More than 250 pupils walk the streets of Barceloneta turned into sea currents on "World Oceans Day”

Today, "World Oceans Day", more than 250 pupils from different schools in la Barceloneta have travelled the streets of the neighbourhood, transformed into marine currents thanks to the efforts of various social and cultural organisations, including the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) of Barcelona, which has an extensive experience in carrying out this type of activities.

The activity, entitled "Barceloneta Ocean", sought to bring the ocean closer to primary and secondary school pupils in order to raise awareness among them about the close relationship that exists between people and marine ecosystems. They occupy more than two thirds of the planet's total surface area and, among many other things, regulate the climate that makes possible life on Earth as we know it today.

"The "Barceloneta Ocean" gymkhana transforms the neighbourhood into the global ocean. For us it is a very enriching metaphor that reinforces the idea that there is only one ocean and that the action of everyone is very important to preserve it", expose the organisers.

Throughout the morning, students from the Mediterrània and Alexandre Galí schools, as well as from the Voramar, El Joncar and INS Joan Salvat Papasseit secondary schools, have walked through the streets of la Barceloneta until converging on the market square, where they have carried out a series of final activities to visualise the functioning of the global ocean, which, after all, is also the planet's ocean.

In this way, the students have been able to discover, from an experimental, relational and global perspective, some of the very different aspects that make the ocean so relevant for the planet and for people. The challenges to be overcome during this gymkhana included numerous workshops, experiments and games.

Participating organisations include the Mar de Ciència association, the environmental services company Anel·lides, the Club Pati Vela, the citizen science platform Observadores del Mar, the Catsharks association, the Centre de la Platja, the  PlànctON Project, FECDAS, the CIB and the Barceloneta Proa a la Mar and Cap A Mar associations.

A tour through the global ocean

Each of the 13 participating groups (10 from 1st ESO and 3 of 4th primary) travelled through the streets of Barceloneta as if they were sailing along the different ocean currents. In total, each group made three stops, at each of which they carried out a workshop to deepen their knowledge of the ocean.

For each successfully completed test, the groups were awarded a water token that they had to keep until the final activity, which has taken place in the Plaça del Mercat de la Barceloneta.

During the final activity, the different groups have played the game "Land or Sea", and the winners of the photo contest launched on Instagram with the hashtag #oceabarceloneta were announced, with prizes for the best photos and the best slogan for the gymkhana.

Finally, a mock-up of the great oceanic circulation belt, which has been filled with the water samples brought by each group, has been set up to simulate this system, an analogue of the human circulatory system that allows life on Earth.