European classroom lesson in Spain

Teachers: Anna Maria Caldarelli

Gabriella Adani

Fiorenza Maria Miranda

Topic:

Coloured diurnal and nocturnal butterflies in The Vesuvius National Park

Aims:

to teach to Spanish students about Italy

to teach about Italian natural environment

to start a discussion about endangered species in the Vesuvius National Park and especially butterflies.

Methods:

individual and work group, discussion

Activities:

We presented a Ppt about Italy, the Vesuvius National Park and animals that live in this area, especially butterflies. We showed to students different pictures about butterflies and the cicle of life of a butterfly. We discussed about endangered animals and what we can do to preserve them. Spanish students coloured some butterflies, they cut them and they made a beautiful wall cardboard

The Vesuvius National Park was founded on the 5 of June, 1995. It was founded in order to preserve animal and vegetable species, vegetable and forest associations, geological peculiarities, palaeontological formations, biological communities, biotopes, scenic and panoramic values, natural processes, ecological balances. Its purposes are, moreover, the application of ways of management or environmental restoration suitable to realize an integration between man and the natural habitat, also through the protection anthropological, archaeological, historical and architectural values and the protection of traditional and pastoral activities; the promotion of educational and formative activities of scientifis research, that can be interdisciplinary too, the promotion of compatible recreational activities as well; another purpose is the defence and the reconstitution of hydraulic and hydrogeological balances. The task and the values concerning the Vesuvius National Park are even wider because we have to defend the most famous volcano in the world, and at the same time one of the five most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of the high urban conurbation that ahs recently grown up around it, disrespectful of the laws forbidding the construction of buildings. So the Vesuvius National Park represents an anomaly among the European National Parks, a sort of challenge aimed to rescue the wild and enchanting beauty of Vesuvius and Monte Somma (Somma Mountain), pulling them away from the incredible deterioration and giving them back to the pleasure of the old and the new generations they belong to.

The fauna of the Park is particularly rich and interesting. Among mammals, there is the "oaken mouse", the presence of whiwh is rare in other parts of Italy, but there is also a presence of the dormouse, the beech-marten, the fox, the wild rabbit, and of the hare. More than 100 species of birds live there, which can be classified as resisents, migrants, wintering and breeding. Interesting is the contruction of nests by the various birds, the buzzars, kestrel, hoopoe, turtle-dove, woodpidgeon, great spotter woodpecker, rock thrush, raven, coal tit. Recently there have been more frequent observations of the sparrowhawk, a very elegant and woody predatory bird. During the winter the woodcock, the black redstart, the wryneck, the song thrush, the siskin remain in the Park. During the period of mogrations garden warblers, subalpine warblers, pied flycatchers, redstarts, black eared wheater, woodwarblers, golden orioles, nightjars, bee eaters and many other species fly over the Park, many of which coming from sub-saharian quarters where they spend the winter. Among the reptiles we have to mention the coloured green-lizard, the inoffensive western whyp snake and the Turkish Gecko.

Among the invertebrates we can notice the most coloured diurnal and nocturnal butterflies that remain during the flowering of the Mediterranean Vesuvian soil.