Forest detectives - understanding green giants
Under the term "nature deficit syndrome", researchers have been warning for some time now of various problems resulting from a progressive alienation of young people from nature, both for the children and young people concerned and for society as a whole. In cooperation with the German Environmental Foundation, we are initiating the project "Forest Detectives - Understanding Green Giants" with the aim of sensitizing children and young people in grades 4-6 in Hesse to the importance of forests and strengthening their awareness of this ecosystem.
Climate change and biodiversity loss dominate the media and yet remain abstract. The forest on our doorstep is real and very much threatened by hot summers, pesticides and monocultures. With a hybrid learning journey in the classroom and directly in the forest, the project contributes to ecological awareness raising and expands learning and knowledge competence through an interdisciplinary approach. For this purpose, age-appropriate learning materials are made available to schools and teachers, which can be used directly in the classroom.
All participating classes receive a poster on the forest ecosystem for use in class, which leads to further digital information on the Forest Detectives website. In addition, interested classes can apply for research backpacks to conduct experiments on site in the forest.
In a poster competition at the end of the school year, students can creatively present their knowledge about the forest. An expert jury will evaluate the posters and award prizes to the best entries. The winners are invited to the closing event in Frankfurt am Main, where they have the opportunity to exchange ideas with forest experts and other students.
The project will be continuously evaluated to identify potential for improvement and to ensure the project's success in the long term. Interviews, questionnaires and analysis of the quiz results are among the tools used for this purpose.
Final Event Forest Detectives in Hesse 2024
What does the forest actually do? How does it work? And why are there fewer and fewer of them?
The forest detectives were out and about to find the answers. Direct learning in the forest was on the programme on forest research days in Hessian schools, where many different experiments were carried out. The classes were then able to record their findings on posters and submit them to a poster competition. In the 2023/24 school year, 240 school classes across Hesse took part in the joint project of KfW Stiftung and Deutsche Umweltstiftung. At the end of the school year in Hesse in June 2024, three school classes were honoured for the best posters on the topic of ‘Forests’. The winning school classes won a trip to Frankfurt Zoo, with a guided tour on the topic of tropical forests and an award ceremony at KfW Stiftung's Villa 102.
First place went to the 4th grade of the Rossert School in Kelkheim, 2nd place to the 4th grade of the Wolfgang-Fleischert School in Röhrenfurth and 3rd place to 5a of the Carl-Von-Weinberg School in Frankfurt.
Outlook for the school year 2024/25
After the pilot year with schools in Hesse, the project will be rolled out across Germany after the summer holidays.
Partner
Programme Management
Pia Puljanic
Photo credits:
01. Image: Source: German Environmental Foundation, Author / Photographer: Imke Hurlin
02. Image: Source: German Environmental Foundation, Author / Photographer: Imke Hurlin
03. Image: Source: German Environmental Foundation, Author / Photographer: Imke Hurlin
04. Image: Source: KfW Stiftung, Author/ Photographer: Salar Baygan
05. Image: Source: KfW Stiftung, Author/ Photographer: Salar Baygan
06. Image: Source: KfW Stiftung, Author/ Photographer: Salar Baygan