Summary of the online meeting on Febuary 19th

On Thursday, February 19th, our first online meeting was held with students from the various countries participating in the project. The goal was to establish an initial point of contact and begin working with digital tools relevant to the established objectives.

In this opening session, three useful tools were presented to kickstart the activities: Genially, Prezi, and Quizizz.

Regarding Genially, the possibility of designing a series of escape rooms focused on ocean-related issues was proposed. These are intended for use by students of various nationalities to raise awareness about the importance of preserving our marine environment. To this end, four activities were defined for the participating countries to develop:

1. The "Bio-Thriller": Patient Zero

• The Story: Residents of a small coastal town are falling ill with an unknown ailment. After analyzing samples, it is discovered that it is not a virus, but an extreme concentration of plastic toxins in the food chain.

• Student Role: You are a WHO toxicologist sent to the area.

• The Conflict: You must enter the local fish market and the water treatment plant to find the exact source of the spill and "synthesize" the cure (the final code) before the pollution reaches the city's main aquifer.

• Objective: Identify the chemicals and plastics responsible to stop the epidemic.

2. Science Fiction: Project "Coral Ark"

• The Story: The year is 2150. The oceans are acidic, dark "dead zones." Humanity's last hope lies in the Coral Ark, a space station that stores the DNA of all marine species before the Great Extinction.

• Student Role: You are a maintenance technician on the station.

• The Conflict: A cooling system failure is starting to heat up the DNA tanks. To save the samples, you must resolve "memory errors" in the central computer, which asks for data on how the oceans were destroyed in the 21st century to avoid repeating history.

• Objective: Restore the Ark’s power and send the life capsules to a new habitable planet.

3. Industrial Espionage: Operation "Black Tide"

• The Story: The mega-corporation Hydra-Corp claims to be the "greenest" company in the world, but an anonymous whistleblower says they are dumping chemical waste directly into a protected abyssal trench.

• Student Role: You are an undercover activist who has managed to sneak into the company's headquarters.

• The Conflict: You are trapped in the CEO's office. You have 20 minutes before the security guard shift changes. You must hack the server, decrypt hidden environmental impact reports, and send the evidence to the international press.

• Objective: Leak the documents proving the ecological crime so the police can intervene.

4. Realistic Fantasy: The Trial of Neptune

• The Story: The sea gods have grown tired of human trash. Neptune has cast a curse: if an "offering of knowledge and commitment" is not presented to him within an hour, he will close all trade routes and trigger tidal waves along the coasts.

• Student Role: You are humanity’s ambassador to the underwater court.

• The Conflict: You must travel the ocean floor collecting "tears of the ocean" (polluting objects) and classifying them to prove that we understand the damage caused and know how to fix it.

• Objective: Obtain the 4 keys to Neptune's trident to calm his wrath and save the coastal cities.

  

Secondly, Prezi was discussed, highlighting the tool's recent improvements. It was suggested that each country create a presentation using Prezi to showcase the reality of the oceans in their respective territories.

Finally, the use of Quizizz was proposed—a tool that allows for the creation of interactive and personalized forms—to design a questionnaire aimed at assessing the knowledge gained regarding the specific ocean issues of each country.

It should be noted that, during the creation of these presentations, students were supported by Google’s integrated AI assistance to optimize their content. Based on the information provided and the use of their slides, they were able to incorporate significant improvements.