Meet the schools series
Meet the schools: The Šime Budinić elementary school
Ocean & Waters Ambassador #2 of the year 2024
Our 2nd Ocean & Waters Ambassador of the Year is the Šime Budinić elementary school from Zadar (Croatia).
Their fantastic blue project “Minimising Pollution in Adriatic Dalmatia” was implemented from September 2024 to February 2025 and tackled the important issue of marine pollution in the Adriatic Sea, the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea.
Activities:
The educational team at the Elementary school Šime Budinić devised a 6-month programme full of activities for the students and teachers alike. Through blue workshops, lectures, beach clean-ups, and fields trips, students got to increase their knowledge about the Adriatic Sea, as well as practice hands-on activities.
The outcomes were both scientific, with sand and water samples analysis, and artistic with the creation of an exhibition using collected waste materials and even an animated film. The teachers also produced a flyer and a picture book for children.
In addition, during their field work, they conducting underwater photography by using an underwater drone.
To evaluate the impact of the project, the student participated in a survey to evaluate the increase of their knowledge about ocean literacy thanks to the project, and the change in their attitudes. They, then, conducted this survey on passersby to compare the results with their own. It showed that the students involved in the project had an overall better knowledge and better attitudes toward minimising pollution, clearly proving the importance of such blue projects!
“One student used materials recorded with an underwater drone to create an educational video and entered it into the Science on Stage Europe competition.”
Collaboration
During the project, the Šime Budinić Elementary School reached out to several blue schools in order to establish cooperation. This was successfully done with the Montessano Primary School in Bucharest (Romania) and the Bartul Kašić Elementary School in Zadar (Croatia). Online meetings were organised between the teachers and students with both schools, they were able to share their activities and experiences.
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