Summer Educational Project: Water

Info.mskh club suggests a summer educational research project which can be joined by students, teachers and clubs having different preferences. We have named the project “Water”. We are supposed to make a documentary film or series of films about water.

Nowadays water has quite a big value. Every day in many countries of the world hundreds of people die because of lack of fresh drinkable water. Many politicians bring more arguments that in the near future oil wars will turn into water wars and the winners will be the countries that have a significant control over water resources.  

Modern scientists have found out that the sound of water, its current and surroundings have a serious positive psychological influence on people. Maybe that’s the reason why grandmothers assure us to tell nightmares to water. It has turned out that water not only removes physical pollutants but also our psychological tension.  

That quality of water may have been the reason why water was traditionally used in different rituals. The exact rituals and the way how to use them will be considered in the process of project fulfillment.  

There have been shot a great number of scientific, documentary, feature films about water which have no Armenian versions. There are also ethnographic and scientific investigations, monitoring done by water supplying companies. Our club suggests that we should use the serious Educomplex resources and accomplish the project. That will give us an opportunity to find out what we generally know about water, how we use it and how we treat it. The project will also help us to involve the resources of different international organizations, to apply for international grant programmes, to establish connections with other countries. Many international organizations focus on water and fundamental problems connected with it.

A big cultural layer of nearly forgotten rituals, traditions and folklore existing in our life will be unveiled.  

The project will be accomplished in three stages:

The first stage is intended for studying, collecting information about water.

We are to publish and present investigations and works about water.

We are to search for and get information from different sources, meetings with different specialists, watching films, trips. The translations of articles and films from foreign languages into Armenian is also important to do at this stage. This work will not only have an informative value but also will develop the learners’ translational skills.

The second stage  is intended for trips, film shootings, interviews, photo taking and video materials. As far as the learners will have gained certain knowledge by then, the questions in the interviews will have the touch of certainty.

The third stage  is for editing and completing the screen play of the film.

Themes to study  (the list is not completed, there may be new suggestions)

Ecology and water

                        Salty and fresh waters

                        Water wars

                        Polluted and clean water

                        What water do we drink? 

                        Lake Sevan

Culture and water

                        Water in everyday life

                        Water and folklore: tales, legends, proverbs and sayings

                        Comparisons: Davit of Sasoun- King Arthur

Water and Bible

Water and ritual connected with water

                          Baptism

                          Vardavar

                          Water blessing                               

       Foot washing

                          People wash after visiting cemeteries

            Water and music

Chemistry and water

                                   Water composition, chemical structure

                                   The composition of drinkable water

Can we make the ocean and sea water drinkable? Why?

Physics and water

                             The structure of water

                             The physical properties of water

Structural changes because of temperature changes

The structural changes of water caused by music, prayers, negative and positive emotions

Geography and water

                            Rivers, lakes, seas and oceans

                            Water resources

New scientific discoveries

                            Translations of scientific films

                             Translations of different articles

Water films

The project is advantageous not only from the educational point of view but also for establishing  foreign relations. Many international organizations focus on water problems.There will be a possibility of realizing grant projects in case we organize this project perfectly.

In addition to that the learners participating in the project will have a chance to take part in different review and conferences on water problems in the way our ecocountry study club took part in the Water Review in Tbilisi.  

info.mskh club

Astghik Markoyan [email protected]

Noemi Andreasyan[email protected]