Then, they must act, “Think globally.Act locally.” In doing so, preparing students for global citizenship in an increasingly complex world.Īt the end of the first cycle of Awareness, Investigation and Action, students summarize their efforts and then start the cycle over again with Awareness. GAIA founders and mentors believe that if our students are to change the world, they must be aware of the natural world as well as about the people in it, and be involved in local environmental studies. GAIA Greece hosts a January symposium at The Attica Zoo near Athens and WBAIS Israel hosts a research symposium in Israel in March.
Presently, there are two GAIA Research Symposiums. This truly involves GAIA students as scientific researchers and policy developers. The GAIA project will adopt and endorse action plans that are considered most realistic, feasible, and practical. Action plans will identify potential solution(s) to local and global concerns and propose a time line for action. This forum allows groups to share and present their research findings, discuss new models and protocols, and prepare the next year’s continuation of research. GAIA also arranges an annual symposium providing a venue for students from enrolled schools to present their research.Įach year, GAIA groups both locally and internationally will meet for The GAIA Research Symposium. GAIA organizes inter-school research activities to give students the opportunity to work and learn with each other.
As students interact with local experts and GAIA scientists, they begin to construct action plans. GAIA experts provide students feedback and constructive criticism on their essential questions, monitoring techniques, data collection, analysis and interpretation. Once reviewed it is shared globally online. As data is collected, analyzed, and interpreted it is communicated locally to their school community. Background information includes the basic facts and history, current issues, relevant statistics and local / global impact of your problem or issue. As students become more familiar with the local environment-and the local resources available to them-they begin to ask questions and select one essential question to investigate further.Īfter students develop essential questions, they begin to collect background information for a better understanding of the problem. These experiences build student appreciation and greater understanding for environmental issues both locally and globally. GAIA raises student awareness through field trips to local nature reserves, wildlife habitats, and natural ecosystems as well as field experiences through workshops, collaborations with experts and consultants. GAIA projects have three stages: Awareness, Investigation, and Action. A typical research question will need 3-5 years of data collection and analysis before the team issues a final summary. Through scientific research, community engagement, and sharing collected data with their local and international network, they work towards developing and implementing a sustainable solution. Middle and high school students enrolled in GAIA from different schools and socio-economic backgrounds work collaboratively under mentors to identify a specific question about a topic of interest or concern in their local community. The GAIA Project is part of the Walworth Barbour American International School in Israel (WBAIS). The GAIA Project is an environmental research project created to raise student awareness about local environmental concerns and take an active community-based role working towards a resolution.
0 kommentar(er)
