href=”https://thepowerofus.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gulffinland.jpg”>Travel and Networking with Educators Stem and IT in Russia

Part One-Museum of Water-Saint Petersburg, Russia
The Project was the SEE U.S. Russia Expertise Exchange, Eurasia Foundation. It was a life-changing experience.
There is an international projection on water, All One Ocean, www.alloneocean.org
and there are courses that teachers from all over the world take on observing the oceans.Citizen science or youth and education projects are common in the US and in Russia.

Meeting the Challenge

Here is an interactive game at the Children’s ecological center in St. Petersburg, Russia. This game table has different water-related educational and interactive games. This one teaches geography of the Baltic Sea countries. (Documentation for Youth and Education Working Group, US-Russia Social Expertise Exchange Fellowship 2014)

I found fascinating projects on science, technology, engineering and math. I was assisted in language by two outstanding Eurasian Fellows whose specialty was the Russian Language. Sarah Choi and Alexandra Kohut. They were taught Russian in College and the languages were their specialty, both had lived in various places in Russia and had a network of friends and language specialists with intense knowledge of Russia.That was very helpful.

Water is important to the earth. In photographs taken from space, we can see that our planet has more water than land. It is unexpected and somewhat inconceivable that less than three percent of Earth’s water is fresh water. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, most of that three percent is inaccessible. Over 68 percent of the fresh water on Earth is found in icecaps and glaciers, and just over 30 percent is found in ground water. Only about 0.3 percent of our fresh water is found in the surface water of lakes, rivers, and swamps. Of all the water on Earth, more than 99 percent of Earth’s water is unusable by humans and many other living things! It seems extraordinary that the water that supports all terrestrial, as well as aquatic, life on our planet is actually so scarce. With this stunning realization comes a recognition that we have to utilize this resource very wisely. An important first step is to educate ourselves and future generations of citizens.

Russia and the US cooperate in space to share the mapping of the earth and its waters.
Children in the schools of Saint Petersburg, and in particular Epi School are involved in the Vodakanal Water studies. One project is a Crayfish. Yes, a crayfish. In the Chesapeake Bay, we study the crab. So it was wonderful to see the interactive resources and lab testing that the students participated in , in the Interactive program.

A lead character of this excursion is a Crayfish,” Where Do Crayfish Winter? ‘ will be a very unusual employee of Vodokanal – the Neva Crayfish. Participants of the program together with the Neva Crayfish will make a trip around ‘The Underground World of St. Petersburg’, learn how water is treated in a big city and find out how living creatures – crayfish, snails, little fish – help people in their work.
Museum complex specialists have also developed more than ten interactive programs, intended for children of different ages – from preschool children to teenagers.Here are some pictures of the testing, and other projects.

In the United States, my studies are on the Chesapeake Bay , and the Atlantic Ocean. It was great to find best practices in Russia and new ideas while studying the The Baltic Sea, and the Gulf of Finland. Here are the descriptions of the Interactive programs of the museum. http://www.vodokanal-museum.ru/en/interaktivnye_programmy/programmy_dlya_detej/

I learned from the Baltic competitions, which the Russians won, ways in which students learn about the environment that were interactive.I loved the interactive programs.

The Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is the least salty sea in the world. It is one of the youngest seas in the world and it is approximately 4000 years of age.In XIX century the Gulf of Finland was named ” Markizovz Luzha”The Marquis’ Puddle) due to its shallow depth ( the average depth-38M).Saint Petersburg is the biggest city at the Baltic Sea Coast. Both marine and freshwater species live in the Gulf of Finland

The Baltic Sea Project (BSP) is an international network among young people and teachers for a better environment in the Baltic Sea catchment area.
The Baltic Sea Project (BSP) is an international network among young people and teachers for a better environment in the Baltic Sea catchment area.https://www.facebook.com/unesco.bsp