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Forests toolkit #7 – Providing a multitude of forest ecosystem services for society – a balancing act

This activity aims to sensitise students to the multitude of ecosystem services that forests provide to society as well as the challenges of meeting the needs of many different interest groups. The activity uses outdoor learning sites known as “marteloscopes”. Marteloscopes are delineated forest areas where data has been recorded for all standing trees. The data is made available to students via an innovative, easy-to-use, educational software (“I+ Trainer” software) running on mobile devices (tablets/mobile phones).

Given guidance, pupils can experience not only forests hands-on and observe trees closely. They can also gain an understanding of how and why forests are managed, why biodiversity in forest ecosystems is important, and how to come to solutions if forests should meet multiple demands such as providing wood for valuable wood products, be a place for recreation, and serve as a home for plants and animals.

Antimicrobial Resistance #1 – A visit to the doctor (Sequence 2)

The aim of this activity is double. Firstly, to know students’ initial ideas of key elements on the topic of the teaching and learning sequence, including ideas such as pathogenic microorganism, targeted medicine, and antimicrobial resistance. Secondly, presenting the topic of ARM by introducing different medical cases to analyse.

Forests toolkit #5 – Design of sustainable products from forests

This teaching and learning sequence are suitable for students ages 10 -14, concern education for sustainability and integrate several school subjects, e.g., science, technology, entrepreneurship and social science. The open schooling project is performed in collaborations with a science center (Exploratoriet), a cooperative of forest industries (Mera Skog), and Sweden’s research institute and innovation partner (RISE) to involve students in sustainable forest product design. The teaching learning activity contribute to teaching for sustainable development by focussing on creativity processes, as living today requires new strategies to handle the future. The project was named “Skogssnilleblixten”, which roughly translates as a combination of the terms forest and stroke of genius.

Forests toolkit #4 – Different perspectives on forest use

This teaching-learning sequence consists of two activities that can be used as an introduction for students’ work with the theme Forest us vs. Forest protection. It particularly familiarizes students with some different perspectives on and relationships with the forest. The two activities are especially suitable for use in topics such as Forest use vs. Forest protection, where several subjects (e.g. science, cívics, Language, technology) can be combined.

MULTIPLIERS year-end event in Bonn

We are excited to share highlights from our MULTIPLIERS year-end event that took place on December 5, 2023, at the University of Bonn. Among the attendees were the local Open Science Community as well as individuals from informal educational institutions, universities, museums, media, and policy makers. Annette Scheersoi, as the project coordinator, presented an overview …

Clean Water & Sanitation #2 – Debate “Tap Water vs Bottled Water”

The aim of this activity is to make students aware of the environmental impact of their water consumption habits and to contrast preconceived ideas and distrust of tap water with evaluating evidence and supporting claims. Students learn to develop argumentative skills and formulate creative solutions to this socio-scientific issue.

Vaccination #2 – Ethical discussion: General or partial mandatory vaccination

The aim of this activity is to strengthen students’ analytical and critical thinking skills on a socially relevant and controversial issue. By discussing whether vaccinations should be mandatory, and if so, under which conditions, students apply the knowledge of immune biology they have acquired before. In addition, they add an ethics perspective to their factual information by considering personal and societal values.

Forests toolkit #3 – How is the debate on forests portrayed by the media?

The aim of this activity is to enable students’ engagement in meaningful science-society interaction and the development of critical thinking competence in the area of “Forest use vs. Forest Protection”. It enables students to gain insights into the work and considerations of a journalist and highlight core aspects which distinguish journalism from opinion-makers with different agendas. At the same time, students gain insight into local forest-related issues.