Project title: Green is more than a colour is a way of life

Team: GREEN FOR THE FUTURE

Technological High School No. 1 Fundulea   Fundulea   Romania   40 Student’s age: 8-9 years old

How does drought affect plants and animals?

Fundulea, the city where we live, is in a lowland area. Among the climatic elements with a major influence on plants and animals in our region, drought and heat occupy an important role. Plants, animals and people suffer. Even though we are students in the preparatory class and in the first grade, we understand that drought affects the ecosystems of our city. Thus, we have carried out some activities, trying to get actively involved in environmental issues.
Research activities
The children’s visits to National Institute for Agricultural Development Research Fundulea were very constructive. We carried out activities called Ask a scientist!, where the children experimented with different laboratory devices, received answers to the questions they had, at the meetings with researchers from INCDA Fundulea: Mrs. Scientific Director scientific researcher grade I Elena Petcu, Mr. scientific researcher grade II Cătălin Lazăr and Mrs. scientific researcher grade III Mihaela Popa, who supported us in carrying out our activities. The children visited the Laboratory of Genetics and Phenotyping, the institute’s greenhouses, where the testing of the main crop plants takes place, under controlled environmental conditions. The children followed the data presented by the researchers, analyzed information from FAO in class and noticed that in our area the frequency of precipitation decreased annually (https://www.fao.org/giews/earthobservation/country/index.jsp?lang=en&code=ROU).
Practical activities
The children also learned the climatographic data, provided by the Fundulea Meteorological Station, which has the following geographical coordinates: 44s30′ latitude and 24s10′ east longitude. They compared the data obtained by them with those received from the researchers. The children made bird feeders and water spaces for birds and insects, using recyclable materials: plastic bottles, wooden spoons, pomelo hats, coconut shells. They understood how useful they are for birds, when the temperature is very low, and they hardly find their food.
Some children have crafted cottages for insects, places where they can form colonies.

Analyzing the observation sheets of the frequency of precipitation in different seasons, the children understood that their absence, the appearance of drought, heatstroke are influenced by global climate change. Everyone in the community needs to be aware of this. Drought is the main cause of the loss of agricultural productivity and poses a major threat to food safety. Given that in our city, in our country, there are more and more frequent drought and heat phenomena, it is necessary to optimize irrigation systems in order to make the most efficient use of all the water resources used in the irrigation of crops. The children learned that researchers are working to discover new varieties of cereals and technical plants that are much more resistant to drought. The lack of water has also affected the development of many plants from which bees and other pollinators feed. Bees, along with other pollinating insects, are doing a very important job for our planet. Without the work of bees, much of the food available today would disappear.

Main results and conclusions
Analyzing the observation sheets of the frequency of precipitation in different seasons, the children understood that their absence, the appearance of drought, heatstroke are influenced by global climate change. Everyone in the community needs to be aware of this. Drought is the main cause of the loss of agricultural productivity and poses a major threat to food safety. Given that in our city, in our country, there are more and more frequent drought and heat phenomena, it is necessary to optimize irrigation systems in order to make the most efficient use of all the water resources used in the irrigation of crops. The children learned that researchers are working to discover new varieties of cereals and technical plants that are much more resistant to drought. The lack of water has also affected the development of many plants from which bees and other pollinators feed. Bees, along with other pollinating insects, are doing a very important job for our planet. Without the work of bees, much of the food available today would disappear.

https://sites.google.com/view/profesor-d/proiecte

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ESA_2023.pdf

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