{"id":43405,"date":"2021-10-14T11:59:05","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T08:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zaednovchas.bg\/?p=43405"},"modified":"2021-10-27T11:59:48","modified_gmt":"2021-10-27T08:59:48","slug":"model-schools-secondary-school-ekzarh-antim-i-kazanlak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zaednovchas.bg\/en\/model-schools-secondary-school-ekzarh-antim-i-kazanlak\/","title":{"rendered":"Model Schools: Secondary School \u201cEkzarh Antim I\u201d, Kazanlak"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A team of teachers developed an interdisciplinary STEM project which boosted students\u2019 motivation to learn more about science<\/em><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Which celestial body from the Solar system can become our second home? This was the big question that students from 9th and 10th grade at Secondary School \u201cEkzarh Antim I\u201d in the town of Kazanlak<\/a> worked together to solve. This was part of the school\u2019s interdisciplinary STEM project<\/a> which required biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, IT, and entrepreneurship teachers to work together. It also involved a learning-by-doing approach. Despite all challenges posed by the pandemic and the long periods of distance learning, students were able to complete their project. Their feedback was exceptionally positive – they were interested in the topic, enjoyed the challenge of problem-solving, liked doing research and conducting experiments, were happy to have had the opportunity to work in teams, and found the interdisciplinary nature of the project fascinating. This success would not have been possible without the hard work by the teachers at the school – one of the participants in Teach For Bulgaria\u2019s program \u201cModel Schools\u201d<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What inspired this STEM project?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The students who participated in the STEM project<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

After Secondary School \u201cEkzarh Antim I\u201d received funding from the Bulgarian national program for the development of STEM facilities at school, all IT and science teachers joined Teach For Bulgaria\u2019s program called \u201cModel Schools\u201d and more specifically, they participated in the STEM module of the program. The module required that they draft an interdisciplinary project. When their training was finished, they decided to go ahead and execute the project by creating an extracurricular club for students in 9th and 10th grade. Their goal was to experiment and gain experience which they would later use in the STEM center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their students split into teams and started working on a model for a self-sustainable artificial biosphere located on an object of their choice from the Solar System. Teachers gave students the option not to include humans in their biosphere and they also didn\u2019t put any limitations on the way the teams were to present their models – presentation, video, website, etc. The goal was to get students to learn in an engaging way. Meanwhile, they had classes about Earth\u2019s biosphere. Teachers created a shared presentation with interdisciplinary information and worksheets for each class. Each topic had a theoretical and a practical part and teachers found different ways to conduct their classes. The practical part involved experiments and data analysis, online research, problem-solving and product development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teachers started a professional learning community which allowed them to work closely together. They did backwards planning (an element typical for Teach For Bulgaria\u2019s training programs). This process involves formulating a big question, setting curriculum objectives, defining the final product, and then planning specific topics and activities. Teachers presented the topics in an unconventional way in order to get students interested and motivated to look for solutions. They also collected students\u2019 feedback regularly in order to improve the whole process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n