From February 9 till May 12, the third and final interest education programme “Environmental Management II” was implemented at the the Liepaja Municipal Education department Science and Education Innovation Centre (ZIIC). Since 2021, the content of the programme’s lessons has been implemented as part of the project Project “Development of Innovation Centre in Liepaja City”, with the participation of cooperation partners from the University of Liepāja and the Jaermuseet regional museum, with the aim of promoting knowledge development and students’ career choice in one of the fields of STEM and environmental sciences.
Participation in the programme was offered to all schools in Latvia, which were provided with transport compensation for travel to Liepaja with the financial support of the Project. In this semester of the academic year 2023, 134 students applied for the programme, of which 95 students completed all the lessons of the programme. The programme was studied by students from such Latvian cities as Grobina, Riga, Marupe district, Aizpute, Tukuma district, Kabile and, of course, Liepaja.
The programme “Environmental management II” consists of four lessons – “Human Internal Organs”, “Biotechnology”, “Exploration of the Earth’s Crust” and “Zoology Under the Magnifying Glass”. During the programme, the students used the interactive installations and research equipment of the Nature House in order to learn about the diversity of natural processes in a practical experience, learn the field of natural sciences in depth and get an idea of the importance of human action and interaction in preserving the environment, as well as the importance of a sustainable lifestyle.
“Most of all we liked to catch and study water insects in Lake Liepaja, the experiment of creating a volcano and the opportunity to dissect the internal organs of pigs, and also the fact that we were able to work practically” Endijs, Klāvs and Rihards, 6th grade students of Salas primary school in Marupe region, share their impressions.
Various interactive methods were used in the programme, such as, looking into the waters of Lake Liepaja through an aquascope and working practically with a scraper, students got to know the diversity of benthic organisms, which opened a wider perspective to the students about the diversity of the ecosystem of Lake Liepaja.
The lesson “Exploring the Earth’s Crust” allows students to live through the ages, concluding about human choices that have affected the surrounding environment. The range of colours from pale yellow to almost black – the colours of Latvian soils surprised not only students, but even teachers. On the other hand, the Nature House installation “Aquaponics system” allowed students to understand the interaction of fish, plants and bacteria, thereby learning the first steps in biotechnology.
“I remember very well the lesson about the digestive organ system, when the students were surprised that it was all real.” Anita Vikmane, a teacher at the primary school in Sala, appreciate the cooperation with the company “Kurzemes gaļsaimnieks” and the offered opportunity for students to work with the dissection of internal organs of pigs.
ZIIC experts also share their thoughts on what they experienced in the programme, stating that the methods used in the lessons, such as the process of processing a product such as cake in the digestive organ system and getting to know the organ system of pigs, have given students confidence in choosing a future profession, for example in medicine.
The implementation of the “Environmental Management” and “Environmental Management II” programmes was started in 2021 and was implemented until the spring of 2023, a total of 352 students applied for the programmes, of which 249 students in the age group of 5 to 18 completed 80% of the programme.
The interest education programmes were developed within the project “Development of the Innovation Centre in Liepaja City” that is funded by the EEA/N grant programme “Research and Education”. Its total cost is EUR 986 049.00, of which EUR 754 327.40 is co-financing of the Norwegian Financial Instrument, EUR 133 116.60 is co-financed by the State budget of Latvia and EUR 98 605.00 by Liepaja City Municipality.
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