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) divide it from Italian peninsula.

Messina is called the door of Sicily:

every movement by land from and to Sicily pass through it.

The climate is mild Mediterranean:

in winter the 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 favor 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 connect the Tyrrhenian sea with the Ionian sea, separating Calabria from Sicily. It has a length of 32 km, it forms a sort of funnel, with a width of 3Km at the narrowist point in the north and 16 Km at the widest point in the south.

The Straits of Messina are crossed by many merchant ships and cruiseships that travel on the Mediterranean Sea.

Regular ferry services, used for the transport of both trains and motor vehicles, ensure the connections between Villa San Giovanni and Messina. Navigation in these Straits isn’t easy because there are irregular tides and violent winds.

Transport on the Straits

. . . In the background

Calabria

The Straits of Messina

are 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 are in a high earthquake risk area.These imagines are of 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

Corners of the city:• Galleria Vittorio Emanuele is one of the most famous places for young people of all ages . Inside there is also a disco.

•Cairoli Square is our most important square and it’s famous for its small kiosks where we drink very good lemonade...

The cathedral and Duomo Square

Duomo Square represents a historic part of Messina. It is visited by tourists for the presence of an ancient and astronomic clock. It is the only pedestrianized area in the city.

TransportIn Messina many people use their cars and

motorbikes….Public transport isn’t efficient and people prefer to use private means.

Bikes also aren’t used a lot unlike in the North of Italy.

Electric trams join the north zone of city with the south one, across the centre. There are buses that connect the railway station to the sub-urban areas, as well as outside villages and other places in the Province. There are also frequent buses for Catania' airport.

The tram

The city's problems

Recent flood

Jams

Long queues to come

to 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 are the first place in the world to produce electric energy using the sea currents

• In 2001, the “Ponte di Archimede” society, and other public partnerships, erected a platform just off the coast of Ganzirri

The Kobold platform in the Straits of Messina

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

European mythology.• Kobold is able to convert kinetic energy

from marine currents into mechanical rotor energy with high rendering.

• The Kobol turbine is mounted on a vertical shaft wich 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 positioned on the roof of the plant.

Our school: ”Emilio Ainis” …outside

Our school is an upper secondary school, with courses mainly vocated to humanistic studies.

. . . interior

Our headmaster with a student

Soccer pitch and laboratory

Go to school …

Every day teachers, students, the headmaster and the scholastic team reach the school by bus, tram, car and scooter. Only a minority come on foot or by bike...