CARE: It was difficult at first to get them interested, but with patience, slowly, things started to come together. Of course, there was also competition between teams, who could make the most successful plea for the introduction of a species, who made the best campaign, etc. 

KNOW: The most important relationships that are established between living things in a biocenosis are feeding relationships, also called trophic relationships. Students were able to highlight food chains in different possible scenarios depending on the species proposed for rewilding. Applications such as this were very well folded into the respective biology and ecology curricula. 

DO: The students worked in teams and tried to document and analyse evidence provided by researchers to support different claims. The results were presented in an activity attended by three experts from the Valahia University of Targoviste. 

Open Schooling findings: The open educational resources were a support for teachers as they followed the competences of the curriculum in several subjects: biology, ecology, biodiversity conservation. Most of the activities carried out used open educational resources because they were easy to use, we had free access and they were in an accessible format. 

Students’ results: The students have produced various products as a result of this project, such as posters, posters for the promotion of animal species, a poster and a calendar for the year 2022 with the species canis lupus. They worked in teams and tried to document and analyse evidence provided by researchers to support different claims. 

CARE: The Bird Refaunation Project of the Northeastern Semiarid of Brazil consisted of the analysis of the Phyto physiognomy of the caatinga in urban spaces, a practical study; Identification of caged birds in the city of Irecê; Exhibition of the study carried out at the event open to the community, entitled Knowledge Fair; Awareness campaign on the theme addressed in a public square in the neighborhood where the school is located. The focus of the research is to answer the following question: how can the collaborative scientific partnership be co-evaluated by those involved in open schooling for the conception and implementation of curriculum plans in public schools of basic education? 

KNOW: The study identified relevant scenarios and collaborative scientific actions to prepare young students to understand the problems of the natural environment caused by man and their consequences for the balance of the planet. The trafficking of wild animals, capture, marketing, and captivity of songbirds was chosen, because it has a strong impact on the environmental balance. The illegal transport, death and mistreatment of the birds that are the majority, many extinct and or threatened with extinction. Aim to show people how understanding the bird’s habit, the contributions given by them to the wild life. This project will help all the members of the group and thus they will all acquire more knowledge in the area. 

DO:  Activities were developed that were very significant, I can mention: 

• analysis of the Phyto physiognomy of the caatinga in the urban environment of the city of Irecê so that we could study the issue of the bird fauna existing in the environment;
• analysis and study, carried out by the students of the ACM school on the birds, of the bird type, found in the caatinga biome and subsequent diagnosis of their existence in the urban environment in the city of Irecê, Bahia.
• identification of bird-type birds used in cages in domestic environments in the city of Irecê, Bahia.
• Decision making on the importance of raising awareness in the school community through an information campaign in the neighborhood where the school is located.
• Conducting an awareness campaign for the school community in a public square. saw. Presentation of the project at the Knowledge Fair explaining the stages of the research to the entire school community

FINDINGS: The open scenario methodology used was project-based collaborative learning. The students brought their own questions, discussed with the scientists and their families, and it was remarkable how much they didn’t know the subject, at the same time they wanted to learn. Teachers found the open teaching activity useful in this controversial topic during the pandemic, and as the school offers teaching by areas of knowledge, it facilitated the planning of actions, the applicability of learning activities targeting technological resources and curricular interaction through of projects. 

OUTCOMES: In general, students participated and interacted in learning activities with an interest in learning and discovering curiosities about science. Several students did not know the main scientists and their contributions to planetary life, the great scientific innovations. And all the knowledge built can be evidenced in the written and visual productions distributed on the murals, contemplating all the spaces of the school and the relevance of the study. However, the very social distancing generated by the pandemic period caused many disruptions in the school routine, among which contacted scientists impossible.  

Find out more here: our report.

CARE: In the activities, we followed the following steps, according to the teacher’s guide CARE, students were engaged with the socio-scientific issue: Which animal should we select to return to Romania for rewilding? The activities were attractive, engaging for the students, we discussed each theme proposed in the guide. 

KNOW: Students learned about the following curriculum topics: Renaturalisation of wolf, lynx, fallow deer – food chains, trophic relationships in terrestrial ecosystems ( Biology, 5th grade ).   The main activities, which led to the achievement of the learning objectives according to the curriculum, were on food chains, food webs, trophic relationships in terrestrial ecosystems. 

DO: The pupils solved homework, an activity in which they also involved their families, they made reports, leaflets, evidence sheets on the animals proposed for rewilding. 

Open Schooling findings: The resources provided were easy to use, the activities were clearly explained, the interaction with all project participants was continuous.The results were presented in a demonstration lesson with the participation of three research experts from Valahia University in Targoviste. 

Students’ results: Students Learned through understanding and application, stimulating interest in knowledge, developing communication skills, thinking and creativity. 

CARE: The socio-scientific issue was on how to improve the prevention of Covid.19 at the school. The professionals that gave support were the scientific community from Escoles Sentinella project: science communicators, biologists, epidemiologists, paediatricians among others, helping on the facilitation of the participatory research. From an invitation letter to the project and with some previous knowledge explorations the students get fully committed to the project. 

KNOW: As the activities were implemented from the tutoring sessions, the debate competence and also the citizenship education topic (social values content) were the aspects more worked using this CONNECT resource. Despite we did not go in depth with biological issues, the students also learned a lot about how the coronavirus is spread and why do we need those preventions measures to protect everybody from the transmission.  

DO: Students developed communication skills and skills to create, design and edit video, as they chose disseminate their results through a video. Students also developed iinquiry skills, participation skills and transdisciplinary methodologies. The science actions included teamwork, collaborative learning within the class and with other stakeholders and that science useful to solve real-life challenges. 

Findings about open schooling: The activity they did was adapted to the curriculum of Obligatory Secondary Education (ESO) and it was implemented at the tutoring sessions. 

Results for students: Students get more confident on debating and on presenting their own opinions to the group. The activity has led to greater awareness of Covid-19 prevention and how the measures to achieve that can be improved by a participatory research process. 

CONNECT Resources used: LINK 

This multi-methods study explores an integrated model that combined 300 Open Educational Resources, 60 MOOC in ten languages with 27 Communities of Practice to promote open schooling projects to foster skills for RRI supported by more than 17,000 teachers from Europe and Brazil. Findings report the different ways that the community developed open schooling projects, the changes in their practices to foster digital scientific literacy, and outcomes with implications for society.

This qualitative study presents some contributions of using inquiry mapping (OKADA, 2006) as a participatory research-action method to engage multi-partners in an open network. This exploratory study analysed six examples from the literature for developing inquiry-maps for open schooling in network projects and promoting fun in learning. Findings show useful guidelines, templates, strategies, tools and recommendations.