There Is a Sea in My Neighborhood

Objectives:
The main goal of the "There Is a Sea in My Neighborhood" project is to increase ocean literacy and environmental awareness among primary school students living in an inner-city district of Istanbul who have never seen the sea despite living near it. The project also aims to promote social cohesion by involving both Turkish and Syrian students and encourage family participation.

Activities:
Students will take part in two guided sea trips: one to observe the coastline and another boat tour to experience the sea firsthand. For many, this will be their first time seeing and being on the sea.

Students will also organize a beach clean-up campaign, collecting and categorizing plastic waste to understand the sources of pollution.

In a poetry and writing workshop, each student will create sea-themed poems inspired by their reflections after the trips. These will be compiled into a class poetry book.

Students will prepare informative posters on marine biodiversity and ocean pollution and present their work during a school exhibition.

A Family Participation Day will invite relatives to join a marine education walk, followed by student-led presentations and discussions.

Approach:
The project will use a hands-on, inquiry-based learning approach, encouraging students to observe, question, and reflect on their experiences. It will integrate art (poetry), science (pollution analysis), and civic responsibility (beach clean-up) to create a multidisciplinary learning environment.

For example, after the beach clean-up, students will sort the collected waste and create an illustrated chart titled "10 Ways to Protect Our Seas." In the poetry workshop, they will connect their emotions with concepts like biodiversity and environmental care.

These immersive, real-life experiences aim to help students build a strong emotional and cognitive connection to the ocean, making ocean sustainability more tangible and relevant to their daily lives