2nd Learning-Teaching and Training activity-Summary

                                           

The second Learning-Teaching and training activities of the Erasmus + ‘Maths is around us’ project took place at 3^rd High school of Rethymno on January  27-30, 2020. The project was carried out in collaboration with IES Izpisua Belmonte Hellin from Spain and ‘Grigore Antipa’ College of Science Brasov from Romania.

All activities scheduled for the meeting have been successfully conducted and some of them had the purpose of preparing the next  trans-national mobility. Art and mathematics was one of the strong points of the meeting. Students divided into 5 groups (2 Greek students, 1 Spanish student, 1 Romanian student) worked hard and made shapes and tessellations based on tessellations of great artistic Escher with mathematical app Geogebra.  Their visual constructions which was made in the environment of Geogebra were printed and dawned on blouses with different  colors.

In order to promote the connection between formal and non-formal learning, students from the three partner countries visited the Research center of Physics the Center for Plasma Physics & Laser and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Crete. At the  Research center of Physics Education under the guidance of the  director  of the center  and his team constructed a kind of camera obscure. The students designed optical devices used in painting and photography to help visualize  the geometry of natural objects, with material they find in their everyday life. At the Physics and Plasma Center students got acquainted with the ancient Greek lyre and were informed  on modern techniques for studying harmonic frequencies and how sound is influenced by the geometry and materials of the musical instrument. At the Museum of Contemporary Art in Crete, students participated in a two-hour interdisciplinary workshop. Students and teachers discovered in a playful way how the visual arts meet with history and mathematics.  They interacted with exhibits, experimented with materials, texture, expressed their feelings arising from the museum's paintings, made their artistic masterpieces, gaining experience of communicative experiential learning.

One other exciting outdoor activity which  connects the culture of Rethymno, the maths and the mobile devices was the mathcitymap activity. Students explored main historic points in  Rethymno with a mathematical perspective using the  mathcitymap app, through their mobile phones. Students followed a route which was published in mathcitymap site and solved mathematical puzzles and problems in 5 significant historic places in Rethymno old town. The app provided them hits and feedback.

During Romanian’s and Spanish’s  stay in Rethymnon, they were warmly welcomed by the mayor of Rethymno offering them souvenir gifts. Students had the opportunity to visit remarkable archaeological and historical sites such as the Monastery of Arkadi, the Museum of Eleftherna, the three Virgins in the fountains of Argyroupolis, a traditional workshop which makes traditional greek treats, as well as the archaeological site of Knossos, and the archaeological museum of Hrakleion.  They  got acquainted with Greek  cultural history, which is one of the main goals of the program.

Students and teaching staff from the three partnering European schools will again have the opportunity to exchange and develop new ideas and practices in the third and final mobility projected by the program, which will take place at the end of March, in Hellin of Spain.