English-Lithuanian Nuclear Dictionary

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Introduction

This work has been prepared as part of the participation of Professor Carlos Viscasillas in the Comenius program developed during 2010 at the Druskininku Atgimimo vidurine mokykla in Lithuania. The idea of creating this dictionary arose during the preparations for his trip to Lithuania, due to his interest in nuclear energy and its importance in Lithuania.

To carry it out, the collaboration of bright students, with knowledge of science and English, who wanted to develop it, and request the support of the Nuclear Forum was necessary.

The next step was to place posters on the bulletin board, in the classroom and in the corridors, looking for talented students who wanted to participate in one of the 3 work and research groups that he had created, one of them the dictionary.

Initially, the group was made up of the professor himself and Laurynas, but Tomas and Arturas soon joined, excellent students who facilitated the work and made progress faster.

The most difficult thing was keeping the students' motivation, since it is very slow and arduous work, in which it is easy to become discouraged, not seeing a short-term result and the uncertainty of not knowing the final destination very well. of work, but their interest in science made them continue the work.

The work was done after class, normally spending 2-4 hours on it, also on Fridays and Saturdays, in informal sessions, with music, good humor, learning and enjoying a lot.

It was thought that this work could be useful for future workers in the construction project in Lithuania of a new Nuclear Power Plant: the "Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant", which is planned between the years 2015 and 2018, and with a total power of up to 3500 MW.

Objectives

Preparation, with Lithuanian students, of an English-Lithuanian-Spanish Dictionary of Nuclear Energy. With this experience you can achieve several things:

1. On the one hand, introduce students -who already had prior knowledge of Physics and Chemistry- to the study of Nuclear Energy, and the most important basic concepts.
2. Show students the importance of Nuclear Energy in the world, and specifically in their country, Lithuania.
3. Improve students' knowledge of English and Spanish. During working hours, the only means of communication was English, with which the students were able to improve their knowledge of this language.
4. Prepare students to work as a team abroad, in an informal work environment and in different languages, where everyone's work is important.
5. Motivate students, encourage their creativity and improve the bonds of fellowship between them. After hours of work, a small team called the Science Team was formed, which collaborated in many other school activities. The director and deputy director relied on this group to organize other types of activities, such as Europe Day.
6. Create a useful and original document for future Nuclear Energy researchers, students, teachers or professionals who need to communicate in one of these three languages, especially in Lithuanian, given the importance of this energy in Lithuania, and the scarcity of documents of this nature. . Make students feel useful, and show them that with a spirit of work and self-improvement many goals can be achieved.
7. Create a document that can serve as the basis for other, more serious work, prepared by specialists who can correct and perfect it.
8. Promote the spirit of improvement, perseverance, orderly, regular work and discipline. Since a job and a delivery time were fixed from the beginning, the students had to learn to plan the tasks and time.
9. Serve as an example to other teachers and students. To this end, this experience has been presented and disseminated in the various Druskininkai school events, local media, City Hall, National Agency for European Educational Programs of Lithuania, European scientific institutions, Science in School magazine, etc...

Results

1. High interest on the part of the students in nuclear energy, until now practically unknown to them. After this time, they were able to improve and expand their knowledge in subjects such as Physics and Chemistry.
2. The students learned about the importance of nuclear energy in the world, and particularly in their country. For this, they developed a power point where they show the importance of this energy in Lithuania.
3. Improve students' knowledge of English and Spanish, especially spoken language.
4. The students have worked for half a year in this Group, with which they are now much more prepared to participate in a new work group abroad.
5. The students are more creative now, they propose new ideas, and they are more united and able to carry them out together.
6. The result of all the above has been the completion of an original and unpublished document, never before published in Lithuania.
7. This work, which could be of interest to future workers in the sector, can be perfected and corrected by experts in the future, and serve as the basis for more serious work (a second corrected and increased edition). The students have felt useful, and have been able to do important work for others.
8. The students are now a little more responsible and disciplined when it comes to working, and able to plan their time much better after this original experience.
9. The work was presented at the official celebration of Europe Day on May 7 in Druskininkai, attended by hundreds of students, dozens of teachers, representatives of the European Union, Comenius Assistant Professors from different countries (Ireland, Portugal, Poland and the Czech Republic), etc... It was also presented by Professor Carlos Viscasillas in his speech at the Seminar: Monitoringo seminaras 2010 m.

Methods used

Material provided by the Nuclear Forum (dictionaries, informative books, magazines, etc.), and educational resources taken from the educational portal of this Association, Rincón Educativo. Materials provided by the Druskininku Atgimimo vidurine mokykla: Computers, classrooms, educational material, etc... Videos produced by different European scientific institutions. The journals Science in School, Research eu, The Journal of the European Research Area, Flash, Alfa, Sierra Albarrana, etc.

About the students (written by them)

Laurynas Tamulevicius

My name is Laurynas and I am Lithuanian. I am sixteen years old but I have already done many things, very useful for me and I hope for you in the future.

I study at Atgimimas High School, which I like to call the dream machine, because all my dreams, so far, have come true thanks to teachers who are interested in education, knowledge competition (among students), and possibility of participating in international projects, etc.

When I was 7 years old I started primary education at this school, where I finished with the best grades, obtaining several diplomas in the mathematics Olympics. Already in high school I got enough good grades to participate in the Physics Olympics (First Prize), Mathematics (two Third Prizes), Geography (Second Prize), and international projects such as the Exchange program in the Netherlands, or the Comenius in Spain.

I understood that my future was in mathematics, physics or chemistry, when I began my preparation for the Physics Olympiad. He dreamed of being the best and inventing something that could help humanity. I fell in love with physics. Every free afternoon was spent studying and eventually I won the Olympiad.

Suddenly, our teacher, Carlos Viscasillas, appeared at our school. He was an engineer and knew a lot about nuclear physics. He realized that I was very interested in nuclear energy and he offered me to write this dictionary on nuclear energy. I understood that it was a very good opportunity to learn, so we started working.

At first it was very difficult because we both worked alone until two classmates (Tomas and Arturas) joined the group. We spent many hours doing this job but it was very rewarding, because there was music, good friends around me and the most important thing was that I was doing the job that I liked.

I am very happy because we finished the dictionary, for the knowledge I have acquired and for having been able to interact with organizations such as the Nuclear Forum, DESY, EURATOM, etc.

My dream is coming true. Now and in the future I will work hard for my dream and I hope to reach the top and be able to fulfill all of them.

Tomas Pakala

My name is Tomas and I was born on April 8, 1994. I live in a town in Lithuania called Neravai, near the city of Druskininkai.

I study at Atgimimas High School where I have obtained several awards for good student and good behavior.

I have participated for several years (2003-2010) in the International Mathematics Contest, where I obtained several Diplomas and in 2010 I won the First Prize in the School's mathematics competition.

I speak four languages: Lithuanian; English, good although not perfect; German, a little; and Spanish, at level A1). I have taught myself to play the guitar and am currently learning to draw portraits. I like rock and heavy-metal music. I am interested in politics, mathematics, culture and science.

I am very happy to have been able to work with Professor Carlos Viscasillas and my classmates on a physics project. Now I know a lot more about physics and how important it is.

This project has been a challenge for me because I had to speak only in English, but it was a very good experience. I like challenges.

Arturas Nikogosian

My name is Arturas and I live in the center of the Lithuanian city of Druskininkai. I was born on September 17, 1994 and I am 15 years old.

He studied at the Atgimimas High School. I have finished all the courses with good grades and I have obtained many Diplomas for my participation in the Olympics and other events.

I am interested in mathematics, physics and chemistry and have participated in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics Olympiads held in Lithuania with very good results. It was my city's Second Prize in Chemistry and I won the Fourth Prize of the Lithuanian Language Olympics.

I want my future to be related to physics and chemistry and that is why I wanted to be part of the group that produced the Dictionary, along with my teacher, Carlos Viscasillas, and two other classmates.

I have gained a lot of experience by always having to speak English and having to work in a team. The work was complicated but very rewarding for me. I have learned many new terms that I am sure will be very useful when I study at the University.

This dictionary is like having achieved a great achievement. I am happy to have been able to work with this teacher because he has taught me a little Spanish, which will be very useful for me in the future. Now I can speak four languages: Lithuanian, English, Russian, and A1 level of Spanish.

Participating in this project has been a great opportunity for me that will undoubtedly help me when I start at the University.