In Brief
Virtual Excursions into Future Habitats
With PRONAS, the UFZ for the first time introduces a learning software, which communicates topical results from a EU project on biodiversity research to pupils in Germany. The software is designed for pupils in grades 7 to 12. Natural scientists, university didacts, teachers and environmental pedagogues work together in this project funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU). PRONAS is an acronym for PROjections of NAture for Schools. The scientific basis is provided by the results of the largest European research project on biodiversity ALARM ((A LArge scale Risk assessment for biodiversity with tested Methods), which was coordinated by the UFZ in Halle/Saale. Virtual excursions provide the context for the "discovery" of the species described. Assistance for teachers is being prepared to augment the learning software PRONAS. This includes suggestions for the subjects biology, geography, ethics, politics and information technology. Project partners are the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, the Zentrum für Umwelt und Kultur Benediktbeuern, the Nationalparkhaus Torfhaus, the Historisch-Ökologische Bildungsstätte Papenburg and the secondary school Georg-Cantor-Gymnasium Halle. "We now are for the first time able to present a product for the field of education, because by now there is a functioning network of scientists, environmental education centres and didacts", explains Dr Karin Ulbrich from the UFZ, who developed the software in cooperation with the partners.
