A trip to the North Pole!

Strange things happen in the North Pole... Almost magic things!
It's very-very cold! ΟK, we all knew that...
But up there in the north everything is different...
Day and night... The sun and the sky...

So, we boarded our Websail and travelled very far away!!
We met the Eskimoes and they told us how they build their igloos, their ice houses.

We arrived there in summertime. During a day that lasts for...6 months!
Even at night, the sun doesn't set... It never hides...

But when it DOES set, it is for good!.
The night there lasts for six months... Yet, it is not always dark...

Original post by Dimitris Alexakis

Walking, learning and playing around "Platanias" river!

On the last Wednesday of March, our school went on an outing to river "Platanias".

We started out with identifying the surroundings of our school and with a basic orientation lesson on our school's roof!

"Where's the south, kids???"

Walking side by side on the pavement, we arrived at the bank of our local river, where we talked about the importance of rivers and the river deltas.

Side by side on the pavement...!

The estuary of river Platanias into the sea...

The White Mountains, covered in snow, majestic, lying to the west and Rethymno seemed to relax under their foot. 

 The wonderful beach luckily had little rubbish, which we collected in bags and then started playing!

"Come on, quick! We need to play, too!"

We had brought balls, cones and rackets. We dug in the sand, walked in the small sweeter water  pond and played tug of war. Some of our teachers had got tired and seeked rest quickly. Others, in a better physical shape, played with us!

Here is pitch number 1...

"Mandilaki" running game...

Some of us were fully "equiped!"!!!

...digging was one of our favourite activities...!

Some...immersed themselves in the sand...

...and some were buried -literally- up to their ears in the sand!

...a keepsake photo with our "spoil", the rubbish we collected!

Tug of War: 4th grades-teachers, write one!

 It turns out no cars or distances are needed to have fun!
Let us not forget, our activities matched the programme "Tourism and Environment" of the Environmental Education Centre of Archanes, in which we take part as a partner school!

Original post by Kostas Ververidis

From production to consumption! (Part I)

Yesterday, we became farmers, for a while! We wanted to come closer to nature and see how useful, tiring, but also pleasant the engagement with the primary sector (agriculture) can be!
 So, we went to an orange grove where we picked oranges, learnt a few things about citrus fruit from an organic products grower (for instance, how to differentiate between bitter and regular oranges-before getting bitter!) and, of course, we ate fresh fruit straight from the source!

• We would like to warmly thank mr Nikos Bekakos, an organic products grower, for the time he devoted to us, the invaluable information he gave the children and the questions he answered! Unfortunately, there is no photo documentation from his visit because the photographers were also having their questions answered at the time!!!

A stop for food and play before getting down to work...

And here we are in the garden!

We split in two teams and set the rules for our own safety...	...and began picking!
The fact that you can't see us...	...doesn't mean we didn't work hard!

We became climbers, too!

Boys...

...and girls!

In some cases "heavy artillery" was employed!

We picked bitter oranges, too...	...PLUS lemons!
A "small" token of our effort!!!	Can't we try an orange, now?

...or, maybe, two?

Fine, it was more than two...but we deserved it!

After eating and getting a short rest...

...we carried the production to the coach and returned to school!

...where we set our own small line of production...	...of freshly-wrung orange juice, what else?
Everyone at their post because we have over-production!	...first cups ready!

"Everybody will get one, kids!"	...the best reward for a tiring day!...

...And a video where Ms Maria with Casian suggest new ways of picking oranges, while mr Dimitris is taking a break entertaining those who are still working!

We'll meet at school on Sunday, at 10 o'clock in the morning to make orange marmelade!

(end of part A', TO BE CONTINUED...)

Why are zebras striped?

    We learnt at Physics a few days ago that animals adapt to their environment. They are coloured so as to hide from their enemies and hunt their food more easily.

The polar wolf, for instance, is white to hide and hunt in the snow.

But why are zebras striped?

What does that pattern help them for?

Some scientists believe that they have found the answer...

According to their research, zebras have evolved and acquired these stripes in order to prevent insects from biting them!!

As scientists point out, the key is in the way light is reflected. "At first we studied horses with black, brown and white hair.", Susanne Akesson notes. "We noticed that the light that is reflected by black and brown horses gathers more flies than that of the white ones."

 Having discovered flies'...preferences, scientists continued their research on zebras. "We created an experimental environment out of surfaces in various patterns.", Akesson reports and goes on to explain how they put a black board, a white one and lots of black and white ones in different sizes in a horse farm in Hungary.

"We had put glue on the boards. So we measured the insects that got stuck on the boards.", she adds. The black and white board attracted fewer flies even than the white one. A similar experiment was carried out with 3D effigies of two horses (a black and a white one) and of a zebra. The results were the same...

Original post by Dimitris Alexakis