lecture about how vegetation in the Alps changes because of the climate change. Here you can find more details about the lecture and what the students have learned.
Biodiversity Game
After the lecture, the students were invited to take part in an investigation game called species biodiversity investigation. In international groups, they had to take on the role of biodiversity detectives and learn, how human activities, such as deforestation, pollution, urbanization, and the introduction of alien species, cause significant harm to biodiversity by disrupting habitats and ecosystems and causing the warming of global climate.
Official Reception
Another official point: After lunch in the school cafeteria, the students took a walk to the town hall, where they met the vice mayor of Banská Bystrica, Mr. Majling. In his speech, he referred to a letter from students from the previous year, in which they highlighted certain problems in the city from their perspective and attempted to outline solutions. He shared his opinion about climate change, and how it affects the city. He talked about problems in Banská Bystrica and their solutions, like less precipitations which has resulted insevere drought in the city. He also told the students about his upcoming solutions to help the city be more eco-friendly, like building a water retention system. Or creating green spaces in different parts of the city, supporting public transport. He also stated that there is an ongoing project to help the public transport work more smoothly and effectively.
The last important part of Monday’s activities was our students engaging in a survey that took place in Banská Bystrica’s main square. They collected opinions on climate changes in Slovakia from strangers with wide age range, asking questions about the changes they noticed compared to many years ago, the way they help us slow down the global warming and why do they think it’s important to act now because of the future’s consequences. Afterwards, the collected opinions were analyzed and compared to the stats of the part of survey that took place in Germany.
