Savremena students learn to love and protect the environment. This week, students of class 7-2 discussed World Water Day and International Day of Forests in a lesson that combined civic education and geography. They learned a lot about global issues from the presentation they watched, thus raising their environmental awareness to a higher level. 

World Water Day is celebrated every year on March 22, whereas International Day of Forests is celebrated only a day earlier. That was a great reason to integrate Civic Education and Geography so that students could discuss these topics.
In the introductory part of the lesson, teachers introduced students to these significant dates, and asked them if they were aware of them. They also asked a few problem-based questions to get students involved in the teaching process, and develop critical thinking.

Then the Civic Education teacher played a video about water preservation at a global level, and asked students what was being done at national level when it comes to water preservation. She continued with the current topic of mini hydropower plants on Stara Planina, and gave students the task to explore the pros and cons of such mini power plants.

Using the presentation as the starting point, the Geography teacher asked students questions about the importance and preservation of forests. He used the Amazon forest as a case study of forest endangerment. Students offered their own comments on the matter and actively participated in the discussion. The teacher also presented national forest protection measures, while students presented their views on afforestation and degradation of Serbia’s forests.

At the end of the lesson, students answered problem-based questions asked by their teachers, made conclusions on the preservation of water and forests, and presented their proposals regarding water and forest preservation.