School students shared their concerns about the ocean, climate, and sustainability with the Crown Prince yesterday. “It’s wonderful that they’ve brought some suggestions for solutions as well,” said the Crown Prince as he accepted a message in a bottle from Andrea.
“We’d like to give you this bottle containing our ideas, suggestions, and thoughts on how problems in the ocean can arise and how they can be addressed,” said Andrea as she presented the message in a bottle to HRH Crown Prince Haakon aboard the Statsraad Lehmkuhl on April 20. She also told him about the school project “Message in a Bottle,” which three classes at Storetveit School and Metis High School have been working intensively on over the past few weeks. On board the ship, the students presented their work to one another, spoke with experts, and listened to lectures.
“It was really nice to talk to Crown Prince Haakon,” says Andrea.
Videos and peep boxes
This message-in-a-bottle project involves more than just a piece of paper in a bottle. The 10th-grade students at Storetveit and Metis have created videos, while the 8th-graders have made peep boxes.
The students have approached the assignment in various ways. To reach top international leaders around the world, the students speak English in several of the videos. To get their points across, they use various techniques: They play the roles of experts and hosts in the videos, and they let the fish speak for themselves. They’ve been to the Aquarium in Bergen to film, and they’ve edited in video clips created by professionals. They’ve edited it all together themselves.
“It’s been really fun working on this project, and I’ve learned a lot about the ocean, the climate, and sustainability,” says Andrea.
The 8th graders have filled the wooden and plexiglass display cases with miniature models they made themselves. The models illustrate life on the seafloor, including fishing nets and traps that are left behind in the ocean, where they continue to catch fish and shellfish and eventually break down into microplastics that spread throughout the world’s oceans.
Amund, an 8th-grade student at Storetveit School, says he has learned a lot about the climate and the challenges facing marine life while working on the display cases for the exhibition.
– I was really surprised by how polluted the ocean is. Working on the exhibition has made me think more about the choices I’ll make in the future, he says.
Has participated in a global educational project
Students at Storetveit and Metis have participated in the global educational project“Message in a Bottle,”which is part of the One Ocean Expedition. Along the entire sailing route of the Statsraad Lehmkuhl over the past year, students have worked on topics related to the ocean, climate, and sustainability—through themes such as marine research, climate change, and solutions for a more sustainable future. The project was developed by Drew School in San Francisco and invites students to combine academic knowledge with creative exploration.
Once the ship has docked, school classes have been invited on board to submit their contributions, just as Andrea and her classmates did at the port in Bergen on April 20. All the messages in bottles have now made their way all the way back to Bergen during One Ocean Week. The videos and display cases from the Bergen students are now part of the exhibition “Messages in Bottles About the Ocean.”
The goal is simple: to highlight the reflections, concerns, and ideas of young people and their hopes for the future of the ocean.
You can see the exhibition “Message in a Bottle About the Sea” through April 24
The exhibition is free for everyone and runs through April 24.You’ll find it at Bradbenken, right next to where the Statsraad Lehmkuhl is docked in downtown Bergen.
