a science project water – the River Danube

1. a science projectwater – the River Danube Report Doris Sygmund Krems Austria

2. key data – the school • CLIL school ( for nine years) in Lower Austria • active involvement of native speaker (in preparation and implementation) • cooperation of different subjects and EFL teachers • mixed level class (30 pupils, 21 boys) • year 7 – lower secondary school

3. key data – the situation • The Austrian curriculum does not know the subject „science“ but describes different, individual subjects with 1 to 2 lessons of 50 minutes per week • teacher centred methodology (content, teacher talk) • UK curriculum for „science“ taken as model

4. content and language

5. key data – the project • 4 – 6 weeks three days a week (no regular timetable) • topics : water /the Danube– electricity generation – wastewater treatment • active role of pupils: experience, enquire, explore, reflect and present results ( see PPP of pupils), group/pairwork, self directed learning, inner differentiation (graded tasks)

6. key data - methodology pupils • work in authentic environment • apply ICT in a meaningful context • do practical work / mainly outside the classroom (experiments) • collect scientific data and interpret them • improve presentation skills • portfolio assessment

7. report of external evaluator • Based on questionnaires and interviews of teachers, headmistress, pupils,parents • Focus on questions related to • gender girls and boys work in different modes • time table • no time restrictions are very positive, motivating, time to finish tasks

8. report of external evaluator • social competence preference for group work (97%) choice of group members (53%) taks of personal interest (90%) autonomous learning (83%) • parents pupils talk more about the project than regular lessons

9. report of external evaluator • meaningful contexts pupils appreciate to work in an authentic environment and discuss topics related to „their world“ - e.g. testing samples of water of their rivers/lakes, visit of local sewage plant and hydroelectric power station

10. report of external evaluator • „new“ relationship to class teachers facilitators, helpers and assistants, pace decided by pupils • content less complex, easier to understand, clearer input, use of English helps learning process • language meaningfulcontext, practice of speaking skills, increase in vocabulary acquisition

11. report of external evaluator • positive feedback about the project by an overwhelming majority of pupils and teachers • pupils ask for more project work in the future • presentation skills are of great importance – usually neglected, paper and pencil tests

12. report of external evaluator • challenges added workload for pupils and teachers criticism of teachers not part of the project unusual learning environments (for pupils and teachers) language competence of subject teachers team work versus individual teaching balance between L1 and L2

13. Information • If you want to learn more about the science project please contact: doris.sygmund@schule.at