Project Details

Project Name: ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING

an interactive experiment between school and research

institutes. AN APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING
OF THE RIVER TIBER THROUGH THE PBL METHOD BY VB
GRAMMAR SCHOOL FORM OF LICEO VIRGILIO IN ROME

Name & Surname:Paolo Tescarollo

Address/Nation: Rome (ITALY)

Role in the initiative/project: tutor

 Brief description of the initiative/project

For the students of the Liceo Virgilio the Tiber is a kind presence that
silently sees them along day after day in their school years.
The building in fact stands on its banks and many of its windows
overlook the water.
The role of a teacher is to stimulate curiosity, critical sense and the
desire of knowledge in the students. This is often started from those
things so near that are often ignored or considered only background in
their daily life.
After a meeting with the Department of science, we chose the PBL
(Problem based Learning) method on the basis of previous experiences
successfully accomplished by the school in the past years with the co-
operation of the ISS.
The philosophy on which PBL is based is the logistic and functional
management of the project by the students thus reversing the role of
simple spectators to which traditional teaching relegates them.
 Brief description of the adopted methodology

In this case the teachers walk out of the scene and act as simple
“advisors” only if and when needed, after having presented the students
with a story which would start the discussion.
In this case the title of the story was “I am not going to swallow it!” (fig 1
and 2)
From a very wide theme range to start from the students selected four
main topics:

water
chemical pollution of water
biological pollution of water
microbiology
Brief description of the adopted methodology
 Brief description of the adopted methodology

For work groups were set up - this was made easy by the small number
of students in the class. They organised themselves in order to work both
at school and at home and focused their work on the exchange of
information and on interaction between groups seen as individual cells of
a single super organism, thus giving a systemic imprint to the whole
project.
The bibliography sources were to begin with books, encyclopaedias,
science magazines, texts and publications on water, pollution and
microbiology. They used the school’s library, their own materials and on
request, those supplied by the teachers.
This research method was integrated with on-line information that
enriched (sometimes well over the need) the information collected.
 Brief description of the adopted methodology

This initiative is trying to improve the difficult situation existing in our

country where, according to a survey carried out by OCSE-PISA on 15
year old Italian students, the level of knowledge and evaluation in
scientific subjects is lower than the average of students in the other
participating countries.
These improvements are carried out as follows:
through good examples of experiments now under way that support
resources for the Italian education system not yet taken into
consideration or used.
results acquired through analysis and research carried out internationally
in the field of science education.
 Brief description of the adopted methodology
Each group completed reports which were shared and discussed over in
class. At this point they moved from theory to practice by dividing the
project in 4 steps:
a walk along the riverbanks - the students were stimulated with questions
such as: what can you see? What colour is the water? What is the state
of the riverbank? Can you see any animal life in the river? Can you see
any plants in the river? This started a discussion over the river as an
ecosystem and the use of animals and plants as indicators. At the end of
the walk they collected some water samples.
bacteriological analysis - a meeting with Bruna Auricchio from the ISS
was organised at the school’s chemistry lab and the students carried out
some bacteriological tests becoming familiar with the procedures. Some
of the water samples were used.
chemical analysis - the students carried out chemical analysis on the
water they collected from the Tiber.
 Brief description of the adopted methodology

Lab reports and comments to practical experiments became part of the

work and were included in the final report prepared by the students. The
report was presented in Power Point to the ISS researchers at the
meeting “Voices from the school: an first encounter on the theme of
microbiology” (Fig. 3)
 Brief description of the adopted methodology
SWOT ANALYSIS: STRENGHTS

At the end of the project the overall assessment was positive, both from
the teachers’ and the students’ point of view.
Working on the project brought an individual and collective growth in the
students. The change of attitude to living school in an active way made
them more responsible - also those who were weaker and less proficient.
Having interconnected groups that worked towards a common goal (the
solution and understanding of the problem) was a very good example of
individual organisation. Furthermore, changing from a notional to an
experimental/empirical approach brought the students closer to the
scientific/deductive method of working.
The final report during the meeting “Voices from the school: an first
encounter on the theme of microbiology” was very important for two
reasons: first of all, it was a big challenge to carry out a well done work to
be presented to the world of research. Secondly, it was a moment of
knowledge sharing in the meeting with different schools and different
realities.
 Brief description of the adopted methodology

SWOT ANALYSIS: CRITICALITIES

Some points could be improved, such as:

confusion at the introductive step;
more time to carry out the work
confusion and lack of criticism with the on-line research
students’ continuous need of self-gratification in having their work
marked that sometimes belittles the cultural significance of the
work itself.
 Brief description of the adopted methodology

SWOT ANALYSIS: OPPORTUNITIES

The role in training of this experience was twofold:

It made the teachers aware of how the whole project had been a
meaningful moment for thinking and a high teaching value. They
had learnt how important and difficult concepts can be made easy.
It confirmed and consolidated the teaching strategy according to
which the students’ individual research is a positive experience
which takes them away from class and from pre-packed
explanations placing them on a higher step and inviting them to
exercise their freedom of choice.