Pilots

weSPOT works in 8 domains (Food, Biodiversity, Earthquake, Sea, Energy, School, Innovation, Economy) and implements these in 8 primary evaluation testbeds in 5 European countries. For each domain a scenario and domain description and the inquiry competences and skills involved are given.

Food Safety

Examples of plastics contaminating food have been reported with most plastic types. Different countries might have different problems and solutions. Learners involved in this scenario will be acting as chemical engineers and food scientists.

Domain competences:

• Investigating materials properties, advanced packaging and misuse of chemicals
• Understanding chemical reactions, food chemistry
• Bacteria contamination as well as chemical and heat sterilization

Inquiry skills:

• Selecting among given questions and posing new scientific questions with guided support
• Collecting certain data with guided support for what constitutes evidence
• Formulating explanations from evidence with guided support
• Linking areas and sources of scientific knowledge to clarify explanations
• Communicating explanations based on scientific reasoning with guided support

Breeding program for endangered species

This scenario will involve Secondary Schools and Higher Education Institutions in different countries with experts in the knowledge intensive area of animal breeding and genetics which is operating internationally.

Domain competences

• Understanding of genetic variation and bioinformatics (Statistical Genetics / Genomics)
• Designing and evaluating breeding programmes (Animal Breeding)
• Understanding of intra-animal biological relationships (other)

Inquiry skills:

• Selecting among given questions and posing new scientific questions with guided support
• Collecting certain data with guided support for what constitutes evidence
• Formulating explanations from evidence with guided support
• Linking areas and sources of scientific knowledge to clarify explanations
• Communicating explanations based on scientific reasoning with guided support

Investigation of Earthquakes

Students will download and format near real-time and historical earthquake data and seismogram displays from various sources (e.g. U.S. Geological Survey, Institute of Geodynamics - National Observatory of Athens). Students will create spreadsheets and graphs to explore earthquake magnitude, wave amplitude, energy release, frequency occurrence and location. In a more advanced scenario students could do GIS Mapping and Analysis using free GIS Software

Domain competences:

• Understanding elementary statistics, analysis of results
• Elaborating a comparison of earthquakes in terms of size, location, global and/or local distribution and frequency occurrence, mapping and analysing geospatial information
• Graph reading
• Understanding Logarithmic, Scales, Percentages and Geometry

Inquiry skills:

• Selecting among given questions and posing new scientific questions with guided support
• Collecting certain data with guided support for what constitutes evidence
• Formulating explanations from evidence with guided support
• Linking areas and sources of scientific knowledge to clarify explanations
• Communicating explanations based on scientific reasoning with guided support

Classroom under sails

High school students go on ½ year trip across the Atlantic ocean, on their journey, they have normal class and run the clipper. In addition they explore their environment (water, air, physics on board, astronomy…) in personal projects

Domain competences:

• Every student develops its own projects (sometimes in a group) in the domain she/he is interested in, in relation to the curriculum. This may be on see life, on substances in the water, on physics on board; on volcanism or foreign cultures (during stays on land)...

Inquiry skills:

• The young researchers will need all inquiry steps, from the definition of the research question, the research design, the (mobile) measurements, data compilation, data analysis and processing, result exchange and critical rethinking.

Energy Efficient Buildings

Using discussion students should identify disadvantages of the current building from the energy-efficiency point of view. They should try to predict (by providing evidence) future energy problems. Forming teams, they will work on developing reasonable ideas for future energy-efficient buildings. Some guidelines to them:

1. What type of new materials for new energy efficient building components with reduced embodied energy to use (looking from Physics and Chemistry point of view)
2. What technologies will ensure a high quality indoor environment, keeping in mind Ecology

Domain competences:

• Describing speed of chemical processes
• Identifying processes related to release and absorb heat
• Understanding that the current flow energy source gives consumers and describes the effects of thermal appliances
• Calculate the cost of electricity by household electrical appliances and finding ways to save it

Inquiry skills:

• Selecting among given questions and posing new scientific questions with guided support
• Collecting certain data with guided support for what constitutes evidence
• Formulating explanations from evidence with guided support
• Linking areas and sources of scientific knowledge to clarify explanations
• Communicating explanations based on scientific reasoning with guided support

School of the future

The student should provide research on expected changes in the future school. Possible directions:

1. dropping and new courses;
2. the future classroom – real or virtual;
3. new ICTs in education;
4. the role of the teacher;
5. students relationships;
6. new educational approaches;
7. formal versus informal learning,
8. the role of lifelong learning etc.

Domain competences:

• Identifying and interweave new technologies for learning and teaching
• Building skills for combining different technologies
• Building and follow I*Teach scenario
• Proposing innovative learning activities, preparing students for new jobs

Inquiry skills:

• Posing a scientific question
• Determining what constitutes evidence, and collecting evidence
• Formulating explanations after summarizing evidence
• Examining independently other resources and forming the links to explanations
• Forming reasonable and logical argument to communicate explanations

From idea to patent

The pupils/students will reflect their learning environment (or other environments) to determine some of the most pertinent problems, obstacles, "things they do not like", etc. With the help of a teacher those points will then be contemplated form the view point of what out of that could be changed and what (unfortunately) could not be changed.

Domain competences:

• identification of problems in school and school environment
• selection of problems to be solved
• group brainstorming for solutions
• selection of the solution
• development of solutions
• inquiry on existing technical solutions (patent databases)
• preparation of the patent application base on inquiry

Inquiry skills:

• Determining what constitutes evidence, and collecting evidence
• Examining independently other resources and forming the links to explanations

Scenario/case: "Economic Complexity"

Economic Complexity. In recent published Economic Complexity Atlas, Slovenia is the tenth country with high Economic Complexity Index (ECI), and Bosnia is ranked on 8th place as country which has large ECI and small GDP (so it is expected that it will develop fast in next period). It would be interesting to research how these facts can be used for faster economic and social developments.

Domain competences:

• analysis of data on economic complexity
• interpretation of data
• comparison of environments in two different countries
• assessment of impact for economic and social development

Inquiry skills:

• Determining what constitutes evidence, and collecting evidence
• Examining independently other resources and forming the links to explanations