With summer holidays coming to an end, Save The Med’s education team are getting ready to go back to school! To date more than 7000 students from all over Mallorca have participated in Save The Med’s “Dos Manos School Programme” during which they learn about marine ecosystems and plastic pollution, conduct beach clean up surveys and come up with solutions to reduce the use of single use plastic.
Together, the participating students have removed, categorised and counted more than 250.000 plastic objects from beaches all around the island as part of a citizen science activity included in the programme.
Meanwhile, hundreds of students from the Balearic Islands have gone even further, participating in Save The Med’s Changemakers Project by developing their own ideas, projects and campaigns to reduce the use of single use plastic in their homes, schools and communities.
While initially the Changemakers Project was only available for students aged 15-18, this school year, younger students aged 8-14 will be able to join the movement too, as an adapted version of the project, called Changemakers Junior, will be open to participation for all students in Mallorca!
Find out more about each project below. Visit www.savethemed.org for more information and contact info@savethemed.org for questions and sign ups!
The Dos Manos project: Who is it for and how long does it last?
Standard version: Students aged 14 -18. 2 sessions. Session 1 consists of approximately 1,5h in the classroom (or virtual session) and the second of 3h on the beach.
Junior version: Students aged 8-14. 1 session of 3 hours on the beach.
What does it consist of?
Together with Save The Med’s educators students will learn about plastic pollution and our throwaway culture as well as its effect on the marine environment and our health. They will conduct an excursion to the beach that includes clean up and citizen science survey. We’ll talk about solutions to the problem and brainstorm what we can all do to reduce our use of single use plastic. The collected data will then be used in Save The Med’s work to reduce plastic production and waste generation.
The fifth edition of STM’s Changemakers Project: Who is it for and how long does it last?
Students between 15 - 18 years old (must turn 15 before 12/31 2022) from the Balearic Islands. Sign ups open October 1, 2021. Last date for project presentation is April 3, 2022. There will be an event for all participants in May or June (date to be confirmed). The teams presenting the projects with the greatest impact will be invited to participate in expeditions and excursions at sea with Save The med during the summer of 2022.
What does it consist of?
This is a project that the teams carry out independently, with the possibility of receiving an optional virtual introductory session for the whole class about the project and key guidelines for participation as well as email support from Save The Med as needed.
To participate, students will form teams of 4 classmates and will work over the course of several months to develop and implement of their own projects and / or campaigns to reduce the use of single-use plastic (including plastics called bioplastics and biodegradable plastics), always following the 3 R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse.
Students will plan and document their work, measure the results and submit their project to Save The Med via email before the deadline. Through their work, participants help ignite a positive wave of change in their communities.
All teams will receive a diploma. The five projects with the greatest impact will be selected.
Two of the teams will be invited for a week-long scientific expedition at sea with Save The Med and three teams will join one-day excursion during which they will help monitor marine ecosystems and pollution at sea. In addition, the classes of the five teams will be able to use an endowment of 500 euros to invest in an environmental activity, excursion or project.
The new Changemakers JUNIOR Project: Who is it for and how long does it last?
Students between 8 - 14 years old from Majorca. Sign ups open October 1, 2021. Last date for project presentation is May 3, 2022. There will be an event for everyone in May or June (date to be confirmed).
What does it consist of?
In contrast to the senior students who work in small teams, the Junior students will form one big team with their entire class to work on the development and implementation of their own projects and / or campaigns to reduce the use of single-use plastic (including plastics called bioplastics and biodegradable plastics), following the 3 R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse.
As in the original project, students will plan and document their work, measure the results and submit their project to Save The Med via email before the final date. Through their work, participants help ignite a wave of positive change in their schools and communities.
All Junior classes will receive a diploma.
The most impactful projects will be selected and their teams will be provided an opportunity to learn what it is like to work as a scientist at sea and to participate in a mini-documentary with the Save The Med’s multimedia team.