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The latest information on the labor market shows that there are no real experts in the fields of science. Triggering a bigger interest among students in science particularly in chemistry would be the first step to convince them to study scientific or engineering subjects.
The second important reason for which we are so eager to pursue this project is breaking stereotypes. The word “chemistry” and everything that is connected with it in the modern world is seen as a source of pollution and deterioration of living conditions when in fact it is exactly the opposite. Chemistry can serve mankind in a good way. Through this project we want to show young people that their health depends on them. What they eat and how much they eat can have a huge impact on their lives. Therefore, they should understand what goes in the chemical composition of food and how food processing methods can affect not only the taste of the food but also people’s health.
The project focuses on the common interests, needs and problems of all partner schools in today’s fast paced world. Amid the challenges of technological advances and global economic competition, students must gain knowledge to keep ahead. Science studies at school help pupils to develop logical thinking, mental judgment and capacity for methodical organization. Training in observation and reasoning are of great use as well.
In classroom science structures are expected to construct scientific concepts meaningfully, even when in some cases the concepts conflict with pupils’ lives. However, pupils tend to store scientific knowledge out of way from interfering with their real life experiences. The goal of the project is to make this gap smaller and show that chemistry might provide great intellectual pleasure in understanding how things work.
Moreover, it will be a tool to develop motivation in studies of chemistry when the pupils will have a chance to realize that chemistry can be more fun than just experiments and tests.
It is also important to understand chemistry when studying any of the sciences because all of them involve matter and the interaction between types of matter. This will bring several curricular subjects, such as physics, biology and technologies together.
In addition, pupils who are going to become doctors, nurses, physicists, nutritionists, pharmacists and geologists study chemistry. Therefore, the project encourages the pupils who participate and who will get acquainted with the results of the project, to choose career paths connected with chemistry or choose to do scientific research in this field.
It will also improve ICT using skills as the students and teachers will use it while working on the project for different purposes, for communication, making products like Power Point presentations, preparing leaflets and films about activities and using ICT as a source of information. Also, it will improve pupils’ and teachers’ motivation and their capacity and confidence to communicate in a foreign language.