Care: The students wondered about the origin but also the future of the pink sand on the famous and highly touristic beaches of western Crete. A real problem that concerns the local community for reasons both ecological and mainly economic. The question that caught the students’ interest was “what is pink sand and how long will it continue to exist?” They were asked to discuss this question in the form of a questionnaire with their relatives and record their answers. These answers, which highlighted the essential ignorance of the local community about the “pink sand” phenomenon, were investigated in the laboratory and thoroughly discussed in the following months. The students who participated in the activities were students of 1st and 3th grade of High School and mainly of two specific classes of A1 and C1, where I was supporting teacher. The main research core consisted of two mixed age groups with a total of 17 students. Many more students from other departments also participated in the various activities, excursions, briefings and visits, fulfilling to a large extent my expectation to be informed, through participation and to stimulate curiosity about the program, of almost the entire school.

Know: The students used knowledge about single-celled organisms, food webs, the systematic classification of organisms into categories based on how they feed and how they use energy, fossils, marine biodiversity, ecology, human intervention, pollution and contamination, microplastics , mainly knowledge from the field of biology but also physics and chemistry (eg elementary nomenclature of chemical elements).

The skills the students acquired through continuous practice were using a stereoscope and microscope, using laboratory forceps, precision weighing, observing and creating data for analysis, discussing claims and evidence, collaborating both with each other and with research agencies i.e. teamwork. They understood how important the scheduling is in a research process and in general. How conclusions are made and how they are presented to the general public. They experienced media and conference presence and practiced what is called “communicative courage”. Although the skills listed below, are not skills in the strict sense of the term, I believe that self-discipline and self-confidence were successfully practiced especially in the students who “carried the burden” of publicizing our research.

Do: At the end, the students prepared a powerpoint presentation of our research, took micro-photographs and sent material (sand) to Germany where the foraminifera species were identified and entered on the website foraminifera.eu. They completed the activities working as a team under my guidance. Our research work was presented at the student conference organized by the Regional Directorate of Education of Crete and the CONNECT program, while we also presented the topic on a local TV Station. Conclusions on Open Schooling: The activity was not integrated into the timetable or the curriculum exactly. However, it accompanied, and through the research he gave meaning and explained basic material of high school biology, mainly about cells, food webs, the systematic classification of organisms into basic categories based on how they feed and how they utilize energy, fossils, marine biodiversity, ecology, pollution and contamination etc. Apart from these, through the sensitive microscopic organisms we were studying, we dealt with and discussed issues such as climate change and the way it can affect them as well as more generally human intervention and activities such as tourism, while they were given the opportunity to come into contact in practice in terms and concepts such as microenvironment, pseudopods, plasma membrane, indicator organisms, etc.

But, because our work was essentially primary research, the students came into contact with the process of producing new knowledge. They saw the exciting, gratifying and sometimes painful aspects of the research process. The complexity of biological issues and the multitude of factors that need investigation. In other words, they understood experientially the importance of asking questions, organizing them and studying them. They also understood that this is a team effort and that collaboration with other scientists and agencies is absolutely essential. They understood that not everything has been discovered and that not all the answers are in a mobile phone… They saw that scientists do not know everything, that they disagree
and make mistakes (eg at first we thought that the pink grains are broken corals, then there was a disagreement about the how deep the particular foraminifers live). They got a first idea of how important different views and approaches are in science and saw that there are no absolute truths and that biology is full of “exceptions”. They learned the importance of questioning and practiced deductive thinking.

For all the above reasons, I believe that the program was a challenge since it was largely about research in “deep unknown waters”, it was innovative and of course many times useful, mainly because it was understood that science is not something distant but something everyday that deals with ” our own questions” and that we can “use it too”, while also due to the pleasant way in which it was carried out it contributed to the creation of a positive attitude of children towards science and especially biology.

Experiential open schooling education is more than important to escape from the “museum” perception and practice of “transferring” knowledge provided by the Greek school. A common “argument” of the children is “and where will I need all this?”. The teaching material is far removed from the daily life of the students, or at least it seems so since the connection with the daily life is not made and the provided knowledge is not used to solve questions, searches and problems that children have. Practical – experiential and seemingly non-material activities, at least for the field of natural sciences, I think are not only useful but necessary especially at these ages when children should have the opportunity to show off their inclinations, preferences and “talent” and acquire a positive attitude towards science.

For some teachers, these practices may be a problem because they are out of the ordinary and need to be informed and above all to act outside the context in which they have learned. In other words, it needs work. But they ignore the “rejuvenating” effect that these practices have both on the way we as teachers perceive our work and on the relationships with students and parents, which are significantly upgraded. When children get excited about something, they talk about it at home and parents realize if the child goes to school happily.

The change/innovation was supported by:

[ x ] School management [ x ] school association/network
[ x ] Local government [x ] Other: Parents

Student results: The core of students that finally formed after 2-3 weeks were very cooperative, consistent and hardworking. Participation was high from the beginning with few drop-outs, mainly due to other activities at the same time or the bus schedule (many children in our school came from distant villages), but also with new entries “on the way”. And the fact that our meetings were held every Friday, that is, on the last day of the week, after the end of the program clock, and they participated for an hour or two more
shows, that their process was pleasant. Several even came from villages relatively far away and were awake very early in order to come to school.

In the 3 educational trips we carried out (KPE Vammos, Elafonissi and MAICH) many more students participated, so that the cost of transportation could be covered but also because I wanted an expanded participation in general so that our research could be embraced by the whole school. We always combined research with free time and sports, especially at the MAICH where we carried out an important part of our research, since the professional micro-photographs took place there, while overall its facilities were offered for many parallel activities. The goal was of course to make the whole process as pleasant as possible.

I consider this goal to have been achieved. To quote the words of a student: “I hated biology, I was thinking of becoming a philologist, but now I’m thinking of becoming a biologist” or, others, “this is how school should be”, “scientists have a good time”, etc.

In terms of learning outcomes, starting with the simplest ones, eg converting lt to ml, gr to mgr for the needs of weighing. The clarification of the difference in volume and mass, up to specialized knowledge about marine biology, such as:

• what are foraminifera; they are not shells and which creatures we call shells,
• what is meant by a decomposer, an autotrophic and a heterotrophic organism,
• what is the life cycle, and other questions that are difficult to determine since the questions and discussion often arose spontaneously.

This practice contributed to the increase of:
[ x ] engaging families with sciences [ x ] involving girls in science [ x ] raising awareness among students about careers in the natural sciences

1. The subject of pink sand is something that concerns the daily life of the residents of the area, so there was a relative curiosity from the start anyway. Initially, the opinion of the parents was asked to be recorded, and not only, regarding “what is the reason”, “if there is a decrease in the phenomenon”, “if you think it is in danger of disappearing”. Then some parents who deal with the sea gave us important information and also brought samples very important for our search about where they live (depth distance from the shore) and in what form they are first washed up as pink grains of “sand”. There have been parents who have expressed to me their personal interest and their desire to help in whatever is needed. Also, no one raised an issue or refused to pay when needed for our travel on educational trips. All this shows that the program was accepted and therefore, even just by talking with their children, some parents more or less engaged in science through it.
2. The girls in our school, and in general I believe, have a better presence in the classroom and in the lessons than the boys, at least on average. Nevertheless, there are stereotypes and prejudices against science and mathematics. Many girls have the opinion that they don’t understand maths, physics or chemistry. The subject of biology, at least in our school, was not very popular. However, slightly more girls than boys participated in the program. Most of the students were hardworking and responsible, participating and asking questions. In my opinion, on the contrary to what they wanted to believe, some of them are, “born researchers”. They were oblivious to the microscope, while being particularly skilled with the tools and inventive in the way they carried out the activities. Through the program inclinations were encouraged and revealed. One student revealed that she liked to observe and photograph spiders, but had never shared it with her friends since “spider observation” is not considered a “female activity”. Along with the foraminifera, we also worked on and identified the student’s spiders, something that the others eventually found interesting as well. The girls enjoyed working with the laboratory and microscopes as well as tinkering with the tweezers. The visit to the Mediterranean Agricultural Institute of Chania (MAICH) where all the research staff we met were female biologists and agronomists, I believe contributed to breaking the convenient stereotypes of female students. However, if I judge from their reaction, the publicity of our research in the media and at the conference
   played a role. Apart from the fact that they want to make their own people happy, girls at this age are very involved with celebrities, social networks and want to project themselves in a corresponding way. They like to have an audience. It is characteristic that both in the presentation at the conference and in our presence on Crete TV, no boy wanted to appear in any way, while most of the girls, on the contrary, wanted to and showed remarkable seriousness and discipline throughout the preparation of the presentation. Our 16-minute appearance in a midday light show of general interest on Crete TV, with TV presenters from the modeling field, was important, I believe, in showing some girls that science and these areas are not completely incompatible after all. How the “beautiful” appreciate and admire science and there is general acceptance and appeal. That various avenues open up through research, which may include publicity. Likewise with the conference, although online, the fact that they will be seen by students from many parts of Greece appealed to the girls, especially since they were convinced of the importance of our work. In conclusion, I believe that the area in which the program was most successful was in relation to girls and their engagement in science.
3. The reasons I mentioned above also apply to boys. Therefore, as a whole, through a research process, the students came into contact with the real tangible world of natural sciences, which is admittedly if not always exciting, certainly interesting. In summary, I will dare to “predict”, although this also depends on their teachers in the years to come, that this High School will produce natural scientists…

Care: The students studied a real problem concerning the reintroduction of the lynx that has disappeared from the Greek area. The students who participated in the activities were 12, aged 17, from the 3rd grade of EPAL.

Know: Students used knowledge of food chains and food webs. Students practiced being able to describe the effects of ecological restoration on an ecosystem. They also learned to weigh evidence to support or refute a claim.

Do: At the end, the students, with the help of the teacher, prepared a map using the ArcGIS program showing the lynx population by country, as well as the project poster. They completed the activities as a group, supported by their families.

Conclusions on Open Schooling: The activity was integrated into the curriculum. It was innovative because the general knowledge they had about food chains was applied to a real problem. Open schooling can be useful for other teachers because it helps students learn experientially and develop metacognitive skills..

The change/innovation was supported by:

[ x ] School management [] school association/network [] Local government [ x ] Other: Regional Directorate of Education, Natural Hostory Museum

Student results: The students were happy with the app as they were able to apply their knowledge to solve a real problem. As an example, one student mentioned “it’s nice to learn in a different way what we do in class”.

This practice contributed to the increase of:
[ x ] engaging families with sciences [ x ] involving girls in science [ x ] raising awareness among students about careers in the natural sciences

Please specify: Student participation was universal regardless of gender, performance, presence or absence of learning disabilities.

Care: The students were interested in a real problem, which is how elephants lose their tusks and cannot attack or defend themselves in the environment they live in. This problem was said among others and the students voted it as the most interesting for further study and research. Twenty-two students participated in the activities. The students were 13-14 years old and attend 2nd grade of High School.

Know: The students used knowledge of Biology and in particular topics of natural selection and evolution. The skills students practiced were collaboration and communication, critical thinking, question processing, discussion, digital literacy, creativity and reasoning.

Do: At the end, the students prepared a game, presentations, interviews, interactive map, experiments and a storymap. They completed the activities as a group or individually, supported by their families. Conclusions on Open Schooling: The activity was integrated into the curriculum. The activity was innovative because for the first time the students were asked what problems they had heard or experienced and really wanted to deal with. For this reason, the students discussed in plenary after they had also discussed with their families and voted for what they considered the most interesting topic. Open schooling can be useful but also challenging for teachers and teachers because they are usually involved in problems outside the standard curriculum such as climate change etc.

The change/innovation was supported by:

[ x ] School management [ x ] school association/network [] Local government [ ] Other: ________________________________

Student results: The students were participative, interested from the beginning to the end of the project. They got in touch with their parents and relatives to ask them questions and get interviews. They worked as a team and through communication they achieved tangible results. They played a game that they created themselves and that was related to the topic of the project. They made presentations on various related topics. A group of students presented the work of all the students at a student conference organized by the Regional Directorate of Crete.

This practice contributed to the increase of:
[ x ] engaging families with sciences [] involving girls in science [ x ] raising awareness among students about careers in the natural sciences

Please specify: A seemingly “innocent” and “irrelevant” observation a student had about a population of elephants raised many questions for the students to investigate and discuss with the appropriate scientists. The families were interviewed at the beginning of the project but also during it in order to give their own opinions and some due to profession were interviewed through an interview by the students themselves. Students became aware of the environment and climate change.

Care: The students dealt with the issue of the integration of RES in the landscape, a real problem that occupied the students of Tinos in view of the massive installation of wind turbines in the landscape of Tinos. The students who participated in the activities were twenty-eight (28), 14-year-old students of the 2nd Class of the High School.

Know: The students used knowledge about the role and importance of RES considering their rational integration in landscapes and ecosystems, considering their functions and value.

The skills the students practiced were:

• question processing,
• data analysis,
• discussion of claims and evidence,
• drawing or drawing conclusions,
• familiarity with the ways and stages of conducting a research,
• familiarity with techniques for searching, evaluating and presenting information through a variety of sources,
• development of collaboration, creative expression and presentation skills.

Do: At the end, students put their knowledge into practice by doing field research. A 2-day Educational Visit was made to the landscape of the paths of Andros (in collaboration with KPE Korthiou). The program of the visit included group work in and outside the field, namely: Practical-Experiential Part: hiking, information, observation, photography, exploration and activities, landscape experience with all the senses.

In detail, the practical-experiential part contained:

• Observation and recording of field characteristics
• Familiarity with the space through all the senses
• Perception of space through various games
• Identification of species of flora (mainly) and fauna
• Map reading
• Completing worksheets
• Presentation of the habitats of Andros and the most important historical stations
• Discussion about the needs of the people who created the landscape of Andros.

Creative Part: recording of valuable elements and problems of the landscape and ecosystem, discussion related to threats and proposals for better management. The result was a group presentation of the results of all work groups through a powerpoint work, which was presented by student representatives at an event organized by the High School of Tinos at the Spiritual Center of the Holy Foundation of Evangelistria on Thursday 25 May 2022 at 19.00, in which they took part and their parents/guardians. The presentation emerged from the discussions with the scientists in the context of the “learn” section and from the practical-experiential part of the training which included filling in worksheets (of the KPE), individual notes and group discussions.

The parents/guardians of the students who participated in the CONNECT program were informed about its content both in person (those who visited the school) and electronically with frequent messages describing the activities. This ensured as active an involvement as possible them in the whole project (a fact that helped to cultivate the scientific capital). The results of their program were presented extensively at a live event organized by the school.

Conclusions on Open Schooling: The action was not embedded in the curriculum, but indirectly related to it. It was useful and innovative as it related to the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes (as discussed below). Open schooling can also be useful for other teachers because it can combine knowledge and apply it in the field (eg identifying and valuing natural and cultural wealth of an area)..

The change/innovation was supported by:

[ x ] School management [ ] school association/network [ ] Local government [ ] Other: ________________________________

Student results: The students showed interest in the thematic subjects of the program, submitted questions and participated in discussions. They took into account what the scientists conveyed to them and a relationship of trust was cultivated. This was reflected in the results of the action. Notably, there were also examples of relatively weak students showing great interest in the collaborative method and field research and taking initiatives. They responded with particular enthusiasm to the educational visit (outside the island), which was an important motivation for their activation at all levels of thinking and action.

This practice contributed to the increase of:

[ ] engaging families with sciences [ x ] involving girls in science [ x ] raising awareness among students about careers in the natural sciences

Please specify: Parents participated in the collection of questionnaires for the student survey. The girls actively participated in the mapping and literature review and in general all students showed a special interest in digital maps and the contribution of geomorphological terrain to road construction.

CARE: A list of questions was sent to the scientist and through his presentation on the Webex Meet platform where answered.

KNOW: The school curriculum was satisfactorily connected with the chosen topic to work with. The greenhouse effect is integrated in their curriculum and was highly connected with the global warming issue. Discussion supported by participatory science has led to greater awareness of global warming and chemical pollution and provoked actions to confront and eventually solve these issues. It also changed the up to that point indifferent attitude of some of the pupils towards scientific methodology and science in general, to clear interest and positive attitude to science.

DO: Since we used an open scenario approach the students either found themselves sources or used some, we offered them. In this context they developed videos, presentations, and a game.

FINDINGS: This initiative had the consent of the parents and opened opportunities for dialogue with the family, pupils and teachers. After the appropriate modifications was integrated in the curriculum making the scientific approach a handy tool for the pupils to understand scientific methodology and to a certain degree apply it.

RESULTS FOR STUDENTS: The students who participated seem now more confident with science, they really enjoy science lessons and they have increased interest in scientific approach and problems.

1)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGXgNx3U9gM

2)https://pantou.sites.sch.gr/connect/%CE%A1%CF%8D%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%B9%20%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85%20%CE%B5%CE%B4%CE%AC%CF%86%CE%BF%CF%85%CF%82.pdf

3)https://pantou.sites.sch.gr/connect/%CE%A1%CF%8D%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%B9%20%CF%83%CF%84%CE%BF%20%CE%88%CE%B4%CE%B1%CF%86%CE%BF%CF%82-1.pdf

4)https://pantou.sites.sch.gr/connect/%CE%98%CE%AD%CF%81%CE%BC%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%83%CE%B7%20%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9%20%CF%87%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%AE%20%CF%81%CF%8D%CF%80%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%83%CE%B7%20on%20Scratch.html

CARE: Students discussed with their parents in the “Care” phase about the pollution from the electric plants in Greece. In the first part of the “Know” phase students used a mobile application to compute their electric energy consumption where they were helped by their parents.

KNOW:  Students prepared the questions for the scientist in the padlet for the “know” phase.

The renewable energy resources scenario was performed as a continuity in the electric energy chapter of the Physics Greek curriculum. Students showed interest and wanted to learn what are the photovoltaic systems. They had some misunderstandings as concerns the wind generators but after finalization of the project they showed confidence in science.

DO: Students made a poster (“Do” phase) divided by smaller parts in which they show the environmental problems that arise from the conventional electric plants and what are the renewable energy resources. Also, they put in the poster two small photovoltaic panels that are connected through wires with a small fan.

Findings about open schooling: The benefits of these science actions are that students become more active, and they care about problems that exist, but they never think about them. Teacher’s role was to facilitate the process and to help the students. We faced some problems during the implementation as was for example the minor participation of parents.

Results for students: Connect gave us the opportunity to relate the curriculum with a real problem. Our students learned how is possible to be “connected” in the real problems.   Students like to work in teams and to learn about real problems concerning the environment. They also want to take actions and to give solutions, they want to be more active and not pathetic as they do unfortunately during school routine.