Bionics is the application of methods and systems
found in nature to the study and design of
engineering systems and modern technology. It does
not yet belong to the core curriculum in schools in
Europe. All the more interesting that four secondary
schools in France, Germany and Luxembourg chose
this topic to serve diff erent goals: to interest pupils
in scientifi c research and ethical questions and to
motivate them to improve their language skills and
enrich their vocabulary in French and German.
Over the three years of this Comenius School Partnership,
pupils and teachers worked on ethical questions,
discussed the future of the European social model,
explored the possibilities to use bionic approaches in
industry and production, and refl ected on future opportunities
and limitations of new technologies. Each of the
partner schools covered diff erent aspects of this broad
topic and by exchanging their results the schools were
able to get a more complete picture and to learn about
the discussions and approaches taken by their partners.
The most concrete results of the project were the set up
of an interactive exhibition and the creation of a web site.
Project meetings, joint workshops and a "Bionic Day"
were focal points of project work.
The teachers also had the chance to exchange details of
the diff erent pedagogical methods used in each partner
school and to learn more about the school system in the
partner countries. The partnership raised their interest
in further cooperation with schools from other European
countries and at the same time succeeded in interesting
their pupils in science.
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