Learning together and engaging students in finding solutions to future problems
The BLOOM pilot teachers share their experiences
Working on the BLOOM project is an interesting adventure for the four of us teachers from two countries: Sweden and Greece. First of all the word “bioeconomy” was not only hard to explain to our students, it was equally hard to understand for us teachers in the beginning.
When the BLOOM project was introduced to us, it sounded like a very interesting concept and we immediately liked the idea! We were introduced to the concept along with many different possibilities and ideas about how biobased products can be made and used in real life. We got curious and started looking for various ways to introduce it to our students. We started brainstorming to plan a lesson on the topic that we ourselves didn’t understand. But as they say, teamwork always brings out the best in you, soon there were only learners in the classrooms: both teachers and students were learning about new aspects of bioeconomy at the same time. So while going through environmental pollution problems with our students and looking for possible solutions with them, we accidentally understood the meaning together!
The learning scenario we developed during the project as part of the BLOOM Schoolbox, aims to connect everyday life examples to the topic at hand, then developing further into an entire project. First, students create a poster on bio-based products they found in the market. Then, they are involved in experimental laboratory work, where they conduct three experiments, collect data and make conclusions according to the instructions given in three worksheets.
BLOOM was a great way to engage students in science as they were offered the opportunity to link their classroom activities to real-life experiences! A student-centered approach was adopted, as our pupils were involved in designing their learning experience in collaboration with their peers through projects that allowed them to reflect and synthesize on what they have learned.
Furthermore, bringing real world problems – such as environmental issues – to classroom is really important! Each time students attempt to solve problems they come across in their daily lives, learning becomes meaningful! While implementing our learning scenario, students were also encouraged to publish their work through the creation of a YouTube video. After doing the planned lessons in our respective classes, we also asked our students about BLOOM’s impact on them. According to their feedback, BLOOM was inspiring, engaging, meaningful and…fun!
Preeti Gahlawat, Kiki Liadaki, Effie Papageorgiou and Eirini Siotou, BLOOM expert teachers
