Nataša Svetina, Zavod sv. Frančiška Saleškega, Gimnazija Želimlje, Škofljica
In the past school years Chemistry Weekends were organized for students of Želimlje High School (Gimnazija Želimlje). As the coordinator and mentor I was encouraged in my efforts to keep these events active as well as increase the motivation for chemistry and science in general. Ex-students of our high school, experts from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Jožef Stefan Institute and chemistry teachers from other high schools participated as co-mentors and lecturers in my workshops. The programme was oriented towards natural sciences and engineering: in addition to chemistry related topics, it also included mathematics, dental medicine and metallurgical industry. It was carried out on Fridays and Saturdays and each time the participants were first acquainted with the agenda, planned activities and safety precautions. Whilst preparing he programme, I was not limited by the curriculum or the length of the school lessons and there were more mentors than usually. Also, the groups of students were considerably smaller than during regular classes – due to all this, it was possible to establish cross curricular collaboration and be flexible in terms of timing, individualized approaches. The workshop contents were presented in a stimulating way – they were topical and immediately related to everyday life. Beside developing mathematical competence and other basic skills in science and technology, the students also developed other competences regarding lifelong learning; particularly digital literacy, learning to learn, interpersonal and social skills. Workshop samples: dental-medicine – tooth composition and suitable hygiene, chemistry – how to perform simple chemistry magic tricks, also how to create bioplastic at home, metallurgic – how to recycle old vehicle suspension into a knife, mathematics – using the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the angle between molecule bonds described by tetrahedral. Lecture sample: How the universe was created. The students conducted experiments and presented their findings with posters, computer presentations and reports in school magazines. The students at Chemistry Weekends are always highly motivated for active participation as they apply voluntarily. After each such event, their impressions, comments and wishes are gathered, which is of great importance when planning future projects.
