Students in Berlin attend school with goats

Students in Berlin attend school with goats

The Hagenbeck School in Berlin offers a unique way of learning. In an effort to teach students the importance of species and ecosystems, each subject is associated with biodiversity.

At eight in the morning and a group of teenagers leaned against the gate while observing the antics of Oreo, Agro and Wilma. Somehow, the three goats have attracted the attention of the children completely so that they don't seem to be interested in things that usually take young people's focus, for example smart phones.

The scene plays in front of a school farm, which - besides accommodating goats - is also home to ducks, chickens, pigs and various other animals. The garden, like the adjacent garden, belonged to the Hagenbeck secondary school in the Pankow district in northeast Berlin.

Every day about 400 children pass through prefabricated doors or unspectacular assembly doors as is usually seen in many other schools in the city. But the school gate has special appeal.

"I chose this place because I was very interested in animals and gardening," said Yara, 12 years old. He and his schoolmates, Lina and Elodie were cutting fruit picked from the school's apple tree, to feed the goats.

Students in Berlin attend school with goats

"You have to be careful about feeding them one by one," Elodie explained. "If not, one can not get enough food and they will gore one another."

When asked whether learning in the middle of nature is more fun than sitting in class, he confidently answers.

"Yes, of course."

More than just animals

Not that there are no hours of study at this school. Students at Hagenbeck also study mathematics, German, sports, physics and language, just like students in public schools throughout the city. It's just that here, the theme of biodiversity is found everywhere.

"Staff teaching all subjects sat together and discussed the best ways to integrate biodiversity," said Deputy Principal, Claudia Krötenheerdt, telling DW.

The result is an integrated, inclusive curriculum that can be directly applied, for example in mathematics lessons activities will be found such as measuring the land planted in the garden, while in the technology class we will see students learning to make a framework for growing peanut plants, and in "Animal Husbandry" lessons the rest knows the standard reading method or meridian.

"As far as I know, we are the only school in Germany to do this," Krötenheerdt said.

The project began in 2007, when the German government introduced a national strategy to counteract habitat loss and biodiversity.

Eight years ago, Krötenheert and his colleagues looked for ways in which schools could be involved in overcoming this challenge, they also found ideas on how to make biodiversity as the main theme of the school.

Learn with a shovel and fork

At the school park, which is adjacent to agricultural land, students are given the task of cutting certain parts of the plant. When 12-year-old Kolja asked if they should use their crop scissors in everything that was visible, he actually received a blunt response from Elke Mahrenholz, the person in charge of the garden.

"It's difficult for you to listen," Mahrenholz told Kolja. "Just cut the dried parts of the plant."

Having received a reprimand, Kolja played his crop scissors out of shame, but later revealed that he listened well and explained confidently about the photosynthesis process and other things he had learned at school, for example on the concept of "sustainability, reusing things that were not more needed, or upcycling, recycle old things to make something new. "

Places to grow in school parks, for example, are made from used horse jump boards that have been used in sports classes.

"You can add more horse droppings here," Mahrenholz told students who had cleaned dry plants and were now about to plant new plants.

In winter, when field work is getting smaller in the garden, he teaches students about the land where they grow their crops, about using organic fertilizer to improve soil quality, and about biodiversity in the soil.

Three sisters

Behind the plant steps, some students took care of the section called "three sisters".

"Every year, we plant different seeds, this year we focus on planting three sisters," explained Eric, 13. "That means corn, pumpkin and beans."

"The corn soared so high that it covered its smaller sister and loomed over them," Charlotte added. "The middle brother, the Peanut, grows up on corn plants and gives stability."

Pointing to the pumpkin plant, Tabea explained about the plant called "little sister, who has wide leaves that can maintain soil moisture and prevent weeds from growing." And then, with a shy smile, he picked it.

"If you grow it this way, kids learn about seed mixes, something that contrasts with the monoculture system in conventional agriculture," Mahrenholz explained. "This helps them to understand the fact that our agriculture must move away from the monoculture system and use a mixture of plant seeds."

Students can even taste the fruits of their work when they gather to cook the vegetables they harvest from the school garden.

Also read: A Day with Environmental Program Volunteers in Germany

Creative thinking is needed

Between study hours, students will gather in the school yard to hang out. But it's not an ordinary page. One part is overgrown with high plant reeds so that it gives the impression that students are in another place. Only when the wind blows the plant opens part of the school building and other parts of the school begin to be seen.

For now, this part is still ordinary concrete, but there are plans to change it if later there is a fund collected. However, maintaining the award-winning school is not only about financing. "It takes a lot of initiative," the Deputy Principal explained. "We need a lot of creative thinking." Both parents, teachers and school staff will all continue to make every effort, because they want to make sure the three goats and three brothers remain in the Berlin Hagenbeck school curriculum.

Source: dw.com