What do you do for the environment? What is climate change and how can we combat it? Where does Qatar feature in these areas? These are some of the burning questions that teachers and students from Grade 7 to 9 from Qatar-Finland International School (QFIS) tried to answer during their Ramadan Project this year.

QFIS teachers and students planned and created a conference and exhibition on the different aspects of climate change where they tried to explain the 5W and H (What, Where, Why, When, Who and How) of this complex phenomenon.

Continuing based on the previous year’s Ramadan Project (focused on the theme Charity), this cross-curricular project spanned three weeks, with two and a half spent on planning and setting up, culminating in a three-day conference and exhibition.

 

110 students across the three grade levels were divided into groups with specific themes and topics within the larger theme and set to work to research, plan and execute the final product. The groups: Debate; Qatar and Climate Change; Trash Talk; History of Climate Change; Impact of Climate Change; and Art & Design, all approached the theme from a particular perspective (e.g. Art & Design focused on spreading awareness of environmental and climate issues through posters and advertisements, while Qatar and Climate Change focused largely on Qatar’s Football World Cup vision and lifestyle sustainability).

Students were also encouraged to ‘consult’ with different teams/departments when their content or subject matter coincided or overlapped with that of other groups, and to use different forms of media to exhibit their research and findings.

Over the course of three weeks – from 6 to 23 May – various talks and lectures were offered to students by groups such as Wa’hab and Environmental Association Qatar, and individuals like Dr Nayla from Exxon Mobil, Dr Juha Alatalo and Dr Pedro Range of Qatar University.

Old and young alike enjoyed the different displays of the exhibition, and students were able to share their knowledge through verbal presentations and debate, adjudicated by representatives of QatarDebate. Overall feedback from students and teachers has been overwhelmingly positive, with an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars for the event.

For updates and more information about QFIS, visit qatarfinlandschool.com.