Ask yourself researchable questions, see how they could be answered, know how to sample, do experiments, collect data, draw conclusions… In short, learn to carry out a scientific research process. This is what the students of the Rocagrossa Institute in Lloret de Mar can do, with the help of researchers, thanks to the Alliance Magnet that the educational center maintains with the CEAB-CSIC.
These weeks, the boys and girls are completing the activities designed for this 23/24 academic year and for each age group:
- In the 1st year of ESO, they build a hotbed that will help them continue studying these animals that function as a super organism and from which knowledge applicable to diverse fields is extracted, such as, for example, socio-ecology. The investigation is being carried out by researcher Pol Fernández
- In 2nd year, they learn about the morphology of the coast, to observe and study the coastline, using technologies that until now were not common to apply in the field of ecology, such as drones. This research is carried out with Jordi Pagès.
- The 3rd year ESO students, guided by researcher Anna Lupon, quantify and study carbon dioxide emissions in streams in the area. They have manufactured some hoods in which they will put CO2 sensors to observe how they increase or decrease according to the photosynthesis of the plants, which it captures, or by the activity of the soil microorganisms, which it releases, and which increases when they have a lot of organic matter.
In 4th year they learn in detail how to carry out an entire investigation, from start to finish. Be part of a game that allows you to learn what are the necessary steps to develop any investigation. Next, you enter into a specific topic, which serves to put all the steps learned into practice.
Researcher Elisabet Alacid talks the students about plankton, about the importance of balance: it is beneficial because it is the first link in the food chain, but it is harmful if it proliferates excessively. He explains that these proliferations happen more in very closed spaces, in areas of the coast that have been greatly modified, and he suggests going out to investigate.
This April 24, the students took plankton samples from the large beach of Lloret (Costa Brava, Catalonia), Cala Trons and the small port of Cala Canyelles. The different characteristics of each space have allowed them to observe, already in the institute’s laboratory, different concentrations and compositions of plankton. They have learned to carry out sampling, to work in the laboratory, to collect all the data and to relate the information. The activity continued the next day with the interpretation of the results obtained by the different work groups.
In high school graduate, the support is more specific for each student and is coordinated by another CEAB-CSIC’s researcher, Xavier Torras.
The Magnet Alliances program
All these activities are part of the Magnet Alliances program. Promoted by the Bofill Foundation, it unites an educational center with a reference institution in a specific area of knowledge. The knowledge provided by the institution, in this case the CEAB, helps to work on the curriculum from a globalized approach and with innovative methodologies so that students learn competently. The main purpose of these unions is to fight against school segregation.
