Teacher of Primary Education: Alexoudis Ioannis Environmental Education Program for the course of the Flexible Zone

Teacher of Primary Education: Alexoudis Ioannis The art of viticulture in Soufli had started a long time before the involvement of residents with sericulture. According to elements that have survived until today, we see that the wine was, along with silk, the two main activities of the inhabitants in Soufli, which led to a high economic and social level and as a result it became well-known throughout Europe. This art that continues until today with undiminished enthusiasm from the residents of this border region triggered us to deal with a program of environmental education on the vine.

Teacher of Primary Education: Alexoudis Ioannis Learning Objectives Learners contact with viticulture and its history as well as the tradition of Soufli. They participate actively in the care of vine cultivation They contact with the natural, historical and cultural environment. They discover the ecosystem in balance They can learn about the customs, traditions, religious beliefs and symbolism associated with wine and viticulture They can form similar environmental attitudes and positive views towards the products of the Greek producer

Teacher of Primary Education: Alexoudis Ioannis Duration and program development The program began in November 2012 and was completed in March The students involved in the program were divided into three groups of 4-5 people. The guidebook of the program design was the workbook on the vine. November: Preparing for the vintage, vintage in the traditional way, by "pushing" grapes, "pulling" fresh and BRUCE wine and becoming familiar to the winemaking process by visiting our winery. December: Visiting the distillery of Vineyard Cooperative in Soufli, learning the folklore, historical, religious, etc. data on the vine. The sweet and tasty of the vine in cooperation with KAPI(Open Care Centre for the Elderly) in Soufli January: Knowing the vine. MS Power Point presentation for the planting of vine, the cultivation care, the organic farming, the diseases of the vine, the types and categories of wines and the quality factors of wine February: Experiential approach (monitoring viticulture (in the correct chronological order ) and filming the stages of cultivation in order to create a DVD with all the cultivation tasks March: Recording of information by groups (each group has an individual theme) and presentation of the results at a classroom level. Program evaluation and creation of employment and workbooks on the vine in the form of Office word

Teacher of Primary Education: Alexoudis Ioannis Methods of Implementation The above program was implemented by the method of project. The approach was experiential (through visits, activities, operations, construction) cooperative (students worked divided into three groups, studying specific issues and sharing information and views with each other to achieve their goals through collaboration and not competition) and exploratory (recording information about the program). The field study was applied as the children visited a vineyard, a winery and a distillery during the program and participated in tasks and activities. Finally, the students were involved in the drafting of the final essay (based on individual tasks assigned to groups by the workbook). The first subgroup dealt with vineyard cultivation and care. The second one visited the EAS distillery (Union Vineyard Cooperative) in Soufli and interviewed the manager of the distillery, about how the distillation is traditionally made. Growers, agronomists and residents were also interviewed about the viticulture in the present and past in Soufli. The third subgroup dealt with our visit to a local winery where we had the opportunity to talk with the leaders of the winery. The students presented their work in the classroom.

Teacher of Primary Education: Alexoudis Ioannis Use of Information Technology and Communication (ICT) The tools of Information Technology used were: MS Power Point to present the program "The Vine.“ Creation of a relevant video about the cultivation of the vine care, using camcorder and video editing software Studio 10 Creation of electronic (Word & PDF) and printed workbooks on the vine, based on the students work during the program. Use of Kidspiration 3 software, for the creation of conceptual tables. Use of the software Corel Paint Shop Pro 12 for editing the photos used in the program. Use of the Internet by students to obtain information, relevant to the program, but also for bibliographic research

Teacher of Primary Education: Alexoudis Ioannis Worksheets used For the development of the program used the "Workbook" on the vine. The worksheets that included, among others, were: A Worksheet about Vineyard A Worksheet about Winery An interview with a viticulturist In the "rakiboilers" of Soufli Cryptex acrostic Think and answer The "sweet and tasty” vine (recipe “retselia”) Subgroups projects (Vineyard - Winery - Distillery and Interview)

Teacher of Primary Education: Alexoudis Ioannis Workbook on the vine

Teacher of Primary Education: Alexoudis Ioannis

Evaluation of the Program The program evaluation was diagnostic (done at the beginning of the school year in order to identify the needs of the engagement of students with the above program, but also to show whether they would be able to meet the requirements). It was formative too (during that, a discussion took place about the evolution of the program and the individual activities of each subgroup and about the feedback of targets if some of them are considered unworkable or unrealistic). Finally the subgroups were involved in the preparation and presentation of their responsibilities in the classroom. Our aim is to control the understanding of the subjects

Teacher of Primary Education: Alexoudis Ioannis