Sea Breeze - bringing European people together, is a project that highlights the importance of preserving our seas to future generations, and the importance of the seas to European nations in general. The aim of this project is to explore and compare our seas by using different innovative methods and ways. This project has five (5) partner schools which are all located close to the sea coasts: Finland in the Baltic Sea, UK in the Atlantic Ocean, Spain and Italy in the western Mediterranean sea together with Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean sea. All partner schools share the common vision of educating our youth to become more aware of the importance of our seas. By exploring and comparing our seas, we can find out and understand the reasons that makes our seas vulnerable and unique. Objectives of the project: - to promote awareness of the importance of our seas in general; - to study the different European seas, their management and related ecosystems. (Natural and Social Science); - to examine the various different ways in which the seas influence our lives; - to raise awareness of the importance of preserving our seas to future generations; - to develop a deeper understanding of how to protect and preserve our seas; - to study the main factors that affect sea salinity (evaporation, precipitation, freezing and melting of snow or ice…) and how it affects to sea biodiversity.(Natural Science); - to use innovative approaches to investigate the sea - to explore a variety of things concerning to our own marine environment, and to compare the differences and similarities with other seas - to develop the pupil’s ability to be open-minded researchers by collaborating with other people ; - to improve the problem solving skills of our pupils - to promote the European dimension in education by developing cooperation between partners; - to stimulate and improve the use of foreign language; - to use ICT´s as an essential tool for searching and developing the knowledge in world today. Description of main activities: - designing and building a 3D ship/boat; - exploring the sea and collecting information from it by innovative methods; - exchanging and comparing the results of our sea-studies; - designing a logo for the project; - creating an online marine dictionary and a Sea-Breeze blog; - establishing a project exhibition and celebrating the European maritime day; - creating a multimedia clip based on sea-related local folklore; - designing and creating web quests about seas; - designing and publishing a calendar of the year 2017 by using best photos from theSea Breeze photo competition; - establishing a Sea Breeze -conference in Finland in May 2017, where all the results will be summed up. The local environment officers, marine biologists, shipyard heads, and other sea-related players will be invited to share our project results. The idea is also to have a small debate among these parties, and hopefully make us all more aware of how to preserve our seas. Description of main results: - A 3D ship/boat. All partner schools builds 3D ship or boat. At the end of the project the ship/boat will be loaded up with our results: DVD´s, booklets, research results, stories, sea songs etc. ("Our ship/boat is loaded with..."). - A DVD, a booklet and posters, where each participant has compiled the results of the studies and investigations: sea condition, pollution, salinity, most important trading harbors and routes, export and import products, important sea-related occupations etc. - Presentations of participating countries, towns and schools, and their maritime history and modern days. - A Power Point presentation of the marine life (flora and fauna) from each participating school area. - Online marine dictionary. Basic vocabulary which is useful to learn in addition to sea-related words. - "Sea Breeze photo-competition" - A competition where best photos taken by students will be published in a calendar. - A project logo (sea-related). - "Sea Breeze" - blog. Sea related articles , information, website links, games, etc will be gathered during the project. - Multimedia clip to show characters/scenario based on sea-related local folklore. Expected main impact and long term benefits: - All participating persons and organisations will get a better understanding of the importance of the seas to Europe, and the importance of preserving the seas for future generations. - All participants will develop a greater interest towards nature and management of natural resources. - All participants will have better respect, tolerance and understanding among all European citizens. - Pupils and teachers have better ICT skills and problem solving skills, and they have more courage to investigate everything in life with an open eyes. We believe that all our activities and impacts will create long term benefits to all the participants of this project.