CARE: Students were not aware faecal transplant existed. This attracted their curiosity and interest with need to know more about the topic to make decisions.  Students were engaged with families and communities through newsletter and twitter

KNOW: This also developed their knowledge from GCSE Biology Organisation – Digestion Topic. The curriculum link was the role of bacteria in the digestive system. It also was designed to teach students how to be critical about the results from scientific studies.

All students were asked to review the reliability of sources and present a 5 min oral presentation on what they found out.

DO: Students worked together in groups of 3 to create a 5 min oral presentation giving their friend advise, with reasons for their opinion.

Findings: It fits in very well with AQA Biology Topic 2 Organisation – Digestion.

Outcomes: No problems apart from students’ confidence in presenting to the whole class.

Some suggestions for teachers are to give students information on how to plan a presentation, give them a template to complete.

Fifty students contributed to the open schooling research questionnaires. Most of them mentioned that they would like to do more activities like this one. Most students practiced  various skills including discussions and research. They liked to work in groups with friends, practical activities and doing research.

More details of our report: on this link.

CARE: students were very involved with the activity and I would have liked to have had more time.  It worked well for sowing the seeds of curiosity, they were very engaged

KNOW: The activity helped to increase their confidence in science; however the challenge was the  time limit. To help teaching the lesson can be delivered in 3-4 lessons and students can do task 1 of the DO stage at home.

DO: The activity asked students to:

Task 1: Calculate the efficiency of three different solar panels.

Task 2: Design a fundraising page for an energy-saving device

It was noticed the importance of having the required level of skill to adequately access the outcome task. Some suggestions for helping students are to:

Model how to calculate the efficiency of one solar panel, that they can do the others.

Make sure this Science Action is used after teaching about energy transfers and efficiency so students have required background knowledge.

Findings: The activity support students learning and it fit well with the curriculum. The topics related to the curriculum are energy transfers and wasted energy.

Outcomes: Meaningful discussions about Energy savers and research skills developed.

Teachers can further expand student outcomes by getting students to find out about real engineers who have designed energy saving devices. Students can also design their own devices.

Fifty students contributed to the open schooling research questionnaires. They mentioned that they would like to do more activities like this one. Most students practiced  various skills including discussions and asking questions. They liked to work in groups with friends, practical activities, doing experiments and becoming more confident.

More details of our report: on this link

CARE: students were very engaged with the activity,  Most were interested and involved to discuss the issue about the controversial use of faecal transplants. This activity was designed to attract students’ attention, curiosity and interest by using this new and unusual medical procedure.

KNOW: Some were able to critically evaluate the data e.g. if it was a double blind trial how did they get the figures. The link with the curriculum was the role of bacteria in the digestive system, a statement from the English KS3 National Curriculum.

DO: They learnt more about looking at the evidence/data/articles than the actual science behind poo transplants. Some did not like the idea and this affected their participation.

Some recommendations for teachers are to involve a scientist who works in the field of gut microbiome who can explain the importance of research into this area. Students could also find out about other medical procedures to treat obesity.

FINDINGS It filled the lesson, a little hard to follow at first and a lot of photocopying.

OUTCOMES: Didn’t fit into our scheme of learning so was done as a one off lesson.

Forty-five students contributed to the open schooling research questionnaires. They mentioned that they would like to do more activities like this one. Most students practiced various skills including discussions and developing a project. They liked to work in groups with friends, doing the practical activities and using the Bunsen burners.

More details of our report: on this link.

CARE: High engagement, students very interested in the topic and for many their first experience of learning about how science in the real world is tested. Students had the opportunity to make connections between science learned in the school to support in real-life decision making.

KNOW: Some great discussion about the validity of sources, students willing to argue for their opinions using evidence. Students use their knowledge of the digestive system, and the enquiry skill of judge quality of sources.

DO: Idea of valid evidence, placebos, range, sample size all beautifully covered in a way that made it much more impactful than a lab practical.

FINDINGS: Very little prior knowledge of how science works. Needed more than an hour. It fits in more with what we teach at ks4.

OUTCOMES: I don’t think they fit with the curriculum content that we teach, but it built on it beautifully and was much richer and extended and deepened thinking to make what we do teach more relevant.

Fifty- three students contributed to the open schooling research questionnaires. They mentioned that they would like to do more activities like this one. Most students practiced  various skills including discussions and developing a project. They liked to use the Bunsen Burner, performing the experiments and work in groups with friends.

More details of our report: on this link.

Care: The activities involved students. They were engaged with the content.  Some parents did not want to/appropriately take part however surprisingly a lot did. So students had the opportunity to engage with conversations about science – rewilding with their parents/carers, grandparents and siblings, including a vote system to collect opinions from different people about which animal should return to the environment.

Know: Students were able to understand the benefits and the risks when making a decision and using a theory. They analyse data that they investigated and discussed about the animals, and they increased their understanding about the how small chances (such as returning back to the environment) can create large implications (bring back the balance in the ecosystem to impact on biodiversity). They were able to improve their knowledge about ecosystems, food web and interdependence.

Do:  All student took place in a group that gave presentations and then the best of the classes presented in front of the whole year group a more in-depth presentation of their project. A scientist  from Chester Zoo evaluated the presentations and provided comments.

Findings:    The resources where very good for meeting needs; however some the images thrown together created a lot of amusement rather than being thought evoking.

Outcomes:   Some students were confident in making claims using evidence, but others need more support. The activity fitted well in the curriculum. There were various students who  struggled with the time aspect of the lessons as well as developing  the knowledge and preparing their communication to present within a single lesson.

Care: Students were involved in this activity. They were asked to show what they discussed with their family. It was possible to confirm Visible discussions seen with their family. However, there were 50% of the class who were not able to show that their families were involved. It was not possible to see any evidence of discussion for various reasons.

Know: Students interacted with a STEM professional from Colchester Zoo who supported the open schooling activity by judging the presentations

Students demonstrated their knowledge with Heated debates for how animals interact with the food web. Students got very involved in class discussions and debates throughout the 8 lessons.

Do:  Students presented their rewilding projects using data and facts. Scientists evaluated the presentations and provided their comments. We could not complete the lessons in 8 lessons due to lack of background knowledge and had to reinforce the basics (eg. food chains before food webs).
Therefore, we could not complete the beaver lesson due to time constraints on the SOW. However, students seemed to be okay with final presentations and were happy with research, analysis and presenting.

Findings:   This open schooling project worked very well. No issues with completing specific activities. All activities are easy to follow and carry out.

The biggest issue was how to differentiate effectively to the very low ability students. All other students had no issues with the knowledge they were acquiring. However, lowest ability students were not even able to grasp food chains and use the key words. Personally, I was able to differentiate for these pupils by providing alternative worksheets I had made.

Most resources met our needs.
However – not enough resources for low ability students. This is fine though as teachers can source these depending on the group.

Outcomes:  High degree of student involvement. The whole class really enjoyed it. Very engaging, promoted discussion and lots of questions. Great for motivation and exctement about science.

The final task of a Presentation would have taken several lessons to complete, which we didn’t have so instead they made a persuasive poster to display on the science noticeboard.

Students:

• Developed the skill of research, analysing data and presenting skills.
• Developed social skills with use of group work.
• Developed critical thinking skills from the evaluation and voting – including the skill of justification.

All students in class were motivated to complete work and engaged. No issue with motivation.

Care: Students were intrigued by the resources including the videos about the topic. They were very motivated to solve an issue about biodiversity affected by human actions and climate change. They discussed about which animal should return back to the UK natural habitats such as beavers, wolves, and lynxes to improve the ecosystem and the biodiversity using a voting system.

Know: Students learned about food web and ecosystems. They also researched about natural habitats for these animals. They practiced scientific thinking and data analysis skills including graphs in maths, data in science, geographic information and scientists’ articles on the web about animals’ habitat and behaviour.

Do: There were some very good class discussions generated by the resources, specifically on rewilding of beavers and wolves in this topic. Students were able to disagree and make salient points against each other without taking things personally or arguing. Families discussed the various options for rewilding. This was a successful homework. Students shared questions, created influential presentations using data and facts. Scientist judged the presentations of the best class groups and provided feedback.

Findings:   The open schooling activity was useful for students’ engagement and meaningful learning. The ideas of food webs, food chains etc. fit well within the y7 curriculum. Very few were outside the curriculum.

Outcomes: Some students understood the topic well already, but links to real world idea cemented the topic very securely.

For lower ability the evidence-based task was difficult to deliver to retain attention.

For higher ability (at our school) very well. For lower ability more differentiation and other ways of delivering are required.

CARE: A project plan was proposed by a school teacher for students to identify a local problem. A group of four students from 17 to 18 years – the third year of secondary school at the Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Sul, Osório Campus, Technical Course in Administration, found a piece of news in the newspaper about the construction of a bridge being a threat to the cooperative fishing community carried out by the porpoises (similar to dolphins).

The construction of the bridge in an inappropriate place is a threat to the porpoises, and may lead to their extinction.  The construction of the base of the bridge, that is, of the pillars to sustain it within the river, tends to lead to increased pollution and noise in the bar changing the natural habitat of marine animals.

The students were engaged and interested in researching and seeking socio-scientific solutions, including ways of raising awareness among the local population and tourists. The research began with the question of students seeking to find out if the construction of the new bridge would affect the natural and community habitat, as well as how this could occur.  In addition to the initial group composed of four students, the interaction of this discussion was shared with twelve other students of the class divided into three more groups. Thus, four main problems were identified: i) the threat of fishing cooperative; ii) sewage treatment in the city of Tramandaí, because the city does not have the entire sewage network, only in the center; iii) pollution in Lagoa do Marcelino; iv) disposal of plastic in the city of Osório.

Knowledge: Students used knowledge about ecology for environmental preservation in the locality where they live.  The skills that the students practiced were: elaborating scientific questions; researching scientific articles; interviewing scientists and public officials; examining the consequences of environmental impacts; estimating the risks of building the bridge for the region’s ecosystem; analyzing the percentage of the impacted population; estimating the pros and cons of building the bridge to justify their opinion; using ethics to reflect on the impact of the new bridge on the fishermen’s work; communicating their ideas from the creation of digital folders.

Do: In the end, students prepared digital information folders to be shared on social networks. They completed the activities by sharing a discussion on the topic and the results of the research in a large group. In addition, they also addressed scientific issues with their families and the local community to promote awareness and new knowledge.

Findings related to the Open Schooling approach: The activity was adapted to the curriculum and proved relevant, as it provided an opportunity for students to seek solutions to problems in their locality. In this practice, through scientific research, the students presented justifications to support their opinion and combat real problems.  Open schooling can be useful for other teachers through integrative and interdisciplinary projects, which can also seek the solution of local problems in search of sustainable development.

Student results: Students demonstrated great results in terms of their involvement, pleasure, and trust in science. As an example, one student mentioned “that he learned a lot about the region’s ecosystem and circular economy.”  Another student stressed “the importance of promoting sustainable development by supporting the local fishing community and ensuring the region’s fish with the protection of the river.”  In general, the importance of talking to families was highlighted in order to better understand the importance of sustainable fishing for the region.

Find out more here: Our report. 

 

“CARE”: Approximately 650 students from Early Years Education, Elementary School, and Low Primary Education engaged in investigating a theme of their interest: the animals. They were concerned about those animals they found in their city, and even in their backyard, which were injured or lost from their natural habitat. Their interests engaged them in several activities involving the project. Many of them were led by their natural curiosity expressed in various questions addressed to the science professionals, and also in the conversations with their teachers and family. They learned science through a real-life problem involving their families and experts.

“KNOW “: Students learned about animal types and classification, names, and differences, including behaviour, habits, environment and food. In addition, students not only developed skills such as asking questions, drawing, writing, reflecting on school assessment, communicating their conclusions, but also experienced discussions about the voting system and data analysis through mathematics.

“DO”: At the end, students created drawings, posters, campaigns and infographics with maths data, games, and interviews with printed and online resources. They developed the activities individually and collaboratively with experts, family, and community members. At the end, all students discussed about their views related to science in their lives and society with the self-assessment mobile application CONNECT-SCIENCE tool.

Findings related to the Open Schooling approach: The structured activity allowed a connection with the curriculum in an interdisciplinary way. Children developed knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values with activities in science, mathematics, geography, and Portuguese language communication. It was a useful, relevant, challenging, and innovative project as it involved many schools and teachers who supported the actions with great commitment. Open schooling can be useful and challenging at the same time as it requires planning actions within and beyond the school space. That is why it is critical for teachers to have opportunities to receive mentorship and training with access to easy-to-use resources, practical teaching strategies, technology support and also an assessment tool to examine the results of their practices.

Student outcomes: Students demonstrated increased engagement, enjoyment of scientific activities, such as: observation in the forest and zoo; analysis and comparison of animal data sheets; discussion of concepts; communication skills, like oral, visual, and written competencies. As an example, one student mentioned that science is important and recorded a short video at home on her cell phone expressing her views on what science means to her. By the same token, other students manifested their learning and new knowledge by stating: “Science is not just about doing experiments in the lab; it helps us think about how to help the world”; “I learned about the characteristics of forest animals, types of habitats and how to protect them; “Deforestation is increasing, and we need to do something.”

Find out more here: Our report.

Caring/ Caring: The community was very receptive and interested in the proposal of open schooling. Initially, the participants were introspective, but after an initial dialogue and engaging activity for introduction, they became comfortable interacting with the researchers in an engaging way. The objectives of the open schooling activity were introduced. They joined the proposal of collective inquiry mapping based on an open schooling experience to identify the challenges and opportunities of the community to face adversities and enhance sustainability.  

Open Schooling Co-learning objectives were identified before and during the activity.  

The researchers and the community were interested in:    

• Understanding what it is and how to do open schooling including communities from Amazonia and universities in Brazil.  

• Identifying the important elements to continue open schooling to enhance the quality of education and in particular exploring solutions for the local issues. 
•  Experiencing an open schooling practice for the production of an ebook “Reserva Tupé 2030”: an agenda of priorities and opportunities.  

This open schooling approach using inquiry mapping and design thinking brought together researchers and practitioners  in  the area of Education, Computer Science, and Psychology as well as community members of the Tupé community and neighboring territories  including students, teachers, school head,  parents, and local citizens.

Several real-life community issues were identified. The challenges discussed were:  

• Secondary school is not offered in the community.  

• Basic Education ends in Elementary School phase II, which corresponds to the ninth school year. 
• Health service is very limited, there are no doctors and nurses.  
• Environmental problems include: reducing waste, lack of safety, the need for water cleaning, poor or lack of sanitation, and insufficient access to energy for all community residents. 
   

Some opportunities for the outside community were also identified:  

• The development of Ecotourism.  

• Communication channels uniting residents, managers, educators, professionals, apprentices. 
• Production of local products (for instance, natural repellents), jewelry, and crafts with seeds and sustainable natural resources. 
• Alternative energy as solar energy. 
• Open schooling providing projects with young people.  

The community raised questions concerning the objective of the study, what benefit it would bring to them, and what would be offered to the community through the partnership with open schooling. It was clarified by the residents and members of the school that the São João community receives many visitors for research, diagnosis, and promises of partnerships, but nothing happens for them. 

The co-authoring of an agenda to guide the community in research projects and future partnerships was an initiative well-received by the community. Participants have become very interested and also committed to sharing their local problems. The dialogue opened an opportunity for collaboration between them supported by local and external partners. The production of an ebook, a collective document of the challenges and opportunities of the community, resulted in a process of consolidating the partnership and initiating new proposals and projects. All community members and partners also positioned themselves as co-learners, i.e. one learning from the other. The activity included people of varying ages from Basic Education to Higher Education. 

Knowledge: Based on the issues that the community cares about, four curricular topics were identified to support the open schooling project. The local researchers from the university and local educators from the school considered it important to discuss the curriculum for students to develop knowledge with the connection between formal, non-formal, and informal education with real-life problem-solving experienced by members of the community of Tupé:    

• Health and well-being: nutrition, local diseases (malaria, dengue, and hepatitis), tooth care.  
• Basic infrastructure, health, river transport, sanitation, drinking water, lack of energy, poor internet connection, and regular High School system. 
• Professional training (training linked to the production chain and sustainability-focused ecotourism, fish farming, family farming, and general services for the construction and maintenance of the basic infrastructure), local public tender vacancies prioritizing community members for greater commitment. Greater incentive and resources for education and health professionals from other communities working in Tupé. 

• Fighting against pollution, care of the environment and biodiversity.  

The skills required: 

• Collaboration: teamwork, internal and external communication. 
• Digital skills: refers to the critical and creative use of local and global knowledge including the internet – reliable sources, critical thinking to detect fake news, security to enhance data protection, computational thinking for teachers and students to learn how to create, adapt and reuse APPs – applications, games, and gamification for significant development of the entire Tupé population and aggregate communities. The educational packages installed by the Municipal Department of Education (SEMED) should be expanded. The current digital resources are GCOMPRIS game packs on Linux, chess games, memory game, text editor and drawing, Google for Education package.  
• Scientific thinking for collaborative research: refers to the process of problem-solving and innovation based on evidence-based thinking and scientific inquiry-based learning involving all representatives of Tupé society: students, teachers, managers, citizens, researchers, and local professionals. 

 

Do: Participants completed all activities: 

• Individual diagnostic interview 

• Discussion and mapping of diagnostic evaluation results 

• Group conversational dynamics using research mapping and design thinking to record information needed to present the prototype 

• Presentation of the findings of each group: challenges and opportunities 

• Final reflection of the process and presentation of prototype/results including next steps 

• Local visits and testimonials 

• Agenda Review 

• Prioritization of actions 

The next steps will be discussing the outputs integrated with key local documents and scientific literature references that will be available for the community to access from the computer laboratory. 

With the purpose of guiding the teaching and learning actions of more than 250,000 students of Manaus, through the SEMED, the new “Municipal School Curriculum” was launched in 2021, with linguistic review, diagramming and better adaptation to all, including riverside communities. 

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kTJ0oMA6cQk83E_YAVfLzgrdr5m0WYbv/view   

Findings related to the approach of Open Schooling: The activity was based on the open scenario – inspired by active methodologies (creative and participatory) such as consensual dialogue, co-creation, investigative mapping with design thinking for communities. Open schooling was considered useful and challenging.  The agenda began with local problems and was finalized with a representative who summarised the views of the community and the value of education for the local population. Community members became more aware of local priorities and also felt more united.  “We have to thank you. Changing is not easy. We need to be strong to want, know and do.   Having regular high school in this community is not a favor, it’s a right.” 

Results for co-learning: Participants recognized that this initiative is challenging because in order to change it is necessary to have a great connection with the priorities that the community cares about, as well as knowledge to solve problems and the development of actions for overcoming local challenges. 

Education, better teaching conditions, transportation for children to get to school, access to doctors and medicines throughout the year including during periods of drought, energy and basic sanitation are some of the community rights. All these issues they were already aware of. However, a key finding was that “something must be done from the union of all members”. This evidence of open schooling can be an approach to enhance the union among the community members from them to do the change that they need based on knowledge and what they care about. This best practice shows that the cocreation of a collective agenda of priorities, challenges and opportunities was a valuable opportunity for them to share their local wisdom and updating/expanding their knowledge including the feedback that they needed and received from the researchers. This enabled them to find alternatives to reduce the barriers, uncertainties, and unknown challenges. This shows that open schooling can be a way to increase communities’ confidence for them to go ahead with their own voices and local wisdom for identifying priorities, enhancing the quality of education, and changing public policies for equality and equity.  

The results for the participants were: involvement, pleasure and trust with science and research. Some specific learning outcomes developed were: (1) becoming aware of the concept ‘open schooling’ – both meaning and procedures. (2) identifying new collaborative approaches to explore issues supported by education for democracy, for example, inquiry mapping with design thinking, (3) greater awareness of problems and opportunities for change.  

As an example, through the open schooling partnership between the school, university and community, it was identified how and who to contact; for example, the policymakers and procedures to make the request of secondary school in the community of Tupé. ​​Another example of increasing awareness of the issues and communication skills to explore the problems and opportunities was children who voluntarily made illustrations of the problems faced and described by the adults. Using their drawings they prioritised the transportation for everyone to get to school and also the need for greater opportunities to learn outside of school, for example, with family members at home and during the transportation to the school because the boat trip from home to school is a long journey for students who live further away. 

The transport from Manaus to the Community takes about 45 minutes by speedboat but a couple of hours by normal boat.  

Because of the drought it is necessary to walk a long distance under the hot weather to get to the school. 

The school has a computer room and a library in the same space., only 1 room with air conditioner and unstable electricity  

It is the only room with air conditioning but with limited use because of the power outage. The internet “low” connection is also limited. To ventilate, the door is then kept open. 

 One of the  open schooling teams including participants of all ages. 

The result was very positive with involvement, significance and engagement. 

 Photographs taken by the community and CONNECT representative Tayanne Grazielle S. Rodrigues 

CARE: We used the animal presentation materials for voting time, with students creating their own advocacy on behalf of their favorite animal, watched the film of wolf rewilding in Yellowstone Park and made food chains.  

KNOW: We adapted and used the materials provided at the 3rd grade level so that we could complete as many actions as possible. As the children were very interested in these activities, most of the activities we did outside of class as extracurricular activities. 

DO: Apart from the resources we received, we used the wwf.ro website, we visited the Neagra Bison Reservation in Bucșani, Dâmbovița – here the children interviewed a master hunter who is in charge of the zoo, we celebrated International Laughing Day on June 11, we made flyers and posters. 

Open Schooling findings: The challenge was the guidebook we received, which I felt was adapted to the secondary school level, but the children were so excited about the project that I worked to adapt it to their level of understanding. Time was the biggest enemy. 

Students’ results: They developed their teamwork skills, interview and advertising campaign skills, acquired new knowledge, enriched their vocabulary with specific terms (food chain, renaturation, ecosystem), learned for pleasure, out of curiosity and intrinsic motivation (participation in the project was voluntary). 

CARE: In this activity the families of the students were involved in order to study the specific habitat of the Subcarpathian area of Balcani commune, as well as forestry specialists in collaboration with the Moinești Forestry School. 

KNOW: The concepts related to the geographical environment, biogeography and pollution were linked to the school curriculum. 

DO: Students no longer found science difficult and difficult to approach because the activities they did were in line with their abilities and worked differentiated for the needs of the group. 

Open Schooling findings: CONNECT resources were used to draw parallels between the species of CONNECT resources and those studied by students.  

Students’ results: Students showed willingness to learn new things, but also deepened the knowledge already acquired previously. Also, they gained knowledge about the animals studied by making practical presentations/projects about them. 

CARE: Open educational resources are a necessary part of the educational process, further contributing to learner-centered learning, access to, promotion and use of online content. 

KNOW: CONNECT resources provided opportunities for a cross-curricular and inter-disciplinary approach, students consolidated and applied their knowledge of ecology, biology, ICT, in a wider context by producing information materials: leaflets, posters, posters, posters, calendars, etc. 

DO: Pupils have established and applied their knowledge of trophic relationships; developing digital skills, technology, presenting information using different methods of communication. 

Open Schooling findings: Useful and accessible information for students increased their confidence that they could handle tasks effectively and overcome difficulties. The scientific actions contributed to a responsible attitude on the part of students, the formation of research and investigation skills in the field of Science. 

Students’ results: Students worked in teams and produced several products (leaflets, posters, posters, banners, calendars), which they presented during an activity in which three experts from Valahia University in Targoviste participated. 

CARE: The resources were very useful as they motivated the teacher to rethink the lesson and increase the students’ input in their learning process. The STEM lesson becomes motivating not only for me as a teacher, but also for the students by developing students’ ability to collaborate with others when tackling a problem and formulating solutions. 

KNOW: The activities allowed us to take a modern, transdisciplinary approach, room classroom thus transforming it into a creative learning environment where students and learnt new ways of solving problems, acquired those skills targeted by the curriculum, created and used tools in an innovative way. Science and technology are part of our lives and using them in a way that adds value is important. 

DO: The students were really engaged in the new activities proposed by the new type of lesson, and through direct observation we recorded the students’ willingness to participate in a greater number of lessons designed on the new structure, the students felt attracted by the new learning/expression possibilities. The challenges and opportunities created by the COVID-19 pandemic, led to the unprecedented use of digital technology during this period. Even though at first students wondered “Can I do this?” “Will I be able to do it well?” “How can I do it better? “, the freedom to experiment, the accessibility of the platform, the ease of use and their engagement led to positive feedback. 

Open Schooling findings: Open educational resources are useful for designing a modern, interactive lesson, involving rethinking the classic lesson. The use of OERs aims/has aimed to increase student motivation, adapting the instructional-educational approach in the manner of a modern, interactive lesson. 

Students’ results: Through CONNECT resources, the lesson became cross-curricular, following the STEM model. Students improved their ICT skills, using different platforms (PREZI, ANIMOTO; MIND MAP) to document and present different case studies. 

CARE: We created a course on Google Classroom platform to facilitate teacher-student, student-student, teacher-student-parents interaction. The course is entitled CONNECT with SCIENCE. The support materials offered within the project were presented. The choice of the representative species for the study was based on a Google forms questionnaire. Following the analysis of the questionnaire, the species chosen by the students was the Lynx. 

KNOW: The activities proposed in the project were in correlation with the specific competences of the Biology subject and contribute to the formation of the profile of the secondary school graduate. From this point of view, the activities developed in the students the ability to 

• solve problems and problem situations in everyday life;
• design and carry out an investigative approach to test a working hypothesis;
• process, graph and interpret experimental data and evidence;
• imagine and make some useful products for current activities;
• show an interest in healthy living and keeping the environment clean.

DO: The students actively participated in all the proposed activities and showed interest and enthusiasm. They worked as a team and successfully completed the proposed activities. Among the activities carried out: 

• reading texts from atlases, magazines, etc. in order to extract information, summarise or make a logical outline of the content;
• watching films of different ecosystems/living environments to observe the characteristics of this species;
• completing worksheets and observation sheets based on information from various sources;
• graphical representation of food webs and food webs in which the species of interest is included;
• analysis of problem situations using graphical models (e.g. identification of the consequences of the disappearance of a species from a food web/introduction of a new species on the other living organisms in the food web).

Open Schooling findings: The project activities were attended by students who are interested in studying, students who like science and therefore the project activities were not stressful. In the first stage of the project, the students were satisfied with the activities carried out, they did not express any dissatisfaction, on the contrary they are looking forward to new topics of discussion to direct them in research and investigation activities. 

Students’ results: The pupils adapted to the project activities along the way. They worked as a team and helped each other, cooperating successfully within the group. They produce promotional material for the species of interest – flyer.