The Global Learning Expedition (GLE) was held at the Navy Phirom Hotel, Hua Hin, Thailand, from 18th to 22nd November. This program was organized by the IPST (Institution for Promoting Teaching Science and Technology) in Bangkok, the country coordinator for the GLOBE program in Thailand. They organize this event annually.
Four of our students got the chance to take part in this event. They were accompanied by the Principal and a teacher of our school. The team that took part in this program is as follows.
- Mr. R.M.M. Rathnayake – Principal (Maliyadeva College)
- Mr. Piyadasa Lansakara – Teacher (Maliyadeva College)
- J.M.D.I.S. Jayakody – Student (Vice President of MCGC 2007)
- H.M.A.P.B. Herath – Student (Treasurer of MCGC 2007)
- R.M.M.P. Rathnayake – Student (President of MCGC 2007)
- C.R. Ariyarathna – student (Senior Adviser – MCGC 2007 / Treasurer of MCGC 2005)
This was the first opportunity that our GLOBE club got to take part in a conference in abroad. And also, it was the first occasion that a group of students got a chance to represent Sri Lanka in another country regarding the GLOBE program.
GLE was a well organized event. We could get many new experiences regarding the GLOBE studies in this program. There were about 150 students form Thailand to take part in this program and there was also a team from Laos too.
Dr. Edward E. Geary, the Director of the GLOB Program and Dr. David R. Brooks, President, Institute for Earth Science Research and Education, USA were the special guests in GLE.
The theme of the GLE 2007 was, “Learning about Climate Change to Inspire the Next Generation of Scientists” In this program, students had to do presentations on the projects that they had done about Climate Change, according to the information given by the organizers of GLE. And there was a poster presentation too, based on those projects. There were two another posters representing Sri Lanka except ours. They had sent by Girls High School, Kandy. In the last three days, there was a field work session. In field works, all the students and teachers attended were divided in to several groups. Groups represented the different GLOBE study sites (Soil, Atmosphere, Land Cover and Hydrology) each group went different locations in these field works. At the end of the field work, each group presented a demonstration on their work.
At the end of the program, there was a Farewell Party and a nice cultural show to enhance the friendship of all participants. Finally our team returned back to motherland after a successful tour. We should thank to IPST for their kind cooperation in this program.
