{"title":"Biodiversity impacts of climate change – the PRONAS software as educational tool","authors":"K. Ulbrich, O. Schweiger, S. Klotz, J. Settele","doi":"10.5194/WE-15-49-2015","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Loss of biodiversity under climate change is on the top of European research agendas. However, there is a huge gap between the scientific and the educational communities: Only a small amount of current knowledge reaches the young generation. We faced the challenge of how to transfer results of biodiversity research to the reality of school classrooms – in a way that raises interest, awareness and motivation among students from the age of 12 to 19. We developed the educational software PRONAS (PROjections of NAture for Schools) to show how scientists handle questions about the impact of climate change on the habitats of many European species. About 50 European plant and animal species have been used to demonstrate habitat losses, habitat shifts, and mismatch of habitat dynamics of interacting species. The software was developed with a bottom-up approach, and a manual for applying the software in the classroom was written in close cooperation with teachers. We included specific elements of didactic approaches such as storylines describing future scenarios, projections and simulations of species' future climatic niches, as well as the combination of virtual and real excursions. PRONAS is freely accessible in German and English on http://www.ufz.de/pronas-lernsoftware . Feedback was given by about 100 teachers from German and other European schools at six teacher workshops and by 141 students from four German schools. While most teachers confirmed that the designed format of knowledge transfer is attractive and contributes to knowledge building and awareness raising, many students older than 16 felt under-challenged. Altogether, we found that \"educational software\" is a useful format for scientific outreach which is worth joint efforts of scientists and educators and which needs more support and incentives for scientists to go forward in this direction.","PeriodicalId":54320,"journal":{"name":"Web Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2015-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Web Ecology","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5194/WE-15-49-2015","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Abstract. Loss of biodiversity under climate change is on the top of European research agendas. However, there is a huge gap between the scientific and the educational communities: Only a small amount of current knowledge reaches the young generation. We faced the challenge of how to transfer results of biodiversity research to the reality of school classrooms – in a way that raises interest, awareness and motivation among students from the age of 12 to 19. We developed the educational software PRONAS (PROjections of NAture for Schools) to show how scientists handle questions about the impact of climate change on the habitats of many European species. About 50 European plant and animal species have been used to demonstrate habitat losses, habitat shifts, and mismatch of habitat dynamics of interacting species. The software was developed with a bottom-up approach, and a manual for applying the software in the classroom was written in close cooperation with teachers. We included specific elements of didactic approaches such as storylines describing future scenarios, projections and simulations of species' future climatic niches, as well as the combination of virtual and real excursions. PRONAS is freely accessible in German and English on http://www.ufz.de/pronas-lernsoftware . Feedback was given by about 100 teachers from German and other European schools at six teacher workshops and by 141 students from four German schools. While most teachers confirmed that the designed format of knowledge transfer is attractive and contributes to knowledge building and awareness raising, many students older than 16 felt under-challenged. Altogether, we found that "educational software" is a useful format for scientific outreach which is worth joint efforts of scientists and educators and which needs more support and incentives for scientists to go forward in this direction.
Web EcologyAgricultural and Biological Sciences-Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
CiteScore
4.60
自引率
0.00%
发文量
6
审稿时长
17 weeks
期刊介绍:
Web Ecology (WE) is an open-access journal issued by the European Ecological Federation (EEF) representing the ecological societies within Europe and associated members. Its special value is to serve as a publication forum for national ecological societies that do not maintain their own society journal. Web Ecology publishes papers from all fields of ecology without any geographic restriction. It is a forum to communicate results of experimental, theoretical, and descriptive studies of general interest to an international audience. Original contributions, short communications, and reviews on ecological research on all kinds of organisms and ecosystems are welcome as well as papers that express emerging ideas and concepts with a sound scientific background.