As part of the Erasmus+ program, a delegation of ten male and female students from Kokkinohoria Panos Ioannou High School, accompanied by two school teachers, visited the Betzdorf-Kirchen school in Germany from September 24 to 30, 2023.
During their stay in Germany, many interesting actions were taken together with the aim of highlighting various skills, cooperation between students and informing and raising their awareness of environmental issues.
In-school activities
- Meeting and tour of the school. Update on the education system in Germany.
- Experiential workshop on microplastics and macroplastics. Structure and properties of various plastics and how they end up in the seas and oceans.
- Experiential workshop on the presence of plastics and microplastics in the river Sieg which is very close to the two schools. Sampling, processing and analysis of the data for the specific river and comparison with rivers in the wider area.
- Taking classes at Kirchen's school (English, Chemistry and STEM).
Extracurricular activities
- Visit to the Water Research Center (BfG Institute) in Koblenz, where there was a general briefing on plastics and microplastics in rivers. Afterwards, there was a tour of three of the center's laboratories, giving students the opportunity to see how a research group works.
- Visit to the Geography Department of the University of Cologne. Attending a lecture on the presence of plastics and microplastics in the soil and a tour of two of the research laboratories, in order to inform the students about the research and work methods of the university laboratories.
- Visit to the cities of Koblenz, Cologne and Bonn. In Koblenz, teachers and students visited the Deutche Eck, a point where two rivers "meet", the Rhine and the Moselle. City center tour. Visit to Beethoven's home in his birthplace of Bonn and walk through its historic center. Visit the imposing Gothic Cologne Cathedral and tour the city's alleys and streets, also passing the Hohenzollern Bridge.
Entertainment
- Visit to a traditional restaurant in Cologne, where we had the opportunity to taste traditional dishes.
- Visit to the neighboring town of Siegen, where the students relaxed, doing their shopping in a large mall.
- Visit to the Haribo store in Bonn.
- Organization of a bowling night by the German partners, aiming to get to know the students better.
- German hospitality with the organization of a barbeque in the school yard, where the traditional sausage was tested.