LICEUL TEHNOLOGIC DE SERVICII “SFANTUL APOSTOL ANDREI”

PLOIESTI, PRAHOVA, ROMANIA

COMENIUS MULTILATERAL PARTNERSHIP

”FROM ICARUS TO INTERPLANETARY TRAVELS”

12-PM-729-PH-HU

2012 - 2014

Prof. Andrei Sorina Monica, Romanian coordinator

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission or ANPCDEFP cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Introduction

At European level it has been recognised that education and training are essential to the development of today’s knowledge, society and economy. The EU’s strategy emphasises countries working together and learning from each other. The strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training „ET 2020” recognises that high-quality education and training are fundamental to Europe’s success. However, in a rapidly changing world, lifelong learning needs to be a priority – it is the key to employment, economic success and allowing people to participate fully in society. The long-term strategic objectives of EU education and training policies are: making lifelong learning and mobility a reality; improving the quality and efficiency of education and training; promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship; enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training. (http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/framework_en. htm)

As the flagship European Funding programme in the field of education and training, the Lifelong Learning Programme (2007 - 2013) aimed to contribute through lifelong learning to the development of the EU as an advanced knowledge society, with sustainable economic development, more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, enabling individuals at all stages of their lives to pursue stimulating learning opportunities across Europe. Although it is over now being replaced by Erasmus+, it was of great importance for the European education because it aimed to foster interchange, co-operation and mobility between education and training institutions and systems within the EU so that they may become a world quality reference. In this way, it addressed the modernisation and adaptation of education and training systems in the participating countries, particularly in the context of the goals set out in the EU 2020 Strategy, and brought European added value directly to individual citizens participating in its mobility and other co-operation actions (http://ec.europa.eu/

education/llp/doc/call13/part1_en.pdf - LLP Guide for Applicants 2013, p.3). LLP was an umbrella programme integrating various educational and training initiatives and funding a range of actions including exchanges, study visits and networking activities. Projects were intended not only for individual students and learners, but also for teachers, trainers and all others involved in education and training.

Part of the Lifelong Learning Programme, the Comenius programme sought to develop knowledge and understanding among young people and educational staff of the diversity of European cultures, languages and values. It helped young people acquire the basic life skills and competences necessary for their

personal development, for future employment and for active citizenship.The programme addressed issues strongly related to current discussions and developments in school policy: motivation for learning and „learning-to-learn” skills, key competences, digital educational content and inclusive education.

Comenius had the following goals:

To improve and increase the mobility of pupils and educational staff across the EU;

To enhance and increase partnerships between schools in different EU Member States;

To encourage language learning, innovative ICT-based content, services and better teaching techniques and practices; 

To enhance the quality and European dimension of teacher training;  To improve pedagogical approaches and school management.

Comenius focused on: motivation for learning and learning-to-learn skills; key competences (improving language learning; greater literacy; making science more attractive; supporting entrepreneurship; and reinforcing creativity and innovation); digital educational content and services; addressing socio-economic disadvantages and reducing early school leaving; participation in sports; school management; teaching diverse groups of pupils; early and pre-primary learning. (http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning programme/comenius_ en.htm)

Comenius Multilateral Projects aimed to develop, promote and disseminate educational good practice, including new teaching methods and materials, develop or exchange experiences on information systems for learners, teachers or other education staff and develop new teacher training courses or course content. These school projects lasted 2 years and they were based on students and their active involvement in specific activities derived from the common topic of the partnership. The main theme had to be very motivating for students and relevant for all the institutions involved in the cooperation. The activities of the partnership had to be interdisciplinary and the final products of the project had to be integrated into curriculum and used during the activities with students even after the completion of the partnership. At the institution level, the partnership contributed to the improvement of the school management and of the pedagogical and methodological methods. The partnership offered the perfect opportunity to the teams of teachers and head teachers from the partner schools to share information, experiences and examples of good practice, to implement new pedagogical and managerial approaches.

Comenius Multilateral Partnership

“From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels”

General Presentation

Comenius Multilateral Partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” is a partnership whose application form was submitted in February 2012 and approved as a component of Comenius Sectorial Programme which is part of the Lifelong Learning Programme. It was initially thought as a project with 8 partners, but finally there were approved only 7, therefore the activities and project meetings were re-designed for 7 partner countries: Hungary (the coordinator of the partnership), Romania, Greece, Portugal, Turkey, Lithuania and Slovakia.

During this project, the students from all the seven European partner schools have worked together on topics related to flying and have taken part into separate or common interdisciplinary activities with the purpose of gathering information and improving their knowledge about:

Romanian and international pioneers of aviation; the major role played as a breakthrough by the Romanian inventors in

building the first planes and in the development of modern aviation; the importance of modern aviation for the development of mankind in a

wide range of aspects (transportation of goods, travel and tourism, transport of people, airlines, communication etc.);

the only Romanian astronaut who succeeded in completing a successful mission travelling into the outer space as a member of an international team – Dumitru Prunariu;

the human’s desire to fly and then to conquer the outer space by launching space vehicles and aircrafts and exceeding the human limits;

means and devices people used throughout history in order to lift themselves up in the air and be able to fly, starting with Icarus and his wax and feathers wings from Mythology and ending with the spacecrafts from today which modern civilization used to land on the Moon and in the future wants to conquer the outer space with;

laws of Physics, Chemistry, Mechanics, Aerodynamics, Thermodynamics, Astrophysics and Astronomy, presented during the interdisciplinary Geography, Physics and History lessons and during the visits students organized at museums and even at a plane factory;

the Solar System and constellations students can see on the sky – while visiting planetariums and learning about Stellarium software;

how to measure time and distances in the universe; lifecycle of a star with its stages; how to build a plane and what scientific laws must be used in order to

make a plane rise from the ground and fly; building and launching kites, paper lanterns, water rackets and planes

using different materials, working in teams at school and organizing exhibitions with drawings, posters and photos;

organising exhibitions with heads of aliens made of germinated wheat in sawdust;

organising a fashion show in which students designed alien costumes made of recyclable materials and wore them on an improvised catwalk;

Icarus and Dedalus legend, human’s wish to fly and communication with extraterrestrial creatures by staging role plays and acting a wide range of parts and situations;

acting the well-known legend of Icarus.

This was a complex project at international level which involved hundreds of students and their teachers from all Europe and its impact on people who took part in activities was major due to the knowledge transferred, the skills developed, the linguistic abilities improved, the mentalities changed, the open-mindedness built, the tolerance achieved and the cooperation realised during the 2 amazing years of the partnership.

Moreover, due to this international project, students have developed their linguistic and digital competences by communicating and working together with their peers from the other partner schools directly (in the activities organised during the project meetings) and via the Internet. They have learned what intercultural cooperation and tolerance are, they became more open-minded and sociable in their communication with the European students, they have learned not only about different cultural aspects, but also about common things they share with other European countries, and the last but not the least, they understood how to live with an international perspective in their own country becoming active citizens of the European Union.

Prof. Sorina Monica Andrei,

Partnership coordinator (Romania)

Comenius Multilateral Partnership

“From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels”

European Partners

There are 7 European partner institutions from 7 separate countries in this project. The coordinating country is Hungary and the partner countries are: Romania, Lithuania, Turkey, Greece, Portugal and Slovakia.

Here there are the schools from every partner country involved in this project:

Hungary – Magyar-Szlovák Két Tanítási Nyelvú Nemzetiségi Általános Iskola és Kollégium, Sátoraljaújhely

Romania – Liceul Tehnologic de Servicii „Sfantul Apostol Andrei”, Ploiesti

Greece – the 4th Primary School of Glyfada, Athens Lithuania – Vilniaus Pranciškaus Skorinos Vidurine Mokykla, Vilnius Portugal – Didaxis - Cooperativa de Ensino de Riba de Ave, Riba de Ave Turkey – Rahime Bilici Ilkökulu, Kusadasi Slovakia – Základná škola, Moldava nad Bodvou.

There was a great number of teachers and students involved in the partnership activities from each partner school, which shows that the topic was interesting and challenging, the school subjects involved were numerous and everyone was interested in learning new things, in developing new skills and in taking part in the wide range of interdisciplinary activities organised during the 2 years of the project.

Hungary

With a population of 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is situated in the Carpathian Basin and it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The country's capital and largest city is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union and a popular tourist destination. The country is home to the largest thermal water cave system and the second largest thermal lake in the world (Lake Hévíz), the largest lake in Central Europe (Lake Balaton), and the largest natural grasslands in Europe (Hortobágy).

Sátoraljaújhely is a town with a population of 16.300 inhabitants, located in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county in northern Hungary near the Slovak border and not only it played an important role in the region's history, but it has always been an important town in culture as well. In the Treaty of Trianon Hungary lost its northern territories. The border was set to the Ronyva stream, splitting the city into two parts, one-fourth of the territory of the town becoming part of actual Slovakia. Nazi repression, continuous bombing after 1943, the killing of most of its Jewish population (most were forcibly sent to Auschwitz), and finally the Soviet occupation left the town in very poor condition, but it was rebuilt and today it is a national ski centre and tourist destination.

Magyar-Szlovák Két Tanítási Nyelvú Nemzetiségi Általános Iskola és Kollégium is a Hungarian-Slovak bilingual minority primary school with a boarding hall from Sátoraljaújhely, educating 137 children from the age of 6 to 14. Being situated in an underdeveloped part of the country with high rate of unemployment, the school has a considerable number of students at high risk of exclusion and the percentage of pupils living in disadvantageous background varies around 65%. Therefore, this school has a big responsibility regarding the students’ educational development.

Romania

Romania is located at the intersection of Central and South-Eastern Europe, bordering on the Black Sea. It shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south. Romania is the eighth largest country of the European Union by area, and has the seventh largest population of the European Union with about 20 million people. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest - the sixth largest city in the EU. Romania joined NATO on 29 March 2004 and the European Union on 1 January 2007. Tourism focuses on the country's natural landscapes and its rich history: Transylvanian cities with their medieval atmosphere and castles, rural tourism, focusing on folklore and traditions, resorts on the Black Sea shore and at the mountains, with hot and mineral springs, sky slopes and caves, 13 national parks and 3 biosphere reserves. Of these Danube Delta is the largest and least damaged wetland complex in Europe and it is placed on the World Heritage List having one of the most extensive reed bed systems in the world. These are just a part of what tourists can see when they visit Romania.

With a population of about 266.000 inhabitants including its metropolitan area, Ploiesti is the main city from Prahova County and lies in the historical region of Wallachia, the city being located at 56 km north of Bucharest, the capital city of Romania. Established in the 16th century, the Ploiesti region was one of the world's leading oil extraction sites in the mid-19th century and the world's first large refinery was opened at Ploieşti in 1856-1857, with US investment being the only one in the world for 156 years. The city and its oil production was a target for the enemies during the First and Second World Wars and today it is the 9th biggest city of Romania, with a famous university, cultural and educational institutions. Ploieşti is the second railway centre in the country after Bucharest, linking the capital city with Transylvania and Moldavia. The Henri Coandă International Airport is just at 45 km distance, and the ski resorts from Prahova Valley can be reached in one hour driving.

Liceul Tehnologic de Servicii „Sfantul Apostol Andrei” is a public vocational school located in the northern part of Ploiesti and its catchment area is largely rural. It has about 74 teachers and 1200 students (25 with special educational needs) ranging from the age of 6 to 60 because it includes the following educational levels: primary, secondary, vocational high school (specialism: public food services, tourism, styling, body aesthetics and hygiene, commerce), adult education (evening classes - for those who return to graduate high school and sit the Baccalaureate exam and post-secondary school – general nurse, lab technician, pharmacist assistant, nutritionist, stylist, tourist agent, event organiser). The logistics include a wide range of labs: IT, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, Biology, Hair Dressing, Beauty salons, Nursing, Cooking and Serving Clients, but there are also a Gym, a Library and a Sports field.

Teachers have a vast experience in Lifelong Learning Programme, they have taken part in 7 international projects so far and 48 in-service trainings. They know the benefits of international activities for their personal and professional development, therefore they are highly motivated to offer their students the chance to meet and work together with European students. Between 1997 and 2014 our school was a partner in 7 projects under the umbrella of the Lifelong Learning Programme as follows:

1997-2000 – Comenius Multilateral Partnership “The Development of the Romanian Civilisation in European Context”

1999-2000 – Comenius Multilateral Partnership “The Development of the European Citizen Who steps into the XXI Century”

2000-2003 – Comenius Multilateral Partnership “Du Troc à l'Euro” 2004-2006 – Comenius Bilateral Partnership “Pont entre les relations

interculturelles et les connaissances et les compétences techniques et linguistiques POLISTHET”

2009-2011 – Comenius Multilateral Partnership “What’s the Name?” 2012-2014 – Comenius Multilateral Partnership “From Icarus to

Interplanetary travels” 2013-2015 – Grundtvig Learning Partnership “Promoting English as

Means of Communication in European Adult Education”.

With a vast experience in Comenius programme, our school hopes to develop a European dimension of the education provided to our students and intends to add European value to its high-quality educational system. 80% of our students come from remote rural areas where there is above average unemployment and consequent socio-economic disadvantage. Our school wishes to be partner in European projects in order to extend the students’ mobility in European countries and to bring foreign students and teachers here. We want to exchange good practice with European partners, to improve students’ English skills developing new methods of studying, to enrich our curricula after analyzing other educational systems, to start cooperation with foreign education institutions, to help teachers develop professionally, to disseminate project’s outcomes to our institution members. All these broaden students’ horizons and show them that they have the chance to work and travel in foreign countries and enhance their key competences if they work hard becoming competitive and ambitious.

We strongly believe that our participation in this project through common activities and international co-operation with partners from all member institutions has made everyone aware of both cultural similarities and differences from our countries. On the other hand it developed the participants’ tolerance, open-mindedness and acceptance of different aspects of life. We hope

to develop the European dimension of our school and become a Romanian voice in the European choir, searching for European common underlying realities.

Turkey

Turkey is a transcontinental country, located mostly on Anatolia in Western Asia and on East Thrace in South-Eastern Europe. It is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the east; Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea is to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles demarcate the boundary between Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia. Turkey's location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes it a country of significant geostrategic importance. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage because the Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world which contains the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site that was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012. Numerous civilisations lived in this area throughout history and many important cities were founded in this area (including Troy, Miletus, Ephesus etc.), making Turkey one of the richest countries in historical sites and world heritage. The archaeological sites are best preserved and millions of tourists come annually to visit them and to enjoy the Turkish weather and climate in the numerous resorts spread all over the Anatholian shore.

Kusadasi is a resort town on Turkey's Aegean coast and the center of the seaside district of the same name in Aydın Province. Kuşadası caters to tourists, arriving by land, and as the port to cruise ship passengers heading to Ephesus. Its primary industry is tourism, therefore the town has lots of immigrants especially from the underdeveloped and eastern parts of Turkey. Kuşadası has a residential population of 65,000 rising to over half a million during the summer when the large resort fills with tourists. The area has been a centre of art and culture since the earliest times and has been settled by many civilizations since being founded in 3000 BC.

Rahime Bilici Ilkökulu is a well-known primary school from Kusadasi situated at 100 meters far from the sea. There are 17 teachers and 314 students (10 with special educational needs) in this school and the age of students range between 6 and 14. The school has a supportive parents' association. The building has got 13 classrooms equipped with smart boards, a Science lab and an ICT classroom as well. The pupils learn English as a foreign language. They also got medals in various sport and cultural competitions. This was the first Comenius project of this school and by working with other countries, Turkish teachers wanted to show their pupils that even if there are socio-cultural and physical differences between people, it is possible for them to live and work together.

Portugal

Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe located in South-Western part of the continent on the Iberian Peninsula being bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. In the 15th and 16th centuries, as the result of pioneering the Age of Discovery, Portugal expanded western influence and established the first global empire, becoming one of the world's major economic, political and military powers. The Portuguese Empire was the longest-lived of the modern European colonial empires, spanning almost 600 years, from 1415 to 2002 and spreading throughout a vast number of territories that are now part of 53 different sovereign states. Portugal is a developed country, one of the world's most globalized and peaceful nations, a member of both the European Union and the United Nations. It is among the most visited countries in the world, receiving an average of 13 million foreign tourists each year, tourism playing an increasingly important role in Portugal's economy. Portugal has developed a specific culture while being influenced by various civilizations that have crossed the Mediterranean and the European continent. It has considerable resources of wind and river power, the two most cost-effective renewable sources of energy.

Riba de Ave is a Portuguese town located in the northern part of the country, with an area of almost 3 km² and 3.400 inhabitants. The town exists since before Portugal became a country, although it was never more than a little village in the Ave Valley. It's the only place in the region that has maintained its name since medieval times. The town only started to develop at the end of the 19th century when the first textile factories of the Ave Valley were opened there and Riba de Ave was, for the better part of the 20th century, one of the richest villages of the region. However the successive economic crisis proved fatal for most of the town's industry.

Didaxis - Cooperativa de Ensino is a school from Riba de Ave, which has about 2,400 students from the age of 6 to 19 or more, including primary, middle, regular secondary school, but also developing professional, vocational and technological courses and adult education in the evening. It is a modern, well-equipped school which struggles to find new opportunities for students at national and international level. With the participation in this project the students have developed not only their skills at several subjects important for the school curriculum, but also their communication, attitude and social competencies. This project aims at being inclusive, because those involved in it learn a lot, work together to build common products, testifying positive feelings and shared knowledge and consequently transmitting their new skills and competences to their community.

Lithuania

Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the largest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the South-Eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 3 million as of 2012, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. Its landscape has been smoothed by the glaciers of the last ice age. Lithuania's terrain is an alternation of moderate lowlands and highlands. It joined the European Union in 2003 and it is often termed as the Baltic Tiger due to its impressive economic development. There has been a steady movement of population to the cities since the 1990s, encouraged by the planning of regional centres and by the early 21st century, about two-thirds of the total population live in urban areas.

Located in the southeast of the country, Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 535,000. Due to its beautiful architecture, Vilnius was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and throughout history it was named "the Jerusalem of the North". The historical part of the city is well-preserved, many of its older buildings have been renovated, and a new modern part emerged, a business and commercial area being developed into the New City Centre, expected to become the city's main administrative and business district. Vilnius was developed around its Town Hall and there are 65 churches. Vilnius Old Town is one of the largest in Europe and the most valuable historic and cultural sites are concentrated here. Almost half of Vilnius is covered by green areas: parks, public gardens, natural reserves, and others. Additionally, there are thirty lakes and 16 rivers, some of them having sand beaches where residents and visitors bath and have barbecues in the summer. Vilnius has access to groundwater providing residents with some of the cleanest and healthiest tap water access in Europe.

Vilniaus Pranciškaus Skorinos Vidurine Mokykla is a minority Belorussian school from Vilnius where students speak several European languages as they come from multilingual families. They learn in a modern, well-equipped school and as participants in this project, they have learned how to cooperate with European students, how to communicate and develop social competences.

Slovakia

Slovakia is a landlocked state in Central Europe with a population of over five million and the largest city is the capital, Bratislava. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. Slovakia is a high-income advanced economy with one of the fastest growth rates in the European Union whose member it became in 2004. In July 1992 Slovakia declared itself a sovereign state, therefore Czechoslovakia disappeared and the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic went their separate ways after 1 January 1993. The Slovak landscape is noted primarily for its mountainous nature, with the Carpathian Mountains extending across most of the northern half of the country. There are 9 national parks in Slovakia and hundreds of caves and caverns under its mountains, out of which 15 are open to the public and 5 are under UNESCO's World Heritage Site status. Slovakia features natural landscapes, medieval castles and towns, folk architecture, spas and ski resorts, the most attractive destinations being Bratislava and the High Tatras. Folk tradition has rooted strongly in Slovakia and it is reflected in literature, music, dance and architecture.

Moldava nad Bodvou is a town in the Košice Region of eastern Slovakia and the town was first mentioned in historical records in 1255. It is situated on the 21st meridian and it has a population of about 11,000 people. The town is of interest with its lens-shaped square and the Museum of Wine. On the front of the Parrish Office of the Reformed Church, there is a commemorative plaque honouring the person who compiled the recipe for Tokay dry wine and whose process is still used today for the preparation of Tokay wine. The football team based in this town was founded in 1919. There is also a blacksmith’s workshop which belongs to the Slovak Technological Museum. Near the town there are the ruins of a medieval castle, a famous monastery and the Jasovská cave.

Základná škola is a school from Moldava nad Bodvou with hospitable teachers and primary and secondary students interested in learning new things and developing their skills.

Greece

Officially named the Hellenic Republic and known since ancient times as Hellas, Greece is a country in Southeast Europe with a population of about 11 million and Athens is the nation's capital and largest city. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, and shares land borders with Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, and Bulgaria to the north and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of a mountainous, peninsular mainland jutting out into the sea at the southern end of the Balkans: there is the Aegean Sea lying to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south with a vast number of islands, approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited. Modern Greece traces its roots to the civilization of Ancient Greece, considered the cradle of Western civilization, the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, Western literature and historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama, including both tragedy and comedy. An important percentage of Greece's national income comes from tourism.

Glyfada is the largest southern suburb of Athens. On the quay of Glyfada, which is home to many of Greece's millionaires, ministers and celebrities, there is a rescue and rehabilitation centre for sea turtles. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning around 3,400 years. The heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city, represented by ancient monuments and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon, considered a key landmark of early Western civilization. The city is a world centre of archaeological research hosting 17 foreign archaeological institutes and numerous museums. Athens has been a destination for travellers since antiquity.

The 4th Primary School of Glyfada is a modern school from Athens which has a number of 437 students and 23 teachers. It has a modern building with lots of facilities for their students.

COMENIUS MULTILATERAL PARTNERSHIP

”FROM ICARUS TO INTERPLANETARY TRAVELS”

2012 – 2014

ACTIVITIES ORGANISED IN

LICEUL TEHNOLOGIC DE SERVICII “SFANTUL APOSTOL ANDREI”

PLOIESTI, PRAHOVA, ROMANIA

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission or ANPCDEFP cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

The Romanian team

Due to the complex topic of the partnership and to the multitude of potential activities to be organised with students of all ages, the team project was constituted of a large number of teachers from the majority of general curriculum areas, each of them bringing their own personal contribution to the good development of the project and to the educational aspect of the activities, flying being considered a perfect pretext to bring students together, to surprise them with new knowledge, to challenge them with questions, to present experiments, to ask for solutions at dilemmas, to organise teams and to ask them to design and build different flight devices.

This is the Romanian team:

Pana Magdalena – head teacher (2013-2014)

Sima Mirela – head teacher (2012-2013)

Marin Nicoleta – deputy head teacher and teacher of Physics/Chemistry

Andrei Sorina Monica – partnership coordinator and teacher of English

Beatrice Fanareanu – teacher of English

Steoalfa Roxana – teacher of English (2012-2013)

Jigaila Marilena – teacher of Economy

Visan Maria – primary school teacher

Varvaruc Daniela – teacher of Tourism

Tanase Ana Maria Bianca – teacher of Romanian

Voicu Jean Cristian – teacher of Geography

Preda George Cosmin – teacher of History

Petrache Bogdan – teacher of Psychology

November 2012 – The initial questionnaire

A questionnaire for Romanian students has been designed by the coordinator, Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica, related to Icarus legend and the theme of the partnership. They answered these questions before starting the activities, and the aim of this questionnaire was to see how much students know about the Greek legend, about the human flight, planes, pioneers of aviation and other things related to the main theme of the partnership. A second aim was to observe whether students were interested in the topic and the following activities.

The intention was to ask students to answer the same questions again at the end of the project, after 2 years, in order to get feedback and to notice if there was any improvement in their answers, to measure how much their knowledge has enriched and to analyze their way of thinking after taking part in an international partnership.

The questionnaire consists of 23 questions related to the partnership (position on the map of the 7 partner countries, words in every language, flags), the legend of Icarus and methods people used throughout history to fly, Romanian and foreign pioneers of aviation, history of aviation, types of aircrafts, the Solar system and constellations, space crafts, astronauts and rockets sent in the outer space, flight and legends connected with flight, how a plane can fly etc.

In this survey, there were involved 30 students of different ages from 10 to14.

Here there are the results of the initial questionnaire:

1. 16% know one word in every partner language, 26% know only “merhaba” in Turkish;

2. 36% can identify only Romania on the map, 16% identify correctly all partner countries;

3. 43% match correctly all partner countries with their flags, the rest have 2-4 mismatches;

4. 43% know the legend of Icarus without any details and symbols;

5. 46% know about glider, wings with pedals, hot air balloon, zeppelin, plane and helicopter;

6. Except Icarus, they know the following imaginary characters who can fly: Harry Potter, Tinkerbella, Pegasus, Lilith, The Invincibles, or stories related to flying: Around the world in 80 days. 50% don’t know anything;

7. 1% knows the correct answer (the Wright Brothers), 90% don’t know;

8. 13% know that Romanians played an important part in building the first planes in the world and in the history of aviation;

9. 40% know only general information about Aurel Vlaicu;

10. 10% know only general information about Traian Vuia;

11. 43% know only general information about Henri Coanda;

12. 86% mention glider, wings with pedals, hot air balloon, zeppelin, plane, helicopter, parachute and racket, nobody mentions kites;

13. 20% know about the hypersonic plane;

14. 80% say planes can fly due to their engines, aerodynamic shape, wings and materials they are built of;

15. 53% consider that pilots have to know everything about the constellations because this way they can orient themselves in case the electronic devices in their cockpit run out of order;

16. 56% mention the US, 30% Russia, 5% Japan as countries which have sent astronauts in the outer space;

17. 43% know that one Romanian astronaut went on a mission into the outer space, but of them only 26% know his name (Dumitru Prunariu);

18. 70% know general information about the Solar System (the definition, some elements, but not the planets order);

19. The questions about flight students wanted to find answers at: Was landing on the Moon real? How can a plane be piloted? How did the flight evolve? Who flew for the first time? How can rockets fly? Are there any other legends about flying? How did Icarus build his wings of feathers and wax?

20. The questions about the history of aviation students wanted to find answers at: How was the first plane built? How did the history of aviation evolve? Who are the pioneers of aviation in Romania and abroad? What is the mechanism of a bombing plane? What did Leonardo da Vinci invent related to flying? How do the Moon soil and the soil from the other planets look like? How did people try to fly in Antiquity?

21. Students’ technical interests: How does the engine look like and how does it work? How can planes be fuelled? What kind of petrol is used for planes? How is a plane built? What are the parts of a plane, the necessary materials used in building it and what are the first parts put together? How much power has a

plane? How are the wings of a plane made? How can pilots land and take off smoothly? What is below the passengers’ deck?

22. Students’ interests: What’s the altitude a plane can fly, what speed can it reach and how heavy can it be? How can children build a plane?

23. Other things students are interested in: What are the parts of a rocket and what speed can it reach? How are rockets built? What was the first rocket and why was it built? How are parts of an engine put together to make it work? How much time do people need to build a plane? What do the planes of the future look like?

November 2012 – Celebrating the Tolerance Day

On 16th November, students celebrated the Tolerance Day and on this occasion, Mrs. Tanase Ana Bianca (teacher of Romanian) and Mrs. Fanareanu Beatrice (teacher of English) have organised a lesson about tolerance and presented the ABC of tolerance in Romanian and English for students from grades 5 th to 12th. The aim of this activity was to make students aware of the differences which exist among people and to make them understand that we have to respect each other even if we are different, we have to be open-minded and think at the differences in conceptions, because this is the only way to make students become European active citizens. This activity was intentionally placed among the first ones that were organised in this partnership in order to prepare our students to get in touch with children from the partner schools and to develop communication with their peers. The activity started with a Power Point presentation of the ABC of tolerance in Romanian and English, followed by an open talk between students and teachers about tolerance and aspects of this concept. The children asked challenging questions and seemed interested in terms like tolerance, European citizenship, different but equal, open-mindedness etc.

November 2012 – Designing the Romanian logo of the project

On 16th November, 8 talented students under the guidance of Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica, the Romanan coordinator of the project, proved their drawing skills in their attempt to design the Romanian logo of the project and the result was a collection of beautiful drawings, of which it was almost impossible to choose one. They used their creativity and imagination first at home, then at school, where they put all their brilliant ideas together and designed a final logo that contains aviation symbols, Romanian pioneers and national signs. The whole activity was very interesting and students took part in it with a lot of pleasure and excitement. The final Romanian logo was sent to the coordinator of the partnership at the scheduled deadline as every partner school did, therefore at the end of November the Hungarian coordinator designed the final logo of the project consisting of all 7 national logos put together.

November 2012 – The beginning of a beautiful friendship

Under the coordination of Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica, Fanareanu Beatrice and Steoalfa Roxana (teachers of English), our students exchanged addresses and mails with their peers from Greece, Portugal and Slovakia and they all became pen pals. There was a very rich correspondence between students from these countries, they sent letters, cards and small gifts, they talked about their families and friends, their hobbies and school, becoming very good friends and waiting anxiously to meet each other in the future. They were very happy not only to receive letters and cards and to find out new and interesting things about their foreign pen pals, but also to write and send their reply along with small gifts consisting of cards, March amulets and small toys.

December 2012 – Super heroes who can fly

At the beginning of December, students from the 6th grade watched the cartoon “Up – above all” together with teachers Tanase Ana Bianca and Fanareanu Beatrice, then they discussed about the unusual quality of the main character to fly. Flying is a dream which many people have in order to become superior and free. Seeing the world from above is a dear wish of humanity due to the sense of power and freedom that comes along. Students talked about other heroes who can fly up in the air, why flight as a super power is important for imaginary heroes and how real people can fly today. Moreover, those who have already flown by plane shared the experience with their colleagues. They invented and drew their own heroes having the super ability to fly and some pupils even wrote stories about imaginary characters that can fly. We have organized an exhibition with all these creations in the school hall.

December 2012 – Flight in the humanity evolution and the history of aviation

Inspired by the title of the project, our students guided by Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica, the Romanian coordinator of the partnership, worked in groups and made some research about the history of modern and Romanian aviation and the idea of flight in human history from the Antiquity till today, how people have tried to rise themselves up in the air and fly with different types of interesting and unusual devices. They made Power Point presentations in English on this topic and when they proudly presented their materials to their classmates, a meeting was organized with students of different ages in order to let as many students as possible see their work and share their knowledge. There were 17 very well designed materials with a wide range of information about this topic, small encyclopedia-like, and they were all put together on a CD forming a final product of the project in order to be used by teachers and students during lessons and at different extracurricular activities even after the completion of the project.

January 2013 – Tourist Airlines

Mrs. Varvaruc Daniela, teacher of Tourism, organized an interesting activity on 22 January presenting flight, the topic of the partnership, from the perspective of modern aviation focusing on the tourist aspect of flying. The activity was held in the ITC lab with students of different ages and the Power Point material presented covered many ideas: modern aviation, the important role of air transport for tourism, its advantages and disadvantages, presentation of the main types of air transport (airlines, charter and air taxi) and the well-known airline companies, advantages and disadvantages of low-cost airline companies, the importance of IATA for air tourism, what ticketing is, the main elements of an electronic plane ticket and the necessary steps to make an online reservation. The activity had also a practical phase in its second part when students had to simulate an online reservation and to identify the tourist programs of Tarom company. The students were very interested in this activity, some of them having tourism as their specialism, and confessed at the end that they had learned important things which would certainly help them in the future.

January 2013 – Grade III Meeting – Nonverbal Communication

On 30 January Mrs. Tanase Ana Bianca (teacher of Romanian) and Mr. Petrache Bogdan (teacher of Psychology) organized an interesting activity with 11-year old students. It was an activity which tried to explain nonverbal communication as a way of communication that sustains, substitutes, completes, emphasizes, adjusts, repeats and contradicts verbal communication. It is the easiest way to try to communicate with people of other nationalities and due to globalization, it has a universal character, therefore we can talk about a wide range of aspects: mimics, look, space and territory, hand gestures and body language etc. In the second part of the activity, teachers and students role played the meeting of a human being with an alien, based on a symbolic and nonverbal primitive language. Students understood the importance of gestures and mimics for communication and they also understood better the role of nonverbal communication in situations of communication with foreign people. They broadened their horizons in terms of communication with people from foreign countries, with cultures or languages totally different from those we are familiar with. Moreover, they realized the importance of learning a foreign language in order to be able to communicate with other people from remote parts of the world in nowadays society when globalization and new technologies make everything possible. There was a video made with the shootings taken during the activity and it was uploaded on Youtube at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRdUace75gc&feature=youtu.be.

February 2013 – “Presentation of our project”

Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica, the Romanian coordinator of the partnership, and Mrs. Fanareanu Beatrice organized an area at the main entrance of school for presenting the partnership in images and photos. There are the 7 countries of the partnership presented with their maps, flags and photos, but also the cards Romanian students received from Greek and Slovak pupils and many photos from the activities Romanian students and teachers organized in the 2 years of the project. There are posters on the school walls depicting activities students took part in and the project meetings teachers and students attended in the partner countries. Moreover, many planes and rockets students designed and built are presented in an exhibition down the hall of school, this way everyone who enters the school finds out about the partnership topic and the final products students have created. Some of the students’ creations and their posters cover the walls of the Centre of Excellence in European Projects, which our school organized in partnership with ISJ Prahova (School Inspectorate) and Colegiul National “Nichita Stanescu” Ploiesti.

February 2013 – Human Motivation to Fly

Mr. Petrache Bogdan, teacher of Psychology, organized with students from the 10th grade an activity based on the human motivation to fly and he tried to explain why people raised their eyes up in the sky throughout history and wanted to explore the air and space. Flying became a reality in the last century and today it is a necessity for every human being, although there are people who haven’t flown by plane yet. Students were asked what flying means and they found interesting answers and explanations: flying is the attitude of free spirits who have no constraints, but knowledge, intelligence, passion and creativity; flying represents human motivation to push beyond and exceed the human limitations; flying prepares human beings for new existential challenges to conquer the outer space, but the inner space as well; flying gives us power and energy to fulfil all our tasks and makes us see the world differently, as if we were on top of the world (this can explain also the envy others feel for us, but also the danger that we could treat our fellows as being inferiors). The Power Point presentation made by the teacher helped students see the meanings of flying beyond the limitations of their eyes and reflect boldly on their dreams and wishes an on the possibility to turn them into reality one day. Students understood that everything stays in their power to change in better their lives and to go beyond their limits, fulfilling all their dreams with a strong motivation and having as models the wise pioneers of aviation who didn’t take ”no” for an answer, but turned it into a determined “yes”.

February 2013 – Kites – play, construction, joy of life

On 14 and 21 February, students from grades 5th, 6th and 8th took part in a challenging activity organized by Mr. Preda George-Cosmin, teacher of History. At first, students were told about kites in history of mankind, about who designed and built them for the first time, then they were presented some photos. The practical activity consisted of the following steps: gathering the necessary materials, establishing the procedure and designing the plan, the kite construction and launching the kites in the school yard. Students took part in the activity with great interest and excitement, they worked in teams and built strong kites. Launching in the schoolyard gathered together many students of different ages and they were happy to present their work in front of their peers.

February 2013 – The Solar System, Planets and Satellites

On 18 February, students from grades 5th, 6th, 10th and 13th took part in a creative workshop which was organized by Mr. Voicu Cristian-Jean, teacher of Geography. In the first part, the teacher introduced the theoretical aspects of the solar system and the sun, the common and unique characteristics of the planets and the definition of satellites with the help of a Power Point presentation which gave the teacher the necessary background for presenting the most interesting facts about the topic. The aim of the activity was to introduce students in planetary research and to get them used to planets and their unique and identifiable characteristics. In the second practical part of the activity, students worked in groups, cut out following the drawings and made several tri-dimensional solar systems and the sun using coloured cardboard and glue. The final products obtained from printed cardboard - the miniature solar system and the sun - would be used with students to study these elements and their characteristics even after the completion of the project. Students took part in this activity with a lot of interest especially because making a product with their own hands was something that motivated them and challenged their talent.

March 2013 – First steps to fly

On 21 March, Mr. Preda George-Cosmin, teacher of History, organized a complex activity with students of different ages having well established objectives and resources involved. There were two stages: the first consisted of presenting information about prehistoric enigmas, aeronautic and astronautic relics of the ancient world with the help of a Power Point presentation, and the second was a practical activity in which students worked in teams, designed and built model planes and rockets. At the beginning, students found out about ancient relics discovered in Egypt, Colombia and Mexico which clearly depict flying objects being the topic of vivid debates among scientists. Moreover, students were presented the steps mankind took throughout history to be able to fly and were informed about the Romanian pioneers of aviation and their contribution to modern aviation. While building the planes and rockets, they received advice and guidance concerning materials used, Physics laws, techniques of building planes and suggestions about cutting, bending, rounding and gluing. Students’ creativity was stimulated, cooperation was exercised while working in teams and challenge provoked everyone. The final step of activity was the assessment of teamwork and the presentation of the products.

March 2013 – Constellations

On 29 March, Mr. Voicu Jean-Cristian and Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica organized a creative workshop with students of different ages on a very interesting Astronomical topic “Constellations”. This activity was designed to be separate in 2 parts: a theoretical one (in which students were familiarized with essential Astronomy notions about constellations, how people from ancient civilizations imagined and designed them on the sky and how they can use the Stellarium software - http://www.stellarium.org/- to know everything about the universe) and a practical one (in which students got used with the forms of constellations and had to design spyglass-like supports of cardboard on which they glued papers with printed and pierced constellations for watching them in a dark room with the help of a torch on the wall). The aim of this activity was to familiarize students with the unique and identifiable characteristics of the principal constellations which can be seen also with the naked eye on the night sky. Moreover, from multicultural perspective, the teachers underlined the research contributions and observation results of antique civilisations (Sumer, Babylon, Greek, Roman and Arab) on watching the sky. The objects students made are good didactic materials and they can be used during the Geography lessons long after the completion of the project. While working in groups, students developed observation, communication, comparison, flexibility, competitive spirit, open-mindedness and tolerance.

March 2013 – Modern aviation, types of planes and their use

On 26 March, Mrs. Varvaruc Daniela, teacher of Tourism, organised with students from the 6th grade an activity about modern aviation, types of planes and how people use them nowadays. Students were very interested in learning about air transport and the two Power Point materials the teacher brought presented exactly the notions which captured students attention and curiosity: airfields, airports, types of modern planes, air station, control tower and its role, installations, equipments, technical devices, pilots, plane factories etc. Children learned for the first time about an international organization which deals with the air traffic and they counted the types of planes that fly today and their purposes. The images presented by the teacher and the numerous questions students asked made the activity very attractive and children said at the end that they enjoyed the lesson a lot because they learned many new things about this unfamiliar topic.

March 2013 – Visiting the Model Plane Enthusiasts Club from Children’s Palace

On 23 March, 4th grade students took part with their class teacher, Mrs. Visan Maria, in a trans-disciplinary activity organised at the Children’s Palace from Ploiesti, by the Model Plane Enthusiasts Club. Mr. Marius Savulescu, the host teacher, spoke about the aviation history and Romanian pioneers of aviation, presented several model planes which had been made by the children who had attended the Model Plane Course and he also explained and demonstrated on the spot how a simple model plane can be constructed using different materials like thin wooden sticks of different sizes, special paper, glue and strings. The children were very interested in taking part in this activity, not only for the knowledge they gathered, but also for the abilities they developed in building model planes.

March 2013 – Let’s build model planes!

On 25 March, Mrs. Visan Monica and children from the 4 th grade organised another activity related to the one which had taken place at Children’s Palace few days earlier. If then they had only visited the Model Plane Enthusiasts Club and watched the teacher while constructing model planes and explaining the procedure, now they had to build simple model planes by themselves. After gathering all necessary materials (thin wooden sticks, cardboard and glue), students worked in groups, pairs or individually and the model planes designed and built were finally decorated. At the end of the activity, students went outside in the schoolyard where they launched their model planes in an on-the-spot competition to designate those which flew the longest distance. At the end of the competition, the model planes were added to an exhibition organised in the school hall by Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica, the coordinator of the project, in the Comenius corner. Students and parents involved were delighted due to the new kind of extracurricular activities children were involved in, the information they received and the skills they developed.

March 2013 – First steps towards the progress of today’s aviation

On 5th March, Mrs. Jigaila Marilena, teacher of Economics, organised an activity with students of different ages (grades 5th, 6th, 10th) about the history of flight. At the beginning, there has been a teacher-students dialogue about the human desire to fly, what motivation people had to invent flying devices, why they needed flying for the development of the human civilization and the benefits people have today from using planes. In the second part of the activity, students answered a questionnaire given by the teacher to see their interest in flying and how much they know about the history of flight, legends of flying and the importance of flight in people’s everyday life. In the second part of the activity, older students presented a Power Point material about the history and legends of flight and the video “A dream came true” which summarized in images and music the first presented material. After the end of the activity, the answers to the questionnaire were analised and the conclusion was that students knew some general and vague things about the discussed issues, but without details, important dates or specific information. The conclusion of the questionnaire and of the whole activity was that students are interested in learning new and important things about this topic, they even suggested elements they wanted to find out: the symbols of flight, the first people who built planes and managed to fly for the first time in history, how a plane is built, why planes are important for us and how they improve our lives.

March 2013 – Flying

On 29th March, Ms. Nicoleta Marin, teacher of Physics/Chemistry and deputy head teacher, organised a very complex activity involving students from the 6 th

and 8th grades. The lesson focused mainly on demonstrations and experiments to help children understand the effects of gravitation on the planet, its importance for sustaining life, how it can be defeated in order to make possible several activities: flying, rocket launching into the outer space and the floating of parachutes. There were experiments that showed the gravitational force (Why objects fall down, Which one falls faster, Build a rocket) and proved Physical and Mechanical laws, recalling the names of some important scientists and philosophers (Aristotle, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton) and the events that preceded the explanation of some phenomena. How must a wing be built to sustain the whole weight of a plane? Which is the best shape for a wing to cut the air? What are the principles of flight? These were just some of the questions children tried to find answers at using only usual handy materials: sheets of paper, paperclips, balloons, toothpaste tubs, drinking straws, rolls of toilet paper, etc. Experiments like Strong flurry, Let’s flap our wings, Weird balloons, Move your tail, Flutter happily, Jet balloon... enhanced not only the main characteristics of the aircrafts, but also the air properties they use to fly. The basic demonstrations led to scientific principles proved by great scientists who had contributions in the development of Aerodynamics and Mechanics of fluids and gases (Daniel Bernoulli, Henri Coanda, Traian Viua, Aurel Vlaicu and Hermann Oberth). The activity proved to be a real success especially because all experiments were performed by children and for children, with basic vocabulary and materials and at the end the general attitude was that this kind of inter-disciplinary activity should be repeated as often as possible. The video filmed during the activity is uploaded on Youtube at the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIb1ibb8Vc8&feature=youtu.be

April 2013 – Visit to ROMAERO - the biggest Romanian plane factory

On the 2nd of April, teachers Andrei Sorina Monica and Varvaruc Daniela organised a visit to ROMAERO plane factory from Baneasa, with a group of 52 students of different ages and another 5 teachers (Marilena Jigaila, Beatrice Fanareanu, Cosmin Preda, Adriana Simion and Corina Otelea). We all visited a huge hall where components of AIRBUS and BOEING were manufactured of different materials by well-experienced workers and students could witness how carefully and responsibly people work there, they watched the stages in producing even the smallest parts of a plane and had the chance to ask many questions which stirred their curiosity. The next step was visiting the hall where planes were repaired and mechanically tested and children had the wonderful opportunity not only to see different types of planes from a very close distance, but also to get in two different airliners and visit the cockpit and the body of the aircrafts. The surprise was even bigger due to the fact that very few of them had ever had the chance to travel by plane before. They took pictures, talked to the employees who were working there and found out important information from an engineer who explained what maintenance of planes really is. This visit to the plane factory was a real success and a unique experience for students because they learned many things about Romanian aviation and planes in general.

April 2013 – Visit to the National Museum of History – Aviation Section

On the 2nd of April, teachers Sorina Monica Andrei and Daniela Varvaruc organised a visit to the National Museum of History from Bucharest, with a group of 52 students of different ages and another 5 teachers (Marilena Jigaila, Beatrice Fanareanu, Cosmin Preda, Adriana Simion and Corina Otelea). Children had the chance to see with their own eyes famous planes or full size dimension models of planes which made history in our country: Traian Vuia’s plane which was the first in Europe to fly in 1906, Aurel Vlaicu’s monoplane, Henri Coanda’s jet plane, Dumitru Prunariu’s astronaut costume which he had used when he went on a mission into the outer space and many other real planes and diplomas obtained by the Romanian aviation throughout its existence. This visit helped children find out interesting things about the Romanian aviation and the pioneers who dedicated their entire lives and careers to flight.

April 2013 – Visit to the Polytechnic Museum - Aviation Section / Polizu

On the 4th of April, teachers Sorina Monica Andrei and Daniela Varvaruc organised a visit to the Polytechnic University Museum - Aviation Section/ Polizu from Bucharest with a group of 32 students and another teacher: Cristian Jean Voicu. Our guide was Ph.D engineer Sorin Dinea, the president of the association “Henri Coanda”, active member of ARCA and the director of the museum. He proved to be the perfect guide because he managed to capture everyone’s attention since the beginning with interesting information about the Romanian and international aviation, about the Physics laws used in aircraft industry and about the charm of piloting profession. Ph.D engineer Sorin Dinea offered students the possibility to take part in a special practical experiment, presenting the Coanda Effect on air flow. This way, students saw with their own eyes how this Physics law works and understood its importance for aircrafts construction. Moreover, the children observed many technical objects which belonged to the domain of aviation and received detailed information about the history of Romanian aviation, about the scientific reasons why a plane can fly and how its wings must be designed, what the rules of plane construction and the necessary materials are and about the science of flight which fascinated the humankind since the dawn of the antique civilizations. This visit was a real success and students said that aviation is an interesting domain which had captured their interest.

April 2013 – Visit to the National Meteorological Agency

On the 4th of April, teachers Sorina Monica Andrei and Daniela Varvaruc organised a visit to the National Meteorological Agency from Bucharest with a group of 32 students and another teacher: Cristian Jean Voicu. The purpose of this visit was to help students understand the connection between the flight and the meteorological conditions, and how the weather can influence the flight of a plane. The engineers who worked at the National Meteorological Agency offered interesting information about what the movement of the air is, how precipitation is created, how and why weather conditions can change and how the weather forecast is designed and on what basis. The modern technologies used by specialists and the professional explanations they offered captured students’ interest and stirred their curiosity, therefore they asked many questions and even expressed their wish to work in such a place one day. The second part of the activity was dedicated to visiting the outdoor weather station where a specialist presented in details all the manual and automatic components and their role in forecasting the weather. Due to the fact that there are new technologies today for predicting the weather conditions, the manual components of the weather station are only parts of an outdoor museum, although they are still functional and students could see how they work and predict the weather. They were also explained what the responsibilities of the meteorologist on duty are and they even saw how people work there on a daily basis. This activity not only fulfilled the project’s objectives, but also offered students the chance to discover a fascinating domain of activity and to start thinking at a possible future career.

April 2013 – Launching the paper lanterns

On the 5th of April, teachers from the project team organized an interesting activity launching paper lanterns with the purpose of making students aware of the various ways in which people have tried to conquer the air throughout history and to travel from one place to another. At the beginning, the teachers and students talked about the way ancient civilizations had tried to invent flying objects in their attempt to fulfil their wish to fly, and focused on the huge lanterns designed to travel long distances in the enemies’ territories and even to transport spies with military purposes. Afterwards, the teachers and students went to the schoolyard and launched tens of paper lanterns working in pairs or in groups and enjoying every moment of this novel activity. Children understood that complex activities require not only dedication and time, but also teamwork and cooperation, because people can achieve great things in life if they put together ideas, effort and inspiration.

June 2013 – Launching the water rockets

On 11th of June, teachers Preda George Cosmin and Andrei Sorina Monica organized a competition as part of the project “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels”. The children involved were of different ages and first they were explained what water rockets are and how they work. Teachers used as reference the pictures and videos they had taken in Kusadasi, Turkey during the project meeting that had been organized there (19 – 23 May) and students observed in detail how the Turkish children from our partner school had designed and launched different types of water rockets. The second stage of activity was organizing students in teams and giving them detailed instructions regarding materials, Physics laws involved in launching the water rockets and methods to build them. The next stage was the construction of the water rockets and children proved to be very creative in this type of activity and also interested in teamwork. The last stage was the presentation of the water rockets they built and the competition which took place in the schoolyard with a numerous audience who cheerfully encouraged every team. The launch of the water rockets was a real success for children who not only learned interesting scientific facts, but also developed their skills to design and build devices which actually work, and the skills to work in teams and to be successful turning their ideas and dreams into reality through cooperation and collaboration.

September 2013 – organising the Centre of Excellence in our school

In September 2013, Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica, the Romanian coordinator of the Comenius partnership and Mrs. Jigaila Marilena, teacher of Economics and member of the Comenius team, have organised in our school the Centre of Excellence on European Projects. This centre was created in partnership with the School Inspectorate of Prahova county and the National College “Nichita Stanescu” from Ploiesti. The place was ornamented with objects students had created as final products of the Comenius partnership (posters about flight, space exploration and Icarus legend, model planes and rockets, parachutes etc.). This centre is available to all teachers from Prahova county who are interested in developing European projects and there is a weekly schedule of the centre when the members offer voluntary assistance.

October 2013 – Space planning for promoting the Comenius partnership

Since October 2012, Mrs. Monica Sorina Andrei, the Romanian project coordinator, has planned and organised a huge space for promoting the Comenius partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” in which our school is involved for 2 years (2012 - 2014). This space is at the main entrance of our school, on the ground floor, and it consists of a large billboard (12.5 meters length and 1.2 meters width) placed on a wall and a great number of model planes and rockets built by students and hanging from the ceiling on the main hall. On the billboard there are presented: all the partners our school has in this project, the pictures depicting the activities which took place in our school (organised by teachers from the project team with our students), the final products some students designed as part of the project, the cards and letters our students received from their Greek and Slovak peers, the drawings students created during the logo contest, the pictures taken during the project meeting organised in Romania by our school (24-26 October 2012) and the pictures from all the other project meetings organised by our partners. On the main and most visible exterior wall of school there is also a banner placed by the project coordinator, Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica, in order to advertise our partnership in the local community and to let everybody know about the European project our school is involved in.

November – The wings of inspiration

Inspired by the flight and under the guidance of teachers Beatrice Fanareanu, Sorina Monica Andrei and Alina Vlad, the talented pupils of our school have created charming stories during the project activities organized in the Comenius multilateral partnership "From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels". Children were told to think about the flight and all the activities they had taken part in and to try to imagine some ideas which are related to the main theme of the project (imaginary devices for flight) and they came up with amazing creative stories. They read the stories in front of their peers and everybody was impressed. These stories represent the contribution of the Romanian pupils to the final product of our project which consists of stories written by the pupils of all partner schools.

December 2013 – Little Aliens

In December, Mrs. Visan Maria, primary school teacher and member of the project team, organised a complex activity which focused on developing the practical skills of the children involved. The purpose of this activity was related to the theme of the project and it consisted of designing and producing little aliens by using various materials: fabrics, sawdust, wheat seeds and other necessary accessories for creating the faces of the extraterrestrial creatures. The children took part in this activity with great enthusiasm and they proved a lot of dedication in the following weeks because their work didn’t finish when the aliens were ready... no, they had also to bring the creatures to life by taking care of them at home and making sure they had all the necessary conditions to grow and live: water, light, warmth and lots of love. After 2 weeks, students brought their aliens to school and the result was a real army of creatures which impressed everybody with their long green hair which meanwhile had grown due to the fact that the children had taken good care of the wheat seeds watering the aliens twice a day and taking seriously their responsibility of bringing them to life. They talked to the teacher about the possibility that life could exist in universe and about their wish to travel to other planets and discover new worlds and civilisations. Finally they promised never to forget the days when they had grown up an alien in their house.

January 2014 – Human desire to fly - essay writing

Students of different ages, guided by Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica, the Romanian coordinator of the partnership, wrote essays in English on the topic of flight and human desire to fly. They have started in chronological order with historical events related to flight, presenting the attempts people have made throughout history in order to rise from the ground and be able to move themselves through the air from one place to another. They talked about the Greek legend of Icarus and Dedalus, the ancient Chinese kites, rudimentary gliders, awkward devices designed to fly which managed or not to sustain themselves up in the air, lanterns, the first heavy-than-air planes which flew for the first time in history, world and Romanian pioneers of aviation, the evolution of flight and aircrafts from the first flight in 1903 till nowadays and the dreams about flying mankind has for the future. The students wrote about the legend of Icarus, who was the first to try in Antiquity to build wings from wax and feathers in his attempt to save himself by flying. They explained the symbols and the significance of his actions and talked about the limited human condition of mortal creatures who can’t turn into reality all the daring dreams they have. Moreover, they mentioned in their essays the human desire to fly and to see the world from above, they tried to explain why flying was the dearest wish of mankind throughout history and to predict some dreams related to flying which would come true in the near future. The essays were presented to their classmates and peers, this way many students managed to read them and to enrich their knowledge about this topic. The essays form a collection which is available in the school library for all who are interested in reading them and it will be used as an auxiliary material at different lessons with other students as well after the completion of the project.

February 2014 – Project posters

Students of different ages worked in teams under the supervision of Mrs. Beatrice Fanareanu, teacher of English and designed interesting posters starting from the theme of the project. The posters were about Icarus and his attempt to fly, about Romanian pioneers of aviation and their breakthroughs, the history of modern aviation, spacecrafts, the solar system, planets and future space exploration. They used not only interesting photos, but also information gathered from different sources. Students needed some weeks to accomplish their work and used their imagination and creativity to design the posters. They were presented to their colleagues and teachers in a common exhibition and some of them were used to decorate the walls of the Centre of Excellence on European Projects from our school.

February 2014 – Coanda Effect presented in experiments

On 17th February 2014, the students from the 7th grade took part in a very interesting and challenging practical Physics lesson organised by Mrs. Marin Nicoleta, deputy head teacher and teacher of Physics. They were given the possibility to learn who Henri Coanda is, what his contribution to the world aviation is, what inventions he made, what Coanda Effect is and its importance for aviation. They found out that Henri Coanda was the first engineer in the world who designed and built the jet plane in 1910, his invention being based on the Coanda Effect. This discovery allowed him to create other break-through projects which were recognised by the international aviation authorities and some of them were built with success. The others are still waiting to be brought to life. Using easy-to-find materials, students made experiments in order to present and prove Physics laws, especially the Coanda Effect and the teacher explained them clearly for students to understand everything.

March 2014 – Visit to the Planetarium from Pitesti

On 27 March a group of students from the 5th, 6th and 7th grades took part in a trip organized by Mrs. Varvaruc Daniela, teacher of Tourism, and Mr. Preda Cosmin, teacher of History, both members of the Comenius project team. The trip had as objective the visit of the planetarium from Pitesti, the only planetarium in Romania who has been modernized in the past years. During the visit, students and teachers watched a documentary about astronomy projected on the planetarium dome. There was a wide range of information presented about astronomy as science, the evolution of the universe, the structure of the solar system, the characteristics of planets and constellations, measurement of distances in the universe, the predicted future of the Milky Way etc. This visit was very interesting for our students who appreciated the information they received during the documentary and the modern equipment and professional logistics of the planetarium which hosted them.

March 2014 – Flying from Manole to Vlaicu’s plane and Prunariu’s rocket

Under the guidance of their teachers - Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica and Mrs. Jigaila Marilena - our students have created an interesting PPT material called “Flying from Manole to Vlaicu’s Plane and Prunariu’s rocket”. It represents the history of Romanian aviation from the first human attempts to fly up in the sky till the most recent achievements of ARCA - Asociația Română pentru Cosmonautică și Aeronautică (Romanian Cosmonautics and Aeronautics Association) and their future goals in the attempt to conquer the outer space with the most effective reduced-cost spaceship ever built. This PPT presentation represents the Romanian contribution to the final product of the Comenius Multilateral Partnership „From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels”, which comprises a PPT material from each partner school containing the national history of aviation from all their countries.

March 2014 - The Romanian acrobatic aerial stunt shows

The Romanian television Digi24 presented an interesting documentary about Romanian acrobatic aerial stunt shows and the talented pilots who dare to challenge gravity and all the other Physics laws while piloting their planes to the delight of the audience. Mrs.Andrei Sorina Monica (the Romanian partnership coordinator) contacted the television and got the documentary for educational purposes only, Mrs. Vlad Alina (teacher of English) translated it and Mrs. Tanase Ana Bianca (teacher of Romanian and member of the Comenius team) added the English subtitles. The documentary is worth watching because it presents the Romanian team of acrobatic pilots and the way they train for the aerial stunt shows. It’s easy to understand while watching the documentary that not money or other material interests motivate them, but their love for flight and their determination to dedicate their career to flying planes and to continue the line of famous and talented Romanian pilots. Although it is a difficult career and they risk their lives every time they perform aerial stunt shows, the Romanian acrobatic pilots are determined to continue taking part in competitions following their dream to become one of the best teams in the world at aerial stunt shows. The documentary was presented not only to our students, but also to all Comenius partners our school has - teachers and students from six countries and the impact was amazing.

April 2014 - Extraterrestrial fashion

On 10 April 2014, Mrs. Marilena Jigaila, teacher of Economics, organised the workshop “Extraterrestrial fashion” as a project activity in the Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to interplanetary travels”. The students from the 9th A grade took part in this activity and they expressed their interest in finding out new and exciting information not only about aliens and UFOs, but also about their encounter with the human beings on Earth. Using old newspapers, pets, and other recyclable materials, the students have designed a kind of alien fashion presenting how they think aliens look like. They used their imagination and at the end, their fashion products seemed very interesting. A very cute “alien” wore the brand new clothes and the students were proud to present their creations in front of their colleagues and friends.

April 2014 - Visit to the Meteorological Station from Ploiesti

On 11 April 2014, Mrs. Marilena Jigaila, teacher of Economics, organised the visit to the Meteorological Station from Ploiesti as a project activity in the Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to interplanetary travels”. The students from the 9th A grade took part in this activity along with their teachers Andreea Balalia and Zenaida Iancu and they expressed their interest in finding out new and exciting information about how weather can be predicted and what tools and instruments meteorologists use to measure, analyze, quantify, estimate and predict the natural phenomena. The specialist from the weather station answered all their questions, presented the mechanical and automatic devices from the field which are used for weather predictions and explained not only how the modern ones are used today, but also the way the mechanical equipment was used in the past. Some experiments took place on the spot and students could watch every step and detail in weather prediction. The number of questions they asked proved their interest in finding out information about predicting the weather and the way it can be done. Some students said that to be a meteorologist is a very interesting and challenging job and that they would consider it as a possible future career.

April 2014 – The lifecycle of a star from birth to extinction and watching the stars through a professional telescope

On 8 April students of different ages took part in the workshop organised by Mr. Voicu Jean Cristian, teacher of Geography, in which he presented the lifecycle of a star from birth to extinction using a PPT presentation with the general and unique characteristics of the Sun – the most known star of our solar system. The material was interesting and students learned about the certain stages in the evolution of a star. The introductive part of the workshop was followed by a practical one in which students and their teacher got out into the school yard and looked at the stars on the sky through a professional telescope. This was a very novel activity for all students because they had never been to an astronomical observatory or a planetarium before. They had the chance to learn about laws of the universe, about the types of stars, the way they evolve, the stages they pass through in their evolution and how they transform themselves in their lifecycle. A great number of new words and expressions enriched students’ vocabulary and many scientific terms were explained for them to understand. The whole activity stirred students’ interest and they seemed very pleased with taking part in this.

May 2014 – Building lunar rovers

On 9 May 2014, a creative workshop was organized with students from 9 A by Mr. Petrache Bogdan Petre, teacher of Psychology. The aim of this activity was to familiarize students with some Physics laws and to stir their interest in this subject which seems very difficult at the beginning. The workshop was part of the Comenius partnership “From Icarus to interplanetary travels”, therefore the main activity was building lunar rovers and making them work using Physics laws. First, there was a short conversation about spacecrafts and vehicles built to function in the outer space and some photos were shown depicting lunar machineries and their working mechanisms. Then, the teacher presented the materials they were supposed to use to build the rovers and explained the steps. The students started working in teams and at the end they presented their lunar rovers and their “aerial” performances. Working to build something together was a good opportunity for students to learn, to develop practical skills and to understand what teamwork is.

May 2014 - Stories about aliens written by Romanian students

Under the guidance of Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica, teacher of English and the Romanian coordinator of the Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to interplanetary travels”, the students from the 9th grades wrote very interesting and challenging stories about aliens, extraterrestrial spaceships and their encounter with the human beings. Some stories present real events that took place on Earth, while others are invented stories based on students’ rich imagination and creativity. It was provocative for them to search for information related to alien abductions or recorded events when people had witnessed the presence of aliens and UFOs on Earth. There are several stories presenting people’s encounter with alien creatures in different parts of the world: in Spain, Romania, Russia etc. Some of the stories present unexplained events that happened in our country either in the recent years or at the beginning of history, in ancient times. They tried to find an explanation for some unexplained events from history and concluded that our ancestors were in direct connection with aliens and their wisdom. Students were very interested in writing these texts and they considered this task a very challenging one because they had to deal with topics that have always stirred people’s imagination.

May 2014 - Time measurement

On 21May 2014, Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica, teacher of English, organized with students from IX A grade a visit to the Clock Museum from Ploiesti in order to develop a Comenius project activity based on the measurement of time. The purpose of this activity was to familiarize students with means of time measurement people have used since the dawn of civilization and to particularly present the sundial, an astrologic method of measuring time according to the movement of our planet around the Sun. Students were explained by the museum guide how a sundial works and it is built and then the teacher presented different types of sundials people used in different parts of the world to measure time. Students became aware of the importance of time, how it passes without any stop and they witnessed its measurement while watching the shade moving on a sundial. They also understood that movement is continuous in the universe and that the planets never stop from spinning around the Sun.

May 2014 - Distance measurement in universe

On 27 May 2014, Mrs. Marin Nicoleta, teacher of Physics and Mr. Voicu Cristian, teacher of Geography, organized an activity with students of different ages (grades 5th, 6th and 11th) about the distance measurement in the universe. The aim of the activity was to make students aware of the huge distances in the universe and to teach them how astronomers measure these long distances and the measurement scale and units they use. Students learned about the astronomical unit representing the distance from the Earth to the Sun and about the light year used to measure the distances between the stars of a galaxy or between galaxies. They realized how big the universe is and how difficult it is to measure the distances even when using numbers with many zeroes. Students were told not only about macro-cosmos, but also about the “invisible” micro-cosmos and its units: micro, nano, pico and at the end of the activity, they better understood the complexity of the universe we live in and the vast spaces human beings can’t even think about, not to mention measuring.

May 2014 – Interview with a pilot

Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica-teacher of English and Mr. Preda Cosmin-teacher of History organized the meeting between the students from the 7 th grade and one of the most famous Romanian pilots. This meeting took place at Strejnic airfield near Ploiesti, where the students could see the planes, learn about the greatest Romanian pilots and watch a breath-taking demonstration of stunt flight. They took an interview to Andrei Serbu, one of the most talented and fearless pilots, who was ready to share his vast experience with our students, telling them about his trainings and thousands of hours of flight, what to be a pilot really means and what it is like to be up in the sky and perform stunts with the plane. Students were very impressed by his answers and promised to watch the future aerial stunt shows to be organized in Strejic. The interview was recorded and it will be a very good teaching material for future lessons. The film was uploaded on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaQqheUdBpQ&feature=youtu.be

May 2014 – 5 minutes after Cosmos

Mrs. Tanase Ana Bianca-teacher of Romanian and Mr. Petrache Bogdan-teacher of Psychology organized a project activity dedicated to Dumitru Prunariu, the only Romanian astronaut who has ever got out into the outer space during a mission. The teachers used as a support the book “5 minutes after cosmos” written by Dumitru Prunariu and Alexandru Stark in which the astronaut presents his unique experience in space from May 1981, and also the years of preparation he underwent to be able to face the challenges from the spaceship. The teachers presented a PPT material containing information from the book in order to familiarize students with the experience Prunariu had and based on it students were encouraged to express their opinion on the subject, to ask questions and try to find answers. They were impressed by the serious preparation a human being needs to survive in the outer space and by the difficult challenges an astronaut has to face while being on a mission.

June 2014 – the final questionnaire

On 19 June 2014, Mrs. Andrei Sorina Monica, teacher of English and the Romanian coordinator of the project, asked the students who had taken part in the project activities in the last two years, to fill in a questionnaire. The purpose of this questionnaire is to get a real feedback from students at the end of the partnership regarding the activities organised and to see how much their knowledge has improved due to their involvement in the workshops, visits, meetings and activities carried out. The results of this questionnaire were compared to the results of the initial one which was held in 2012 at the beginning of this partnership, and the conclusions showed clearly the feedback of students and the fact that the project had a huge positive impact on their education and knowledge. Not only they learned new things from unknown fields of activity and sciences, but they also visited interesting places and developed skills and interests which will help them in the future to decide for themselves in different aspects of life.

COMENIUS MULTILATERAL PARTNERSHIP

”FROM ICARUS TO INTERPLANETARY TRAVELS”

2012 – 2014

THE PROJECT MEETINGS ORGANISED IN ALL PARTNER INSTITUTIONS

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission or ANPCDEFP cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

THE FIRST PROJECT MEETING ORGANISED IN ROMANIA

Liceul tehnologic de servicii “Sfantul Apostol Andrei” Ploiesti

24 – 26 October 2012

Liceul Tehnologic de Servicii "Sfantul Apostol Andrei" has organised the first project meeting in the Comenius Multilateral Partnership "From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels". The objectives of this meeting were to bring together the teachers/partners from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, Greece, Portugal and Lithuania, to offer them the possibility to meet for the first time

and get to know each other and discuss about the project they were supposed to develop together. There were presentations of every country - city - school in the partnership and hosts and guests talked about their educational systems trying to compare them and to identify common and different aspects in teaching, school policies and mentalities.

15 teachers from the 6 partner-countries came to our school and together with the Romanian teachers decided on the next steps of the project. The tasks of every partner country and the future activities in the development of our project have been established for the following 2 years, so as all objectives to be fulfilled and all proposed activities to be designed and organised. Our project was about flight and the purpose of the partnership was to offer students the opportunity to learn about the humans' dream to conquer the outer space, about the world and national pioneers of aviation, about the role Romanian inventors played in the development of modern aviation and about the means people used to fly throughout history, starting with Icarus and his wax wings and ending with the spacecrafts people have designed and used to walk on the Moon and more. 

24 October - the first official activity of the meeting took place at Strejnic airfield where teachers involved in the project, hosts and guests, had the chance to talk to representatives of the airfield about the history of Romanian aviation. Moreover, they talked to pilots who had dedicated their whole life to aviation

and to famous engineers who had built and piloted their own planes. In addition, the parachute jumpers, who won many world championship rewards and medals, talked about their experience and training. Due to unfriendly weather conditions, the guests watched only a short flight demonstration made by acrobat pilots and 2 teachers (one from Slovakia and another one from Turkey) had the chance to fly a plane along with a flight instructor.

In the afternoon the official visit of school followed, where teachers from every country presented themselves and their schools and all partners talked about their involvement in the project. The next three project meetings of partners were established for the first school year and the project activities were also discussed and organised.

25 October - all partners visited the Aurel Vlaicu's Monument from Banesti and found out that Aurel Vlaicu - one of the first Romanian pioneers of aviation - crushed to the ground with his plane in that place in his attempt to cross the Carpathians. The next objective in the documentary visit was the Rasnov fortress and the guests were impressed by the architecture of the place and the landscape. Other places visited were: the Bran Castle and the city Centre of Brasov, both of them proved to be interesting for the guests who had the possibility to learn not only about Romanian culture, civilisation, traditions, history and geography, but also about the ability of vampires to fly.

26 October - there was another meeting in school, which started with the visit of our classrooms and laboratories where students welcomed the guests with songs, flags of the partner countries and demonstrations of hairstyling. Guests met some of our students and teachers, asked questions and learnt about the Romanian educational system, our curricular and extracurricular projects, and they received some traditional presents from the fourth graders. In the second part of the school meeting all partners continued planning the tasks for the future activities in the project and some conclusions were expressed regarding the following visits and the final products of our partnership.

In the afternoon guests and hosts visited the meteorological station from Ploiesti and they talked to a specialist in determining weather conditions and predictions for the near future. He explained in detail how every manual device in the outdoor station worked and even made some experiments to show how meteorologists can predict weather based on the data received in the field. Everybody learned how important weather forecast is for pilots and planes, but also for agriculture. We saw manual and electronic devices predicting weather and we were told how they work and send weather forecast to the airports and pilots.

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission or ANPCDEFP cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

THE SECOND PROJECT MEETING ORGANISED IN GREECE

The 4th primary school from Glyfada, Athens

21 – 25 April 2013

The second project meeting took place in Glyfada, the southern part of Athens, and the representatives of our school were the following teachers: Andrei Sorina Monica-teacher of English and coordinator of the partnership, Marin Nicoleta-teacher of Physics/Chemistry and deputy head teacher, Jigaila Marilena-teacher of Economics, Steoalfa Roxana-teacher of English and Voicu Jean Cristian-teacher of Geography.

The hosts proposed a varied program based on the project theme and the objectives were very clear: to enrich our knowledge about the universe and the solar system, to take part in experiments based on Physics and Aerodynamics laws, to understand the principles that help a plane to take off and how a plane is built. The students and teachers from partner schools interacted very well exchanging intercultural experiences and taking part in common activities. They developed not only their linguistic competences and the ability to speak English, but they also learned many things about the Greek culture, traditions and folk dances. The Romanian team presented in detail the activities which had taken place in our home institution before this meeting and offered a CD to all partners which contained this information along with some presentations about Easter and Romanian spring traditions.

21 April - there was the official meeting in school and the representatives of the Greek Amateur Astronomers Association presented some materials about the solar system, planets, satellites and how they can be observed. Afterwards, teachers and students were invited in the schoolyard where 4 professional telescopes had been installed for everybody to observe the clear sky of the night and different planets and satellites.

22 April - there was another meeting in school and the Greek teachers presented their educational system and school. The students offered a complex show to the guests singing different songs, dancing traditional dances and role playing short plays related to flying. The partners presented the project activities organized in their own institutions and discussed about the logo of the project.

23 April - the hosts organized a visit on the Acropolis to offer the guests the chance to discover the world heritage from Athens. Back to school, partners met a pilot from the Aegean company who offered information about what being a pilot means, how a plane is built and what Physics and Aerodynamics laws are taken into consideration in aviation industry. There were also practical scientific experiments performed by this expert in front of the audience, one of them being the Coanda Effect on airflow.

24 April - hosts and guests visited the Planetarium of Athens, which is considered the biggest in Europe, where they watched a documentary about the outer space in exceptional high quality definition. Students learned many interesting things about the universe, planets, constellations, measurement of distances and ways to travel by spacecrafts. In the afternoon there was the last official meeting in school and the partners could meet the Athens school inspector on European Programmes and the mayor of Glyfada who took part in the activities and showed their interest in the objectives and theme of our partnership.

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission or ANPCDEFP cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

THE THIRD PROJECT MEETING ORGANISED IN TURKEY

Rahime Bilici Ilkökulu, Kusadasi, Aydin

19 – 23 May 2013

The third project meeting took place in Kusadasi, Aydin, a beautiful seaside resort in the south-western part of Turkey, and the representatives of our school were the following teachers: Andrei Sorina Monica-teacher of English, Visan Maria-primary school teacher and Preda George Cosmin-teacher of History. The program was complex and the objectives were clearly based on the project theme: to enrich knowledge about universe and planets through direct observation with special telescopes designed and built by Turkish students, to build planes of polycarbonate and launch them in a competition organized on-the-spot in the schoolyard, to build and launch very complex water rockets in the schoolyard in front of a large audience. All guests were deeply impressed by the hospitality of Turkish teachers, children and parents and by the involvement of the local community in the organization of the project meeting.

19 May - it was celebrated the Youth Day all over the country and the guests took part in the festival organized by the local authorities on this occasion in the city centre of Kusadasi. It was a perfect opportunity to discover the Turkish culture and traditions because the whole community took part in the event and we could see people singing, dancing and expressing their joy.

20 May - the first official activity of the project took place in Izmir where we all visited the space camp organized by the Americans from NASA at high quality standards and where Dumitru Prunariu has a special place among the other astronauts of the world. We learned there about the history of humans going into the outer space, about space stations and orbits, how astronauts are trained to be prepared for all possible challenges during the space missions, about the lunar soil and the special equipments from the spacecrafts which permanently keep in touch with the mission control room on Earth, about Physics, Aerodynamics and Thermodynamics laws used in rockets designing and construction. A short documentary about how astronauts live in a rocket was watched, then the full-size copy of the Discovery shuttle was visited along with a copy of the Huston mission control room. We were explained how plants can grow in the artificial medium from the outer space and the employees made not only demonstrations of the trainings astronauts perform before missions, but also experiments based on the Chemistry laws.

The second objective visited was the planetarium from Izmir, where a documentary was presented about the universe, planets, constellations and how they can be observed at night. Later in the afternoon we all visited the Kusadasi national park where students and teachers built cardboard spyglasses for star gazing. At night the Turkish team brought on the seashore the telescopes students had built under the careful supervision of their teacher Mert Kocer and everybody looked at the stars taking part in a real and unique lesson of Astronomy.

21 May - there was the official meeting in school and the hosts presented their institution, the educational system and the project activities organized with their students. The Astronomy teacher involved the audience in a practical experiment which represented the building of a telescope mirror in 3 different steps (workshops). The workshop in which everybody had to contribute to the polishing of the glass for the future telescope was very interesting and challenging and it was finished with the presentation of the Sagita test which tells precisely if a mirror is good enough for a telescope or not. After this, the students dressed up in beautiful traditional costumes and presented a wonderful show of Turkish folk dances in the school yard. The next activity was the launching of the water rockets and everybody was impressed by the students’ abilities to use and launch the rockets they had built previously. The last activity of the day was the documentary visit to Sirince village, famous for its special architecture and handmade products.

22 May - Selcuk airfield was visited and the audience had the opportunity to talk to a woman-pilot, member of the Turkish Air Agency, who presented her job and the trainings pilots need to be able to fly. The planes on the airfield were presented too and also the safety regulations which everybody has to respect to avoid accidents. The next stop was at Ephesus where we visited the ancient city which impressed with its greatness and splendor. Back to school, the second workshop was organized for polishing the telescope mirror and it was followed

by a PPT presentation of Hazarfen Ahmet Celebi, who is considered to be the first Turkish who managed to cross the Bosphorus wearing artificial wings in the 17th century. Another show with music and dance was presented by the Turkish students and the last activity of the day was a competition in which teams of students had to put together parts of polycarbonate planes to build them and then launched the planes in the schoolyard in their attempt to win a prize.

23 May - the third workshop took place in school and polishing the telescope mirror came to an end due to the hard work of students and teachers, who had the chance to check the quality of the mirror with the Ronchi test at the end. The next activity was the presentation of the Eclipse Hunters – a Turkish association of professional photographers from Izmir. Its representative Kubilay Akdemir came to school, talked about the passionate photographers who travel around the world for shooting eclipses and he answered the students’ questions. The last part of the program was handing out the certificates of attendance. All participants in this project meeting were impressed by the new things they learned and experienced related to the theme of the partnership and by the intercultural exchange they witnessed using English.

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission or ANPCDEFP cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

THE FOURTH PROJECT MEETING ORGANISED IN HUNGARY

Magyar-Szlovák Két Tanítási Nyelvu Nemzetiségi Általános Iskola és Kollégium, Satoráljaujhely

20 – 25 June 2013

The fourth project meeting took place in Satoraljaujhely, a small town from northern part of Hungary situated on the border with Slovakia and the representatives of our school were the following teachers:

Andrei Sorina Monica Tanase Ana Maria Bianca Petrache Bogdan Varvaruc Daniela Preda George Cosmin

and the students:

Buzila Ioana Malina (6th grade) Ciausu Sebastian Constantin (6th grade) Sandu Ioana Diana (6th grade) Panca Andrei Sebastian (6th grade) Cristea Bianca Gabriela (6th grade) Cosma Gabriela Cristina (6th grade) Ionescu Stefania(6th grade) Costache Stefan Gabriel (5th grade).

The program was complex, the activities had elements of Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics, Mechanics, Aerodynamics and the objectives were clearly based on the project theme: to enrich knowledge about universe, solar system, planets, satellites and constellations through direct observation using professional telescopes and the mobile planetarium under the careful supervision of expert astronomers from the Hungarian Astronautics Society, who answered all the questions children asked; to find out important information about how humans try to conquer the outer space, about the spacecrafts they build and the last inventions for traveling in the universe – all these from professional astronauts; to build planes and lunar rovers of polycarbonate and to launch them in the schoolyard; to build water rockets – the pride of the Romanian students who presented a real show launching them together with the Hungarian students in front of the whole audience.

20 June - the Romanian students built water rockets working in teams and designing their own creations.

21 June - “The Rocket Launching Day” – there was the official opening of the project meeting in the school yard and all students, parents and teachers from the Hungarian school attended this event along with the mayor of the town. The ceremony was followed by a show presented by the host students who danced and sang folk Hungarian and Slovak music wearing traditional clothes and

everything was shot by the local television Zemplen TV and presented online at the following link: http://www.zemplentv.hu/csillagaszati-tabor-a-szlovak-iskolaban/. The following activities were held in Felsoberecki, a camp in the countryside where students from all 7 partner institutions took part in different workshops: they drew spacecrafts, astronauts and the solar system; the Romanian students launched the water rockets enchanting the audience with their abilities; teachers and students built planes and explained Newton’s 3rd law; and they watched an artist drawing acryl paintings depicting the universe and planets (one drawing for each partner institution). As intercultural activities, they attended a riding show and a folk dance show and they enjoyed canoe sailing and swimming in the river.

22 June - “The Universe Day” - some expert astronomers from the Hungarian Astronautics Society delivered presentations related to the theme of the project: how a spacecraft can travel, how a plane is built, what Physics, Aerodynamics and Mechanics laws are used in aviation industry, experiments and demonstrations of these laws, the beginning of the international aviation etc. Then children built lunar rovers and polystyrene planes which were launched in the schoolyard. In the afternoon we all visited the town Szephalom, where we took part in a national Hungarian festival and we learned about traditional dances, music and food. In the evening, the Night of Museums was celebrated in Satoraljaujhely, so everybody visited the Museum of Prisons and afterwards

went to a rock concert organized on the school premises by Danger Close, a famous band with many fans in Hungary, whose members are graduated students of the host school.

23 June - “The Sun Day” - the astronomers from the Hungarian Astronautics Society delivered presentations about universe, the sun, sundials, the solar system, astronauts, space travel and aliens. Afterwards everybody could visit the mobile planetarium, which had been placed in the gym by the professional astronomers and where we all could watch an interesting documentary about the planets, satellites and constellations, their symbols and basic Astronomy which stirred the interest of all children. Zemplen TV reflected this event as well on: http://www.zemplentv.hu/mobilplanetarium-a-szlovak-iskolaban/. The Slovak astronauts Miroslav Tirpák and Maria Gimová talked to the students and presented information about the solar system and in the afternoon there was an activity called Magic Chemistry in which some experiments were made by the Hungarian teacher of Chemistry and her students. This was followed by a contest of drawings on the asphalt which challenged all students to create images related to the project theme. After sunset some professional telescopes were installed in the schoolyard and students and teachers could look at the stars. As intercultural exchange of the day, students were invited to watch how bread is baked traditionally and they took part in a complex medieval

competition (spear throwing, archery, tournament, whip handling) in which every partner country had a representative team.

24 June - “The Astronaut Day” - the Slovak astronauts Miroslav Tirpák and Maria Gimová delivered a presentation about life in the outer space, how plants can grow in spaceships and on the international space station, how astronauts are trained and how they live in the spacecrafts during the missions, and at the end they presented a chronological list of the human missions into the outer space. Next the Adventure Park from Satoraljaujhely was visited, where students had a lot of fun all afternoon and also they visited the bridge representing the border between Hungary and Slovakia and which separates the town in 2 different parts. In the evening, there was the official ceremony in which all children were awarded the diplomas for the competitions they had won during the project meeting and everything finished with a dance show offered by the ex-students of the host school followed by the observation of the sky through the telescopes.

Our students came home with enriched knowledge on the theme of the project and with a vast experience due to the interaction they had in an international environment with teachers and students from 6 European countries. The intercultural exchange helped them understand better what European citizenship is and how to behave in a society where there are both differences and common points. Communication in English helped them not only develop their linguistic

skills, but also realize how important it is for European citizens to be able to communicate with people around using a foreign language.

On the way to Hungary and back, the Romanian team could visit amazing places in Romania, where the students had the chance to learn about our past history (in Sighisoara, Targu Mures and Alba Iulia) and about the natural beauties of our landscape and the richness of our mountains (Turda salt mine and Scarisoara cave).

“We communicated with the children from the other European schools and we improved our English skills. We made good friends there and we keep in touch with our European friends on social networks. Now we understand how important English is for communication. I discovered how hospitable and friendly Hungarians are and all activities were great especially because I did things which I had never done before. It was a wonderful experience and I will never forget it.”

Panca Andrei Sebastian

“The activities were great, we learned many things and we played a lot learning. We made many friends and we could talk to them in English and now we are friends on Facebook. I discovered the traditions and culture of different countries and the traditional Hungarian food seemed delicious. Everything was organised well and I had the chance to visit amazing places.”

Ciausu Sebastian Constantin

“I really enjoyed the water rocket launch, the scientific PPT presentations and star gazing through the telescope. I never got tired. I tried to talk to many children and we became good friends. Hungary is a beautiful country and I met there wonderful teachers and pupils.”

Ionescu Stefania

“I made friends with many children from the camp and we keep in touch using English which is a great language because it helps us communicate with people from all over the world. I enjoyed all activities because they were challenging. I was not very pleased with food and accommodation, but I understood that I have to adapt myself to any situation. It was a great experience which helped me to be on my own, to face whatever situation and to take care of myself. I’m very happy for having this opportunity to be part of the Romanian team in this wonderful Comenius project.”

Buzila Ioana Malina

“All activities were very well organised on the theme of the project and, although I didn’t like the traditional food very much, our visit to Hungary was great because we took part in interesting workshops, we talked to children from many countries in English and we became good friends. Hungary is a beautiful country with interesting traditions and culture, but I learned many things about the other countries as well. I would give 10 years of my life to have again such a great experience.”

Sandu Ioana Diana

“The activities were very creative and we learned about universe, planets, astronauts and planes. I really enjoyed taking part in them and I never got bored, although food was different than ours and it was difficult sometimes to eat it. I talked to children from the other countries and we had a lot of fun together. I was very surprised to see that we became good friends although we were from different countries and our English was not perfect. We visited amazing places and we understood that if we want, we can handle whatever situation might come up.”

Cosma Gabriela Cristiana

“I liked everything in this camp, I learned many interesting scientific things and I enjoyed taking part in the medieval tournament. I made new friends and I’m happy for this opportunity I had to be a part of this Comenius project.”

Costache Stefan

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission or ANPCDEFP cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

THE FIFTH PROJECT MEETING ORGANISED IN LITHUANIA

Vilniaus Pranciškaus Skorinos vidurine mokykla, Vilnius

7 – 11 October 2013

The fifth meeting of the project took place in Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania and the representatives of our school were the following teachers: Andrei Sorina Monica-teacher of English and coordinator of the partnership, Visan Maria-primary school teacher, Voicu Jean Cristian-teacher of Geography, Tanase Ana Bianca-teacher of Romanian and Bogdan Petrache-teacher of Psychology. The objectives were clearly based on the project theme: to enrich knowledge about universe, planets, satellites and constellations, the sun and sundials, and all activities were focused on them: the visit to the Vilnius planetarium; the PPT presentations made by the host students about the first Lithuanian pioneers of aviation and the beginning of aviation in their country; the play about the solar system, planets and satellites acted by the host students; building the sundial etc.

7 October - the first meeting of the partners took place at the official dinner and it was a good opportunity for all partners to get to know Lithuania better because the cultural component of the visit was reached through the wonderful show organized by the Music teacher from the host institution, who sang Lithuanian and Belorussian traditional folk songs to the delight of all participants.

8 October - the activities started with the official visit of school and all guests were impressed by the hospitality of the host teachers and students, who welcomed us with bread and salt and wearing traditional costumes. The majority of teachers got involved in the activities and even if not all of them spoke English, they proved to be very friendly. They organized a surprise for everybody because there were classrooms dedicated to each partner country, where students had designed representative symbols of that country, presented information about it in English, sang a traditional song in the native language of that country, danced folk dances and offered the guests traditional food from that specific country.

In the festivity hall, every partner institution presented PPT materials about the activities organized with their own students back home and about their countries. The host students talked about the first Lithuanian pilots, Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas, and about the beginning of aviation in their country. After this, the host students presented a varied show with Lithuanian and Belorussian songs and folk dances. In the afternoon, everybody visited the City Hall and learned about the municipality and how things work in this city.

9 October - the first activity took place in school and students presented a play about the solar system in which they acted the parts of the sun and planets explaining clearly their unique and identifiable characteristics. In the next activity the Lithuanian coordinator explained how the sundial was built by the Lithuanian students in the schoolyard. After this, there was a documentary visit to Trakai castle, the only insular castle in the eastern half of Europe, where we learned many things about the history, culture and traditions of Lithuanian people. In the afternoon, the Vilnius planetarium was visited, where a documentary about the solar system, planets and constellations was watched and children got interesting information about the universe and enriched their Astronomy, Astrology and Geography knowledge.

10 October - the activities continued in school with presentations of students from each partner country and teachers had a meeting in which they discussed

and established the dates of the following project meetings and the common final product of the partnership (a document consisting of 2 parts: a storybook with stories from each partner institution written by students both in their own language and in English as well; and a collection of PPT materials from every country presenting their history of aviation). In the afternoon, the old part of the city with its churches was visited and we all learned about the history, culture and architecture of Vilnius, which is considered “the Jerusalem of the North”.

This project meeting was very important in the architecture of the partnership and partners who took part in it had a wonderful experience enriching not only the knowledge about the Lithuanian educational system and about the certain objectives of the partnership, but also about the culture, traditions and history of the host country.

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission or ANPCDEFP cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

THE SIXTH PROJECT MEETING ORGANISED IN PORTUGAL

Didaxis - Cooperativa de Ensino, Riba de Ave

4 – 8 March 2014

The sixth project meeting took place in Riba de Ave, a beautiful town in the Northern part of Portugal and the representatives of our school were the following teachers: Andrei Sorina Monica, Pana Magdalena, Marin Nicoleta, Jigaila Marilena Teodora and Varvaruc Daniela. The objectives were clearly based on the project theme: to enrich knowledge not only about universe, planets, satellites and constellations, but also about the history of Portuguese aviation. The program was complex comprising elements of Astronomy and Physics in challenging activities for students: launching the water rockets made by children; visiting the military aviation unit from Maceda, Aveiro; presenting a PPT material about the history of Portuguese aviation; and discovering interesting aspects about Porto.

Before the Portuguese project meeting, all partners sent to each other documents about their own national history of aviation, PPT presentations which were posted on the project’s group from Facebook.

The Romanian team offered all partners a CD with the PPT material: ”From Manole to Vlaicu’s plane and Prunariu’s rocket”, which presents the detailed history of Romanian aviation from the beginning till nowadays, including the projects which are being developed by ARCA (the Romanian Association of Cosmonautics and Aeronautics) with the goal of building a spacecraft with reduced costs entirely. The second document on the CD incorporated all the stories Romanian students had written about aliens and being inspired by flight, which represent our contribution to the common final product of the partnership. Another material on CD was a PPT presentation of all activities organised in our institution in the 2 years of the project.

The program of the project meeting was the following:

4 March - the first official activity was visiting Guimaraes, the town where the Comenius partners had their accommodation and which has a great historical significance, being considered the place where the Portuguee nation was born. In the evening, all partners attended the welcome dinner and this way they had the opportunity to socialize and get to know the Portuguese traditional food.

5 March - there was a documentary visit organised in Porto, which started with a boat trip on Douro river where partners could admire the panoramic views on both sides of the river. Then Ferreira cellars were visited, one of the most famous Porto wine brands, and teachers and students learned about the history and unique specifications of the Porto wine.

In the afternoon, the historical centre of Porto was visited and students and teachers admired its impressive buildings (Bolhão market, Clérigos tower, Lello/Prólogo Livreiros bookstore, Bom Sucesso market, São Bento railway station with its painted walls representing historical events in Portugal history). At the end guests and hosts went to the beach and admired the Atlantic Ocean at sunset.

6 March – the day started with the official visit of Didaxis school, where partners were very impressed by the warm welcome and kind hospitality of the host teachers and students, who were ready to present their educational system, their school and the type of their organisation. The official meeting started with

a welcoming concert performed in the school yard by the Portuguese students in the school brass band, who played traditional songs for the audience. The School

choir and band also presented a varied program of traditional songs, not only in Portuguese, but in the language of each partner institution as well. Many complex activities followed bringing together students of different ages, teachers and parents and the workshops impressed the guest teachers who returned in their own institutions with new ideas of practical activities and modern active-participative methods to increase students’ motivation and involvement in lessons.

Visiting school gave everybody the opportunity to fiind out interesting things about the educational system of the host country and the specific characterestics of Didaxis as an institution involved in education with an impressive space and budget for activities and lessons. Teachers and students visited the classrooms, labs (foreign languages, reading room where young students listen to stories to develop their wish to read books, social studies room), specific labs (electro-mechanics, human body esthetics, origami), the festivities hall and the gym – everywhere the guests were involved in interactive extracurricular and educational activities. The Chemistry, Physics and Mechanics experiments performed by the Portuguese students under the supervision of their teachers amazed everybody. Students could develop their antreprenorial skills by taking part actively in the open market organised in the school yard with the help of some parents and teachers. Students became real sellers and purchasers of the products and items they had brought from home, negociating and establishing

the market price of every item in a very serious and professional way and buying products while getting the guests involved in the selling-buying process.

At lunch the guests joined the Portuguese students in the school canteen and afterwards, they were invited to visit the military aviation unit from Maceda, Aveiro, where they have learned about the activities performed there: the military and aviation staff take part in professional trainings and resque interventions, both military and for saving civilians in possible accidents on land or at sea, due to the advanced technology and logistics they have in this unit (modern fire engines, highly equipped helicopters etc). The audience witnessed a training session of the military dogs which are prepared to take part in all possible resque operations, guarding and protection activities. Moreover, they also witnessed the take off of a helicopter which had on board the resque team involved in a training session for saving survivours in case of an accident at sea (this military unit is very close to the Atlantic Ocean). The guests also visited the museum of the Portuguese aviation which is situated in one of the buildings from this military unit. Here they watched an interesting documentary about the history of Portuguese aviation and its contribution to the development of international aviation.

7 March - the half part of the day was spent at school where teachers and students were involved in project activities: the students from the partner schools presented PPT materials about their national aviation, then Portuguese students launched the water rockets they had designed and built under the guidance of their teachers. The partners talked about the final common products

of the partnership and the way they should be made in order to be useful to teachers and students even after the completion of the project. There were also other administrative aspects discussed about the next project meeting. In the afternoon, guests and hosts visited the surroundings of Braga by couch, admiring the beautiful view over this town from the top of the hill where Sameiro monastery is located. In the evening, all partners, teachers and students took part in the farewell dinner organised in the school canteen. They enjoyed not only the traditional Portuguese food, but also the artistic program with traditional songs and folk dances offered by the members of the Serzedelo group who were proudly wearing traditional costumes from the 19th century. The group Tuna of the university Lusiada of Famalicao also offered an interesting concert with traditional songs, each member wearing the specific black cloak and having the flags with the university coat of arms. The certificates of attendance were offered to all participants and photos were taken to remember the beautiful moments spent together.

The program was very interesting and all participants went home with many new things learned and a rich experience connected not only with the theme of the project, but also with the Portuguese educational system and the way activities are organised in Didaxis. The intercultural exchange was very strong because the guests managed to get to know the Portuguese culture in its diverse aspects (traditional music, dance, food etc.) and the partner teachers and students got involved in common activities developing their English skills and communication competences.

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission or ANPCDEFP cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

THE SEVENTH PROJECT MEETING ORGANISED IN SLOVAKIA

Základná škola, Moldava nad Bodvou

1 – 6 May 2014

The seventh project meeting took place in Moldava nad Bodvou, a beautiful town in the South-Eastern part of Slovakia and the representative of our school was Andrei Sorina Monica, the Romanian project coordinator. The objectives were clearly based on the project theme: to enrich knowledge about universe, planets, satellites, constellations, planes and aviation in general and all activities were focused on these objectives. The places we visited were representative as well: the museum of the Slovak aviation, the University of Aviation, the planetarium, the astronomical observatory. Flight and aviation were themes of the activities organized in school as well, the host students presenting a PPT material about the first Slovak pioneers of aviation and the evolution of aviation in their country.

The representative of our school offered to all partners a CD with PPT materials about the project activities organised in our institution and other project materials including a documentary about the Romanian stunt pilots translated into English during the Comenius partnership as a project activity. The program was the following:

1 May - all partners met in Budapest and took part in the festivities organised on this special day (aerial stunt shows offered by the Hungarian pilots high above the city and under the bridges of Danube).

2 May - the official meeting in the host school started with a show provided by the cheerleaders from the well-known group Twingy, many of them being alumni of this school. The speech held by the head teacher was followed by the warm welcome of students with bread and salt, which showed the hospitality of the hosts. Then everybody admired the Comenius partnership billboards from the school main entrance which presented the partners, the activities students were involved in and the products they had made.

In the afternoon, guests and hosts went to Kosice where we visited several important locations for our project: the history museum of aviation (where we saw different types of planes used in Slovakia from the beginning of aviation, through the communist era to the modern planes from today), the University of Aviation (where professors and PhD students presented interesting experiments, electronical, mechanical devices of the planes and their components, and explained how pilots train to be prepared to face the flight and weather conditions) and the planetarium (where we watched a documentary about the

solar system and spacecrafts). In the evening we visited the old part of the Kosice centre.

3 May - the hosts organised a documentary visit in Tatranska Lomnica, a mountain resort from the Tatras Mountains, where we used the cable car to get to 2000m altitude to see the astronomical observatory from there.

In the evening, the Comenius team was invited to have dinner with the Mayor of Moldava nad Bodvou, who was very interested to fiind out about the objectives of the partnership and the activities organised in every country.

4 May - the Comenius team visited the Jasovská cave near Moldava nad Bodvou in the morning, then back to school they watched a play performed by students about the solar system, planets and an astronaut who was looking for the perfect planet to settle. It was a good occasion to present in English the unique characteristics of every planet. The play was followed by a complex dance show presented by students of different ages wearing traditional Slovak costumes and in the second part they presented a wide range of Latino dances. There was a big audience for the whole show because there were not only students, but also teachers, families gathered to support the performers and local community representatives.

5 May - all day was focused on project activities organised in school and the first one was the official visit of school by the Comenius partners. We entered the classrooms where the Slovak students were involved in project activities and even took part in these activities helping the young ones to create materials and project final products. This way we all admired the great number of Slovak

students and the complexity of activities they were involved in, and the project materials and products which ornamented the walls of school. Moreover, some students prepared a surprise, organising a classroom for each partner country with traditional costumes and cultural aspects, maps, Geographical information and specific food, music and dances.

The next activity was visiting the town Moldava nad Bodvou with its main square, the cathedral and Tocay cellars, and in the evening the official closing of the project meeting was followed by the launching of paper lanterns from the main square by teachers, students, parents and local authorities present at the ceremony. After the sunset there was a huge fireworks display which represented the final key point of festivities. The departure day followed.

The program of the project meeting was very interesting and everybody was impressed by the hospitality of the Slovak hosts, their educational system and the way Základná škola is organised and involved in the Comenius project. We all enriched our knowledge concerning aviation and Physics laws used in building flight devices and the intercultural exchange proved to be benefic for everybody because we got to know better the Slovak culture and traditions.

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission or ANPCDEFP cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

THE EIGHTH PROJECT MEETING ORGANISED IN TURKEY

Rahime Bilici Ilkökulu, Kusadasi, Aydin

9 – 12 June 2014

The eighth project meeting took place in Kusadasi, Aydin, a beautiful seaside resort in the South-Western part of Turkey, and the host school who organized it was Rahime Bilici Ilkökulu. The representatives of our school were the following teachers: Andrei Sorina Monica-the Romanian coordinator of the partnership, Jigaila Marilena Teodora-teacher of Economics and Voicu Jean Cristian-teacher of Geography, all members of the Comenius team. The program was complex and the objectives were clearly based not only on the project theme, but also on the organizational aspects concerning the end of the partnership and on the common aspects of the final report which are to be submitted to our National Agencies. The partners shared information provided by the NAs about the final procedure: uploading the final products in the European Shared Treasure database and filling in the final report by all partners working together as regulations say in order to compose the first common part of the report. Moreover, a new common final product was designed and even printed – a wall calendar with 12 photos representing project activities organized in Romania and Turkey.

The representatives of the Romanian school offered to the partners a CD with several PPT materials representing project activities and final products made by

the Romanian team during the 2 years of the Comenius partnership, plus a documentary about the Romanian stunt pilots, which was translated to English by Romanian teachers as a project activity.

The activities were organised as follows:

9 June - the official meeting in school started with the welcome festivity offered by the host students who presented a show with traditional songs. Then, meeting the teachers and head teachers followed and the official visit of school gave the Romanian teachers the possibility to see the classrooms and the Turkish students while being involved in the project activities and to fiind out the news about the Turkish educational system. Then there was a meeting in the head teacher’s office, where partners shared information from different National Agencies and expressed their opinions about the European Shared Treasure database, how it can be accessed and how the project products can be uploaded. In the afternoon a tour of Kusadasi was organised and the hosts presented important historical, cultural and traditional facts related to their city.

10 June - in the morning, there was organised a visit to the ancient city of Ephesus, where partners could admire the remains of a millenary civilization who surprises even today with the high level of development and their abilities of urban organisation. In the afternoon, there was another meeting of partners in school and they talked about the final report they have to fill in and send to their

own National Agencies. There were details underlined about the first common part of the report, which partners have to write together, and also about the second individual part, which the coordinators have to fill in individually and then submit to their National Agencies.

11 June - in the morning, there was a meeting in school with the purpose of designing and producing a common Romanian-Turkish final product and partners established the details about it. They decided to make a wall calendar containing 12 photos taken during the project activities organised in Romania and Turkey and the first calendars were ready in just a few hours. The last official meeting of partners took place in the afternoon, when they decided the last details concerning the uploading of the final products in the European Shared Treasure database, the writing of the final report and ways to use the new common product (the calendar).

12 June - there was a documentary visit organised to the ancient city of Hierapolis (Pamukkale), one of the biggest and the most important ancient cities from Asia Minor, famous not only for its thermal and rich in minerals waters, which had recommended it as a real spa centre throughout history, but also for the historical events that took place here in its long existence.

The program was interesting and the guests enriched their experience about the theme of the partnership and how teachers from a partner school decided to organise Comenius project activities. Moreover, they learned many things about the official procedure at the end of the partnership (EST database, final report) and about the way activities are organised in Rahime Bilici Ilkökulu school in the context of the new changes in the Turkish educational system. The intercultural exchanges were obvious and the Romanian teachers managed to get to know better the Turkish culture in all its aspects: music, traditions, food etc., becoming more tolerant and open-minded. They also developed their English skills and their abilities to comunicate freely with people from other countries.

COMENIUS MULTILATERAL PARTNERSHIP

”FROM ICARUS TO INTERPLANETARY TRAVELS”

2012 – 2014

THE FINAL PRODUCTS OF THE PARTNERSHIP

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission or ANPCDEFP cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Final products made in Romania

1. A CD consisting of 17 PPT materials made by Romanian students in English presenting the human desire to fly throughout history, their attempts to fly, the devices they have built and the evolution of aviation from the first pioneers till the most modern developments in the aircraft industry from the near future.

2. A brochure formed of the following:

- a collection of stories written by students about novel means of transport and unusual flying devices, which shows how creative children are and how far their imagination can go. The stories are bilingually written in Romanian and English.

- a collection of stories about aliens and UFOs written by Romanian students in English, which presents the wish of mankind to find out if there are extraterrestrial creatures in the universe and some imaginary encounters between human beings and aliens.

- a collection of essays written by Romanian students in English on the human desire to fly and to exceed their limits, whose authors tried to explain the mankind wish to fly up in the sky and the reasons why they had tried to build devices capable of flying throughout history. Moreover, they also presented the chronological evolution of aviation.

3. A PDF document about the history of aviation called „From Icarus to space exploration” was designed by a team of students who worked under the guidance of Mrs. Visan Maria, primary school teacher. The material represents the history of flight from Icarus in Antiquity to space exploration in the near future and it presents in chronological order the most important events from the flight history. The document, which is bilingually written in Romanian and English in 2 separate columns and which also has many photos to perfectly illustrate the content, is available for students and teachers in the school library both on paper and electronically.

4. This brochure written in English and presenting chronologically the activities organised in our school (the students and teachers involved and the impact the project had on them) and the project meetings that took place in the two years of the partnership (the visits organised by each partner school and the activities in which all partners and students were involved).

5. A brochure of 16 pages presenting in Romanian all the project meetings organised by partners in the 2 years of the project.

6. All materials which had been created in the 2 years of the partnership as products of the project (PPT materials, documentaries, videos, PDF materials) have been put together on a DVD and it was multiplied being available to students at the school library. Teachers can use it after the completion of the project at different types of activities and its richness in information recommends it as a valuable final product. It consists of:

- a video made using the Movie Maker with all the shootings from the activity “Flying” in which many experiments were performed by students in order to present Physics and Aerodynamics laws used in aviation industry. This is the link on Youtube where the video can be found:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIb1ibb8Vc8&feature=youtu.be

- a video made with all the shootings from the activity about the non-verbal communication “Meeting an alien” in which students acted out their meeting with an alien in order to understand how they can communicate with people from other countries. This is the link on Youtube where the video can be found:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRdUace75gc&feature=youtu.be

- an interview with Andrei Serbu, one of the most talented Romanian pilots, was shot and the video made with the whole interview is uploaded on Youtube and can be watched at the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaQqheUdBpQ&feature=youtu.be

- the translation to English of a documentary about the Romanian stunt pilots produced by Digi24 was made by the teachers from our school as a project activity;

- 5 videos about flight were made by a group of six students from the 11 thD grade (Calin Nicolae, Tudose Alexandru, Manolache Angelo, Enache Gabriela, Balasa Adrian and Robescu Marius) who worked under the guidance of Mrs. Marilena Jigaila, teacher of Economics. They found the project and the topic flying very challenging, therefore they made the videos with a lot of passion and

doing their best. Their works can be used even after the completion of the project and they are available on Youtube as follows:

“The Power of Flight”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DkLuw7FReY

“Art of Flight”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N2kfnkoA18

“King of Heaven”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv4v2cDn3Qc&feature=youtu.be

“That’s all you need to fly”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1avzUWeRogI Dream came true: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylLSj1TbtTg&feature=youtu.be

- a PPT material “Flying from Manole to Vlaicu’s plane and Prunariu’s rocket” presenting the history of Romanian aviation from the first pioneers till the future plans ARCA has been trying to turn into reality about the most cost-effective aircraft ever built – it is a part of the Comenius common final product and can be found at the following link:

http://www.ra.didaxis.pt/nfq/comenius/atividades/trab_pdf2turn/5_final_work/index.html#p=1

- a PPT material in English presenting the lifecycle of a star with its stages;

- a PPT material about the universe, solar system, the Sun, planets and satellites;

- a PPT material reviewing the book 5 minutes after Cosmos which presents in detail the experience the only Romanian astronaut had in the outer space mission;

- PPT materials in Romanian and English about the Romanian pioneers of aviation;

- a PPT material in Romanian and English called “The ABC of tollerance”

- a PPT material about the transportation by plane, airlines, tourist companies and charter flights;

- a PPT material about humans’ desire and motivation to fly and the symbols of flight;

- a PPT material in Romanian and English about the evolution of flight in world’s history from the first attempts to fly in Antiquity till the modern aircrafts from today;

- a PPT material about the types of aircrafts which exist today and their usage;

- a PPT material about airlines, flight companies and aviation industry in general;

7. A DVD comprising all activities teachers and students were involved in:

- a PPT general presentation of the Comenius partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary travels”;

- a PPT presentation of all activities organised in our school with students on the theme of flying and aviation during the 2 years of this Comenius partnership;

- a video presenting the visits and practical activities organized during the first year of the partnership was made by Mr. Preda Cosmin, teacher of history. There are presented the visits teachers organized with students at ROMAERO Baneasa, The National Museum of History (Aviation Department), The National Agency of Meteorology and The Polytechnic University Museum. There are also presented the practical activities in which, under the guidance of teachers, the students designed and built planes, model planes, rockets, kites, paper lanterns and water rockets. The video is available on Youtube at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwVnEfkD8TA

- PPT presentations of the project meetings which took place in all partner institutions throughout the project;

- 7 videos have been made using the Movie Maker with all the photos which had been taken during each project meeting and they are also available on Youtube at the following links:

Romania: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o-tLF0In_Y&feature=youtu.be Greece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whm1DuS5P3U Turkey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAGxzThAmaQ&feature=youtu.be Hungary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUHvfxSTVtw Lithuania: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4AeERIB2es&feature=youtu.be Portugal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5juUkRu5kYM Slovakia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHAsU0XjSLg&feature=youtu.be

8. Final products made by students using cardboard and glue during the Geography lessons, which can be used at different activities long after the completion of the project:

- the solar system with the Sun and all planets;

- the cardboard spyglasses which can project different constellations on a dark wall in the light of a torch;

- the model of the Hubble telescope;

- the model of the Sun.

The Comenius multilateral partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels” has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission or ANPCDEFP cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Common final products made by all partners

1. A document consisting of 2 parts:

a) a collection of PPT materials in English, one from each partner school, in which students present their own national history of aviation and information about the solar system - our contribution is the PPT material “Flying from Manole to Vlaicu’s plane and Prunariu’s rocket” and it presents the evolution of the Romanian aviation;

b) a collection of stories from each partner school inspired by the theme of our project, written by students in the native language of the authors and translated into English as well - our contribution to this collection consists of 7 stories about flight and unusual flying devices and 8 stories about aliens, UFOs and humans’ encounters with extraterrestrial creatures.

The document which has a length of 189 pages is available for students and teachers not only in the libraries of all partner schools, but it is also uploaded on the Internet as a PDF document and an electronical book at the following links:

http://www.ra.didaxis.pt/nfq/comenius/atividades/final/final_work/Final%20work%20Comenius.pdf

http://www.ra.didaxis.pt/nfq/comenius/atividades/trab_pdf2turn/5_final_work/index.html#p=1

This way, the document can be read and used at different activities by teachers and students even after the completion of the partnership.

2. A poster of the partnership which represents the front cover of the above mentioned document and which comprises the major theme, symbols, logos and names of all partners, along with photos from each partner meeting. It can be

used by partners as separate poster as well to promote their institutions and the Comenius partnership “From Icarus to Interplanetary Travels”.