Young people gain in-depth knowledge when Vrak – the Museum of Wrecks and the Baltic Sea Science Center cater to students of all ages
The classroom of the Baltic Sea – a school web
In August 2022, Vrak – the Museum of Wrecks launched a digital classroom (only available in Swedish), a digital initiative to spread knowledge about the Baltic Sea. The focus is on marine archaeology and the wrecks and remains from the Stone Age to the present that are preserved on the bottom of the sea.
Nowhere else in the world are there as many well-preserved wrecks as in the Baltic Sea. Vrak – Museum of Wrecks brings their stories to the surface but they leave the wrecks and objects themselves on the bottom where they are best preserved. The sea is illuminated through the marine archaeological remains, and stories about how people in all ages have used the sea as a resource and what consequences it has had are told.
The Baltic Sea as a source of knowledge
The digital classroom is a school website that helps teachers give their students an in-depth knowledge of what has happened both on and in the Baltic Sea throughout history. The material can be used in interdisciplinary theme work. The teaching can also be deepened in subjects such as history, social and natural sciences or languages and visual arts. The historical wrecks and remains are a cohesive context and based on it, you can work with knowledge, understanding and the ability to think dynamically in general. Likewise, one can try to reach insights about concrete action in relation to the sea.
Baltic Sea Science Center (BSSC) – a knowledge center
The BSSC at Skansen opened in 2019. Since the start, it has been a knowledge center for Skansen’s educational work. With a focus on the interaction between humans, animals and nature, the Baltic Sea’s four major environmental challenges are highlighted – eutrophication, overfishing, environmental toxins, and depleted diversity. Several school programs show how the sea is affected by humans, and how the sea affects us. Which actions in our daily lives affect the Baltic Sea? How can we act to do as little damage as possible?
The unique flora and fauna up close
At the BSSC, students can take part in the Baltic Sea’s unique plant and animal life up close. There are aquariums, exhibitions, classrooms and a laboratory here. When visiting BSSC, students can observe life below the surface but also be active and investigate various issues and phenomena, thereby getting to learn about the challenges that the Baltic Sea is facing. But when the students go home, they should also have taken with them possible tools and an understanding that we can all contribute through a sustainable lifestyle. This is an important message, not least for the generation that is growing up now and will take over.
The results are many. Among other things, students at Täby Enskilda high school have made a podcast (Forskarpodden, in Swedish) where they talk to several researchers.
Climate portal A warmer sea
In January 2022, the BSSC launched the climate portal A Warmer Sea (Ett varmare hav, in Swedish). It is aimed at teachers and students in upper secondary school. In a collaboration between BSSC and researchers at the Department of Aquatic Resources at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science, knowledge about the Baltic Sea, the climate and how life below the surface will be affected when the sea gets warmer is conveyed. There are also ways to go deeper here through practical elements where students can participate in research or get involved in spreading knowledge.
Vrak – the Museum of Wrecks and the Baltic Sea Science Center contribute through their educational portals to education for sustainable development (4.7)
Vrak – the Museum of Wrecks and the Baltic Sea Science Center contribute through their educational portals to young people getting access to scientific knowledge for a healthier Baltic Sea (14.A)