Science Across the World and the new Comenius project 'All under one sky'

Participants
Teachers and students of the five participating schools in the Comenius project 'All under one sky' met again for an international astronomy project meeting from December 15-18, 2005 at SG Marianum in Groenlo. the Netherlands. The group started with a successful preparatory meeting in Ankara, Turkey in December 2004 This time Frans Carelsen and Louis Vermeulen did a great job organising the meeting for

• * Hüray Atak (project coordinator) and two students, Ankara University Development Foundation High School, Ankara, Turkey;
• * Jacquie Ashton, Mark Churchward and three students, Penrice Community College, St Austell, Cornwall, United Kingdom;
• * Claire O'Grady, Kelly Reeves, Steve Young and four students, Saltus Grammar School, Hamilton, Bermuda;
• * Xavier Juan, Marta Pardell and four students, IES Sant Quirze, Sant Quirze (near Barcelona), Spain.

The picture shows all participating students.

Many languages
The teachers stayed in the local hotel, while the majority of the students was hosted by students of Marianum and their families. This was a real nice way to get to know each other intensely and to learn about each others cultures. Many languages were spoken such as English, Spanish, Turkish and Dutch, so everybody picked up some new language skills. All teams presented their work over the last year in English. Well done Spanish, Turkish and Dutch students!
The weather gods offered us a real treat: snow. Cycling to school in the snow was something special!

Telescopes and a planet play While the teachers worked on the joint programme for the next project year the students built their own telescope. During this particular workshop, they learnt some of the advanced physics involved in the production process of creating optical instruments.
On the last day all students created a play about all planets. They researched the internet for information, wrote the play and designed costumes and the staging. After a dress rehearsal a real audience was allowed to watch their results!

Science Across the World, time in between project meetings
Back home it is sometimes difficult to work on the project together. This group specialises to find activities, that create dependency on each others results and data and mutual activities. Examples are

• logo competition. All schools took part, the winner was Chris R.L. Mahoney of Saltus, Bermuda;
• calculation of the earth's radius, because they need each other's data;
• producing a calendar for 2007.

These activities may result in a new topic 'All under one sky' for Science Across the World!

April 2006

Text:      Lida Schoen, Frans Carelsen
Photos:  Xavier Juan, Lida Schoen