22 March

 

Today is the last day of the project in Geel.

Today we dealt less with science and more with culture and history. We visited a beautiful old city of Antwerp. It was a great and memorable experience. We explored the city and its landmarks participating in a city game organized by our Belgian hosts. We walked down the quirky streets, admired old churches and looked at ancient buildings. Later, we went to the brewery ''de Koninck'' where we observed the process of producing beer and watched some films and exhibitions connected with beer industry.

The last evening of this great mobility we spent on summing up the project activities with the school community: parents, teachers and students. We danced, played games and talked. We got the certificates and had to say good bye. The next day all of us would go back to our countries. But we knew we would never forget these days spent on work and fun.

21 March

 

Today was the day of hard work.

We were divided into 2 groups doing different activities. The first group worked in the laboratory on synthesis and analysis of acetyl salycilic acid. They produced aspirin as well. The other group worked in a Fab Lab where they designed models of different chemical substances in a special computer programme. Then, they printed them in .... wood!!! That was really amazing because the models were printed in 3D!

After lunch the group changed. This way everybody worked both doing experiments and producing models of chemical substances. The day was really intense!

20 March

 

Today was devoted to algae and their importance in everyday's life. Algae are in our food, cosmetics and objects we use on daily basis. We did experiments connected with algae and described them. For  lunch we went to Thomas Moore High School to visit and see huge algae project. It was really impressive; especially the process of producing algae on a huge scale using big machines. 

One of the best things about the trip was that we went there by bikes, which was quite an experience, especially for people who hadn't ridden the bike for 20 years!

The rest of the day was spent on playing games, doing quizzes and talks in Kogeka school. It was great; we had lots of fun together. Parents of our Belgian friends prepared delicious food for us.

19 March

 

Activities today started really early. We all met at the railway station to go to Mechelen and visit an impressive historical museum ,,Dossinkazerne''. The museum deals with massive violence taking Holocaust and the World War II as the departure point. It aims to show the mechanisms of violence, group pressure and the resulting genocide. It also shows moving history of people (mainly the Jews) who were deported from Belgium to different concentration camps. The visit was really overwhelming and made us appreciate the times of relative peace we live in.

After a short walk in Mechelen and lunch in the park, we went to Science Centre Technopolis where we could have fun learning at the same time. We saw different exhibitions, did experiments and learnt by doing.