psiloritis geopark

Psiloritis Geopark Education Material

Psiloritis Geopark offers various educational actions and activities to students and children who visit the Park and the Information Center. These concern:
Visit to the Psiloritis Geopark Information Center
The Psiloritis Geopark Information Center operates on the ground floor of the AKOMM building at the entrance of the village of Anogeia, towards the exit of Heraklion. It includes informative and educational material and small experimental displays, dioramas (cave, mountain ecosystem and house of Anogeia), an exhibition of local products, while there is also a small collection of rocks and fossils from the geopark area as well as digital educational tools. Guided tours are available in Greek and English.
Outdoor educational activities
The staff of Psiloritis Geopark organizes or participates in, after invitation, informative and/or educational activities in the field, related to its objects. In these activities, students can see and learn about all those elements of the geological, and not only, identity of the Psiloritis Geopark outside the classroom.
Educational e-Geodiscover app (not available in English yet) for Android mobile devices from Google Play for the Mygia and Gonia trails!
The educational app aims to provide knowledge about the geology, culture and environment of the geopark, as well as map reading, orientation and navigation skills, in the form of a pop-up "hidden treasure" quiz, which the child follows along an easy and smooth short route in the area of the Stefana plateau and/or in Gonies.

Educational programs of Psiloritis Geopark

At the Information Center of Psiloritis Geopark, 1-2 hour educational programs are implemented, which include an introductory presentation on the following topics and short activities in the form of an activity. The themes of each program can be enriched based on the interests and goals set by each class with additional activities developed in the context of independent, targeted actions (e.g. the ecological footprint of food, local products, risks for mountain ecosystems) .
1. Psiloritis: UNESCO Global Geopark (Elementary-High School): what is and what does a geopark do? what are the "geosites" and what is the geodiversity of Psiloritis Geopark? what is the paleogeographic evolution of Crete? how does geology relate to the animals, plants and people of Psiloritis?
2. A tale from Psiloritis Geopark (Kindergarten - mid- Elementary School): who studies rocks? what is a geopark and what does it do? what can be a "geosite" and what cannot? what does geology have to do with myths?
3. Biodiversity and Psiloritis Geopark (mid- Elementary -High School): what is and what does a geopark do? what is geodiversity and biodiversity? how are they related to each other? unique plants and animals of Psiloritis Geopark: their history and threats.

 

Educational activity- kits of different themes
The Psiloritis Geopark, during the implementation of various programs and through its cooperation with different entities, has developed a series of activity- kits (in Greek) which are either used during school visits at the Information Center or can be lent to teachers in the area. These activity- kits are:
1. "The underground journey of water", within the framework of Leader+ with the cooperation of A.K.O.M.M. - PSILOREITIS DEVELOPMENT S.A. O.T.A. and the Natural History Museum of Crete
This activity- kit concerns the relationship between limestone and water, the underground journey of water through the rocks, the formation of karst structures and the ecosystems and biodiversity found in them, e.g. caves. It includes an instruction and theory book, a dossier with experimental demonstrations and games (crosswords, word- puzzles) as well as two board games. The target group is students in the last grades of Primary and High School, as well as teachers of the respective grades.



2. "Climate Change and Island Geoparks", within the GEO-IN program of Interreg with the cooperation of the UNESCO Global Geoparks from Troodos, Sitia, Lesvos and the Natural History Museum of Crete

This activity-kit is about understanding climate change, the "footprint" of the modern lifestyle and the natural phenomena associated with the effects of these factors. It includes an instruction and theory book, a dossier with activities and games, posters, maps and two board games. The target group is students between the ages of 8-14, as well as teachers of the respective grades.



3. "Reduce-Reuse-Recycle", within the framework of the HORIZON 2020 "RURITAGE" program with the contribution of Εnvironmental Education Center of Anogia, the Natural History
Museum of Crete and the Technical Office for Sustainable Engineering "AELIA" 

The purpose of the program is to inform and sensitize the students on issues of environmental awareness concerning the reduction, reuse and recycling of materials - mainly plastic - and all the necessary material is available digitally. It includes a guide for teachers and all the necessary theoretical material and material for three main activities on related topics. The target group is students of grades B- F of primary school, as well as teachers of the corresponding grades.



Additional activity- kits at the Information Center of Psiloritis Geopark that are partly used only during the visit of students there, depending on the theme of the visit of each school, are "Bonelli's Eagle, the eagle of the Mediterranean" and "Natura Areas of Crete: Stories of thousands of years" of the Hellenic Ornithological Society and the educational kit of the LIFE GRECABAT project.