From 21 to 25 September, several exhibitions were held at the EB1 School in Falcão with 156 pupils from the school’s seven classes (pre-school to 4th grade) with the aim of exploring with the children the green roofs and photovoltaic panels installed as part of the refurbishment and extension works of the school within the framework of the LIFE-myBUILDINGisGREEN project.
The story “Joaquina the bee and a very special garden”, created from scratch to suit the age group, provided the pre-school children with a very participative and enthusiastic moment of interaction which, in the playground, aroused their curiosity and joy for having “a very special garden” on the roof of their school that saved Joaquina the bee.
Pupils from seven primary grades, from 1st to 4th grade, when asked “Do you know why your school is green?”, immediately answered: “Because we have a garden on the roof”. Others, surprised and thoughtful, were able to observe the rooftop plants from the playground and were encouraged to discover other Nature-Based Solutions, in particular the green façade and photovoltaic panels. While observing, they organised segments of a drawing of the parts of the building where they placed the green roofs, the green façade and the photovoltaic panels.
Exhibition and workshop with 1st year students (21 Sep 2023) © Câmara Municipal do Porto
Back in the classroom, with the support of photographs and direct observation, they drew and coloured the solutions. Different shades of green, brown, purple, black, yellow, blue and other colours were passed from hand to hand, creating a collective plastic representation of the Nature-Based Solutions and the photovoltaic panels, which made the pupils feel proud to have such a special school, as evidenced by one pupil’s repeated expression while colouring, like a whisper “my school is green! It has a green roof!… My school is green! It has a green roof!…”.
The way these solutions were presented and identified gave rise to many questions that were not left unanswered, but left the way open for a detailed experimental exploration of the characteristics of each solution, what they are used for and how they work, which will be carried out in four sessions throughout the school year and which, together with this visit, are part of an educational programme on the Nature-Based Solutions implemented at EB Falcão School in the framework of the LIFE-myBUILDINGisGREEN Project.
The team of the Municipal Environmental Management Division was accompanied in these sessions by AdePorto – Porto Energy Agency.
Exhibition and workshop with 2nd year students (22 Sep 2023) © Câmara Municipal do Porto
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