Day 5 - Our planet: ecology matters, and history, too!

As the bagpipe sounded at 8 a.m., we started our day with gymnastics that included stretching, ninja, and for the hearty ones, swimming.

After the introduction to the theme, we moved to the tennis courts, where the students, in groups, competed in a relay race "Refuse-Reduce-Reuse-Recycle" where they had to take an item from a bag and decide quickly what it was made of and how to recycle it. For example, a can of aerosol mousse required removing the plastic cap and putting in the bag titled “Plastics” and recycling the bottle in the “Special Recycling Center” bag. After the relay race, the students evaluated their answers and discussed the different approaches to recycling that our countries take. Thank you to the US Embassy for generously providing notebooks appropriately made from recycled materials as prizes. 

Back in the activity room, students listened to a soundtrack of the short film “Man” and imagined what it depicts. They used their imaginations to draw images on a six-box thumbnail template and then shared their sketches and guesses about the theme the soundtrack depicted. Watching the video itself, they realized the theme of the film is man’s destruction of nature and the planet. 

Transitioning from environmental problems to preservation of important natural and manmade heritage sites, the students engaged in several activities to learn about 25 UNESCO World Heritage sites such as The Great Barrier Reef, Machu Pichu,The Great Wall etc. Among the activities was a Kahoot game where the students identified the location of each heritage site. 

In keeping with the theme, we spent most of the afternoon visiting Merkinė Hill Fort, a place of great historic significance to Lithuanians because it was built in 1377 to protect the country from attacks by the Teutonic Knights. The fort, located 45 minutes from our camp, gave birth to the town of Merkinė, which was, for a period of time, an extremely important, large, and powerful city.  The sudents climbed the observation tower to see the panoramic views and view the Nemumas River and the countryside.  Throughout the afternoon, they took  photographs that contained nature, humor, and themselves so they could enter the photos after the field trip. Their hike through the forest ended in Merkinė where the students, on this very warm and humid day, made a beeline for the local store’s ice cream freezer.

Back at the camp, and after choosing and uploading their favorite photos, the students cast their ballots. One photographer in each group won a logo beverage tumbler, donated by the US Embassy.

 

 

The day concluded with all of us gathering at the campfire for songs in Lithuanian, Polish, and English.