Final visit to the Villa: Conclusion to the Project

Presentation  of our project:

Exhibit of our work

Vote for Best Photo

The younger spectators were quite active in the voting

The winner is........

1. the turtle photo by Mrs. Barde (above)

2. the headless undersea photo by a friend of Agathe's

3. the  golden sunset photo by Quentin

Why don't you have a look at our photo galery & choose the one you prefer

Queensland: a coveted coastline

We used Queensland as a case study introducing a lesson on coastal environments.

The coast of Queensland is environmentally sensitive, because it combines areas of outstanding natural beauty and important economic activities.

The Great Barrier Reef, that stretches 2300km along the coast.

Surfers Paradise, on the Gold Coast. Almost 20 millions of tourists visit Queensland each year.

As these two pictures show, it is at the same time a very natural and a very artifical area, which makes the development and management of these shores very complex.

Lately industry has also developed along the coast, bringing threats such as increased marine traffic, oil spills, coral bleaching...

Abbot Point is becoming one of the largest bulk and coal ports in the world. The activities there include dredging, which is a major threat to biodiversity.

An increasing number of Australians move to live by the sea, some want to make a living out of it, but many consider that they also need to protect it, in order to maintain this very attractive way of life… and keep selling seashells by the seashore!

This is why sustainable development is central in Queensland’s economic development: the reef is constantly monitored, as the website www.reefbase.org shows:

Besides the government implements new strategies such as ecotourism: "an ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing natural areas that fosters environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservation", says the non-profit organisation Ecotourism Australia.

On the Australian coast, human activities, development and welfare depend on how the sea is considered: should it only be seen as a source of profit, or as an asset to humanity and biodiversity?

Scientific experimentations

En cas de pollution aux hydrocarbures des mers et océans, on utilise souvent des agents dispersants. Ce sont des tensioactifs : du liquide vaisselle concentré. Cela permet de diviser la nappe d'hydrocrabures et de la disperser dans le colonne d'eau grâce aux courants.
Voici deux béchers : ils contiennent de l'eau et de l'huile ; dans celui de droite ont été ajoutés des tensioactifs.

Les matières organiques constituent la principale source de pollution de l'eau qui avoisine les milieux urbains. Nous avons choisi de déterminer la concentration en dioxygène dissous dans l'eau de l'Huveaune et l'eau de mer afin de voir si ces eaux étaient polluées, à la date des prélèvements, par les matières organiques. En effet, la décomposition par les bactéries des matières organiques entraine une diminution de la concentration en dioxygène des eaux.

Réactions entre le dioxygène dissous et les ions manganèse (II) :

 Titrage de l'échantillon par les ions thiosulfate en présence de thiodène :

Résultats :

Origine de l’eau	Volume versé à la burette (ml)	Teneur en dioxygène (mg/L)	Qualité de l’eau
Huveaune à la Valentine	13,8	10,6	excellente
Huveaune à son embouchure	16,4	13,1	excellente
Eau de mer au large	14,9	11,9	excellente

Une production personnelle d'Iheb Hallek. Une interprétation du film de Yann Arthus Bertrand : "La Méditerranée notre mer à tous".
http://youtu.be/0cumXbXCIw4


Mer Méditerranée - carte - FB Provence © Eric Gaba/Creative commons

Our visit to the villa Méditerrannée by Tiphaine

 This school year, we went to visit the villa Méditerrannée a lot of times. It is explained by the fact that we have a project called “City by the sea “ this year. Our trip to Belfast was also part of this project.

The visit of the villa Méditerrannée I liked the most was the last one. We watched a very inspiring movie, talking about the Mediterranean sea. I think that the main theme of this movie was sharing cultures. It showed us that we needed to learn to live together, to accept new cultures and strangers. We could see the sea from a social point of view, not an underwater point of view as we saw it during our last visits. It really made me think.

The afternoon, we participated to a sort of debate. Well, some of us participated. A man from a company called “Ifremer” told us about his job, and then, answered our questions. It wasn’t the part I liked the most, it was a bit too scientific in my opinion, but it was still interesting to learn some of the things he said. 

Outing at the Villa Méditerranée

Copyright. Yann Arthus Bertrand. France 2

On May 16th, the oib section and some other students went to an outing at the villa méditerranée.
In the morning, we saw an amazing movie of Yann Arthus Bertrand about the mediterranean sea. Indeed, it was a most interesting movie which told us the story of mediterranean peoples from the Antiquity to today. It also dealt with the water issue all around the sea and some of the strategies which are or were used by the different countries and peoples. It showed us a lot of countries such as Libya, Lebanon, France, Greece, Egypt...
The afternoon was, to me, less interesting, indeed, we had the intervention of a sea specialist of the Ifremer who used a lot of technical terms which I, most of the time, didn't understand. I guess it was more interesting for the students of the science project who had the chance to ask questions about the sea to specialists.

Our second visit

Copyright. Ifremer

When we went down to the  "Villa Méditérranée", we had the chance to attend a mini conference with an IFREMER specialist. IFREMER is a marine research organization and the specialist was able to answer almost all the questions about the sea we had prepared for him. I was very interested by the things he showed us. IFREMER does a lot of different things from plain scientific research to environmental protection. I learned that they were the ones to find the titanic, along with an American organization. I am very interested in marine biology and I thought the field trip was very useful for us.

http://wwz.ifremer.fr/webtv/Patrimoine/Titanic

Our visit: Discovering a film

Copyright. Yann Arthus Bertrand

When we went to the Villa Mediteranee we saw a movie on the mediteranean sea.  It talked about how the mediteranean sea linked the countries together, but it used different topics (History, culture and religions, pollution, wars, architecture). We learned about the History of all those mediteranean countries but we also learned about things that are more recent like the lack of water, the war between two religions or the threatening pollution. 

All the images were truly splendid and unusual because they had been filmed from a helicopter. In the background there was a deep voice narrating stories about the different countries and soft traditional music which helped to put an atmosphere. In the video we saw alot of different colors, clothes, buildings and faces, I thought it was a beautiful video.

http://www.france2.fr/emission/mediterranee-notre-mer-tous
http://www.francetvinfo.fr/documentaire-la-mediterranee-vue-du-ciel-par-yann-arthus-bertrand_516659.html

http://edinburgh.stv.tv/articles/276217-newhaven-gala-day-edinburgh-marathon-junior-race-and-a-garden-party/

This is the poem about the sea I find inspiring.

It is known sea food
Puts you in sea mood
It is known the sea floor
Extends to a sea shore

These are common sea facts
Like when sea waves are calm and free
Crashing to the shore endlessly attracts
Everyone to take of in jest and flee
See not and hear not, there is no evil
Above and below sea level

Most seaports
Have a seaside resort
And most seafronts
Have a sea restaurant

But many rooms with a sea view
Are yet to see a sea rescue
Or watch a sea adventure
With any or at least one sea creature
Like a sea mammal
Or a sea animal

These are common sea facts
The sea has such beauty to attract
With sea shells
Woven from sea spells
To treasured sea beds
And to cherubic sea birds

You need seamanship
To take a sea ship on a trip
Or fly a seaplane
As a sea captain

There have been sea battles and sea bandits
The sea is a venue people love to use to meet
There have been sea monsters and seaquakes
Believe you me some of these myths are not fake
And now I have given you a little sea taste
I urge you not to let these sea facts go to waste

These are common sea facts
On your knowledge they most have made an impact!

Sylvia Chidi

Visit to the « villa Mediterranée »

My last visit to the Villa was really interesting. It was about the sea and everything that is related to it; we had an exhibition talking about fishes, algae, boats and pollution they caused, and we also saw a movie. That movie was made of different parts of other movies, about the Mediterranean Sea. I didn’t really like it because everything was mixed up and it was hard to understand, there were no obvious messages or actions that could have helped us.

Our school has a project with the Villa Mediterranée, in my optional science class we made a project explaining pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and especially in Marseille. Working on it made me realize how polluted it was and that people have to react and do things to keep our beautiful sea healthy.

Alicia

That's the photo I chose to represent the sea.
I think this represents the sea to me because I live in Marseille, which is near the sea and I often see boats and there are boats on this image. In the background there's the "Frioul", a small island near the coast. I've been to that island quite a lot so it's important for me to be in the picture.
Alicia

http://www.theamazingpics.com/tall-ship-sails-off-towards-worlds-end-australia/#.U5qQCPl_t0w

Sea Fever

BY JOHN MASEFIELD

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking,

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

Morgan 

Second visit to the Villa Méditerranée.

 ©CNRS/IN2P3

The last time we visited the Villa Méditerranée, it was linked with our project on the sea. We saw some videos, some photos, and thanks to them we realized how important it is to preserve our sea, our méditerranée. We also attended a debate where a man from an organization whose goal is to study our maritime world. The organization was "Ifremer" (English: French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea). It was really interesting. Some students asked questions (that we had prepared together) and the answers have helped us to complete our job on the sea. It was very interesting to see what is present under the sea, what kind of fishes live in the sea. When we learn more about it, we realize we don't really know what we swim in. We live on a coastal area. We'd better, therefore  be a bit more aware of what the sea is really. It's not a simple "big pool" of water ; there's a real life under it, a vast amount of diverse creatures.

http://wwz.ifremer.fr/

Sea poems by our students...

Here are the poems written by our students on the sea.

Read, enjoy and choose your favorite.

1. Poem by Sarah:

Just standing there on that rock.
The view takes my breath away
I feel like I cannot talk
I have no choice but to stay
Feel the need to close my eyes.
to hear the sea whispering

legends and myths, who have been

carried away by the tides.

The foam crashing on the reef,

with that remarkable sound,

creates a sort of profound

feeling in my chest: relief.

Under my bare feet, I feel

the awareness of the rough

rocks. I sit and slide my heel

into the water. Enough.

I take a deep breath and smell

the familiar aroma

of sand and salt. A small shell,
lays here, with a high chroma

Sarah

2.  Poem by Julia:

Mirror

You can be oh so loving,

gently caressing my hand

on suffocating days

I will jump in your refreshing arms 

I feel so safe in your nippy embrace,

When everything seems wrong

I can contemplate your changing surface for hours

Letting your sweet breath tangle my hair

Turquoise, green, grey, blue

You have been here since the beginning of the earth but

Never quite the same

You can be oh so cruel

When your salty water stings

My eyes and my wounds

Destroying everything

Leaving only death and desolation in your wake

Your surface tinged red from the corpses

Of hurricanes and tsunamis

Bringing sorrowful laments from the horizon

Such a pitiless killer but the moment after,

So peaceful and calm 

Julia 

3. Poem by Alicia:

December sea

On an extremely cold day of December

I suddenly wanted to go to the sea side, so I walked, until I reached the beach.

It was kind of « mine » because I knew it so well, I was like a member

Of this beautiful part of the world, somewhere where you could preach.

I have been on this beach since I was a kid and,

Standing there in front of the sea, my feet on the sand,

The howling wind freezing my face,

It brought back all the memories related to this place.

I thought about the times I swam for hours

Till I could not move arms and legs anymore.

The times I stayed underwater watching fishes and sea flowers

Till I felt I was not going to breathe anymore.

The sound of beachcombers,

The feeling when I touched the icy water,

The smell of iodine,

And the view of this marvelous, unchanged landscape which is fascinating.

I could not live far from the sea,

Either peaceful or agitated, blue or black, she is my friend.

Sometimes she comes and washes my feet

Upon the beach where we meet.

Alicia   

4. Poem by Quentin: 

The one we love

Since the very first day in the Phocean city

Every single man wants to go out and see her

I am talking about the wonderful blue sea

The one I'm waiting for until it comes : Summer

During  winter, we have to suffer

For a time that seems, to us, infinite

Until the water is at last warmer

And during spring, we hope together

During  long days when the sky is white

That may will allow a bathe in water

During  summer, we have to enjoy

For the time has come to float peacefully

in the azure sea, beautiful, stunning

Autumn is the end of estival joy

Because we know that winter is ready

to come and lock us, inside our dwellings

Not a day lasts without me thinking about her

And the flow which at any moment can calm me

We are talking about the wonderful blue sea

The one we're bathing in until it comes : Winter

Quentin

5. Poem by Agathe

Abysses

Darkness has always frightened me

Even in broad daylight

I have never been able to dive in it

Not by fear of drowning,

But out of fear of tempting this immensity, 

Infinite and eternal,

Mother of life, made of a thousand faces

I am scared of her absorbing me, taking me away from the sand

Scared that she makes me love her and makes me want to stay there

Scared to fall into the abysses, breathlessly

Trapped for ever in her depths.

I have never been able to fight this fear,

Even with all the will in the world,

By the only idea of this dark world, all deformed

Caressing my feet, looking at me from below

My eyes do not open, my lungs congeal

My members fade,

My mind keeps silent, oppressed.

Nevertheless, some rare beautiful days,

I am able to forget

Forget my worst fears, in front of beauty

The beauty of seas, which ripple under winds,

And their shades, which dance, twist, fight together,

The beauty in their voices, deep and honest,

Coming in accord to tickle our hearing,

As a mother would sing us a bed song.

Agathe

6.  Poem by Loic

The Myth

From Homer to Lord Alfred Tennyson,

The sea has ever been a passion.

A lot of monsters were invented,

By writers who were fascinated.

Home of many mythical creatures

Which are avoided by the sailors,

The sea is the source for writers

Of the oldest and greatest monsters.

Every navigator knows the myths,

Of those attractive monsters, those man thieves.

They sing to seduce, they bite to eat,

Those sirens are greedy of human meat.

Every navigator knows the stories,

Of this giant octopus which at sunlight flees.

Many boats it has sank, a lot of men have cried

But the Kraken kept killing until he died.

Every navigator knows the master piece

About this great whale which with sailors was satisfied.

In the vast oceans whale hunters were dying,

In the vast oceans Moby Dick was living.

Every navigator knows the Odyssey

In which Ulysses fought the dangers of the sea

From Charybde and Scylla he has not died

From the anger of Poseidon he survived

Every navigator knows the mythology

Of this god, ruler of the ocean and the sea.

Many monstrous sons he has fathered

Each drop of water by Poseidon was mastered.

Loïc

7.  Poem by Justine

The Ocean's Constitution

Lying there in the sand

My limbs sinking into the sand

The cold water of the sea

Stroking my tiptoes

Calling for me to join Her

The strong wind tangles up my hair

While my thoughts muddle up

Grains eating my red cold skin

As you ate my heart

I'm lying there waiting

For the time to fix my heartbeat

Broken by you or by the water

Drowning my lungs

And I don't know if it's because of you

Or the salt in the air

But my eyes are crying

The Ocean stealing my tears

As it stole my soul

And I'm breathing water

Because you took my oxygen

And my tears flood the Ocean with pain

As my body stops feeling the pain

As my body stops being my body

It is carried away by the stream

Slowly transforming into water

And becoming just one more drop in this Ocean

Justine

8. Poem by Morgan: 

The sea, a perpetual source of mystery


I can hear the roar of the sea; so loud

The sea of life has not passed me by

When the sea sees the sand, the sea smiles

When the sea sees the sand, the sea just waves

When they touch, the sand sends the sea a kiss

And I'm here, witness of what God gave.

In front of one of God's wonders,

I often used to wonder:

"What else on earth could interest me,

But the infinity beauty of the sea?"

She's the one I turn to,

When I feel so blue

Because she is the only one

To tell me what to do.

Full of creatures hidden in the darkness

Of the lifeless, endless abysses

She makes the man who feels mighty

Remember that he is nothing in the space of the sea

The Big Blue, a source of inspiration

The vastest wonder among God's creation

The sea, a perpetual source of mystery

The sea, part of Man's History

The sea, part of mythology

And I'll keep on being fascinated

By this big and odd ,blue, sea

Morgan

9. Poem by Anissa

Little Mermaid

Little mermaid is not little anymore

She swam away from her life

Stressed and depressed

She left, becoming a warrior

Defiant and cold

Long hair as dark as night

Blue eyes as blue as the sea

She remains selfish, unpredictable

Harsh like a shark

Like a time bomb, creating tsunamis

She fought against Poseidon

Rising, stronger, she won

Theh she owned the submarine world

Drunk with power

But is that what she wanted ?

Little mermaid was still little after all

Made wrong decisions, had to pay the concequences

She drowned, while gentle waves

Of freedom overwhelmed her.

After-life forgave her

Offering her what she craved

A place where she could feel home

Peacefully watching her dear seas

Sitting on planet Mars

As water covered, almost destroyed

Planet earth.

-Anissa

10. Poem by Paul:
The Sea

Once, I took a walk, alone

Hopping through a forest of slippery rocks

That the tide had briefly left alone,

I almost ran

Dodging the occasional seaweed,

I had no time, not even to waste

As the tidal waves would be back soon,

Punctually, as always, just like the moon,

Itself hidden, today,

Behind a thick layer of Devon clouds.

Soon the air got fresher,

And the rocks damper,

The roaring sea crashing against them,

Gulping down every rock pool,

And with them every crab and every shrimp,

Every urchin and every mussel.

The tide is back,

And I too have to go back now,

Chased relentlessly, by this frothy water,

That wants nothing more than to see me drown,

And what would that make me?

A disaster for myself, of course,

But to her, her majesty,

Mother of all and killer of many,

Source of life and bringer of cries,

The greatest, the Sea,

What would that make me?

Another unlucky child,

Taken away for not having bewared of  the beast?

Or another victim of hers, a trophy,

Another ant crushed for trying to tame it.

As I step onto the sand,

Turning back towards the bush of rocks,

I look at her, and wonder,

Maybe, only maybe,

Would she later remember me,

As yet another fish in the sea?

Paul

11. Poem by Nathan: 

My family

Home is where the heart is

For me, home is right next to me

And it always has been calling me

Because it is part of my identity

Water sneaks in from the west

And disappears mysteriously from the East

Challenging our great Star

Who disapproves of the sea's behavior

If you ask me, The sea

Does't have to follow any rules

Poseidon rules the world

 Regulating Zeus' color

The sea is a place of freedom

Very far from the Coliseum

It is so vast and deep

That most of the algae have no worries and sleep

I envy the fish and algae

Who just roam in the dark freely

In a sense, they are eternally happy

And they have nobody to flee

Sadly, The ecosystem is fragile

The climate is changing

Sometimes raining for days

And droughts follow right away

                The sea is our one valuable possession

We have to protect and take care of it

Just as if it were our child, our crystal

What would we be without our blue gold

To me, the answer is transparent

We belong to the sea, it is our parent

Sand and  salt are in my blood

And everyday, it travels my body like a flash flood

Nathan

12. Poem by Tiphaine:

Plastic bags tangled with seaweed,

Petroleum stains over the surface,

Dead animals stuck in plastic,

Yet, men keep their eyes shut.

It's pretty ironic, 

How they claim to care,

About this beautiful heritage

Although they destroy it, wreck it, damage it.

Trashes drifting away, 

Wasting the peaceful skyline

Like a black cloud,

In the bright blue sky.

A garbage dump for men,

A home for million of species,

From which only a few can live.

A graveyard in which animals and trash

Die together.

Tiphaine

13. Poem by Fanny

Sea song

Endless, unknown, wild and deep
The sea offers itself to us as a field of flowers
Full of mysteries and legends
Among the mythical characters, a mermaid I shall be
I prefer by far the sea to the earth
In the water, you turn and turn again
It's really more pleasant than having your feet stick to the sand
My mind is not with the clouds
My mind is with the waves
It is a new, familiar sensation every time
To swim without knowing where we go
Can be scary, funny.
An appeased moment
A wonderful moment
It is to be part of this blue world.

Fanny

14. Poem by Sirine
The Sea
The sea holds out her arms, 
Takes me in her waves
Her waves...
These waves carry me away from my problems
Far from all worries

When my feet are in contact with the hot sand,
It is more than a touch,
It is a fusion
Saltwater just tickles my members
Such sensations  we get from this fantastic landscape

This landscape, this underwater world,
Where thousands of tiny creatures lie
This landscape, my landscape
The sea, my sea