B.I.O.S.E. TEAM

presents its city and its school

Multilateral Partnership

LLP/Comenius Programme 2009/2011

2009-1-CY1-COM06-00472-5 -

Europe

Italy

Sicily

MessinaMessina is located in the North-East of Sicily, the biggest island of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the third largest city on the island. It has a population of approximately 250,000 inhabitants in the city itself and about 500,000 in the surrounding area.The strait of sea (called the Straits of Messina) separates it from the Italian peninsula.

Messina is also known as “the gate of Sicily”, in fact

traffic to and from Sicily goes through it.

The climate is mild Mediterranean:

in winter temperature never goes below 0° C.

CLIMATE

WEATHER DATA FOR MESSINA

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Averagehigh C°

14 14 15 17 21 26 29 29 27 22 18 15 21

Dailymean C°

12 12 13 15 19 23 26 27 24 20 16 13 18

Average lowC°

10 10 11 12 16 20 23 24 21 18 14 11 16

Precipitationcm.

11 10 8 5 3 1 1 2 5 10 10 11 84

Source: www.weather forcast.com

Bridge: an

opportunity?

Opposition to the bridge

In favour of the bridge

Maybe in the future a bridge will be built to make the passage from Calabria to Sicily and vice-versa easier.

The Straits of Messina The Straits of Messina connects the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Ionian Sea and separates Calabria from Sicily. It has a length of 32 km, it forms a sort of funnel, with a width of 3 Km at the narrowest point in the north and 16 Km at the widest point in the south.

The Straits of Messina is crossed by many cargo ships and cruise ships sailing over the Mediterranean Sea.

A scheduled service is provided by ferries transporting both trains and motor vehicles and ensuring the connections between Villa San Giovanni and Messina. Navigation in the Straits isn’t easy because of irregular tides and violent winds.

Transport in the Straits

. . . In the background

Calabria

The Straits of Messina

is a naturalistic

area

The big lake and . . .

. . . the small one

In this area there are two salt water lakes, called “Ganzirri lakes”

1908: Calabria and Sicily devastated by an earthquake

The Straits of Messina is in a high earthquake risk area.These images date back to 1908 when the city was

completely destroyed

The port

historical view of the port

The main economical resource

of the city is the port, both commercial and military.

Montorsoli’s lighthouse, a

military structure

Sights of the city:• Galleria Vittorio Emanuele It is a very popular meeting place for young people. The gallery hosts a disco.

•Cairoli Square It is the most important square and it’s famous for its small kiosks where one can drink delicious lemonades..

The Cathedral and Cathedraluare

Cathedral Square lies in the historic part of Messina. Tourists are attracted by the ancient astronomical clock in the tower next to the Cathedral. The Square is a pedestrian area, the only one in the city.

TransportIn Messina many people use their cars and motorbikes….Public transport isn’t efficient and people prefer using private means.Bikes aren’t used much …. not as much as in the North of Italy.

Electric trams cross the city and connect uptown to downtown . Buses connect the railway station to the sub-urban areas. A good coach service to and from Catania airport is available.

The tram

The city's problems

Recent flood

Jams

Long queues for the ferries to/from

Sicily

Current and energy in the Straits

In the Straits of Messina the average speed of the tidal current is very high, about 2m/s, with peaks of 5m/s

• The Straits of Messina is the first place in the world producing electric energy using the drift (sea currents)

• In 2001 the “Ponte di Archimede” company with some public partners built a platform just off the coast of Ganzirri

The Kobold platform in the Straits of Messina

Kobold• Kobold is the name of this plant.• Kobold is the name of a pixie, a North

European mythological character.• Kobold is able to convert kinetic energy

from marine currents into mechanical rotor energy with high rendering.

• The Kobold turbine is mounted on a vertical shaft which produces mechanical energy by exploiting marine currents.

• The energy produced by Kobold is introduced into the national grid.

• The prototype provides up to 40 KW of electric energy

• To increase the supply of energy, 33 panels have been allocated on the top of the plant.

The exterior of our school “Emilio Ainis”

Our school is a secondary school offering courses mainly vocated to humanistic studies.

. . . interior

Our headmaster with a student

Football pitch and laboratory

… to school …

Every day the headmaster, teachers, students, and the school staff reach the school by bus, tram, car and scooter. Just a few come on foot or by bike...