Hob’s Adventure – Hands-on Biodiversity

Topic(s) addressed

• Blending active indoor and outdoor learning (central theme: potted plants)

• Using digital tools to enrich both environments 

• Tailoring teaching to the environmental and cultural context of the pupils.

Target groups

• 5-9-year-old pupils

• teachers, parents and 

• the local communities in four countries 

• the EcoSchools network

Methodologies

• Drawing on best practices from all four countries to develop innovative learning materials.

• Using hands-on, active, and inquiry-based methods, integrating traditional and innovative approaches. 

• The lesson plans were applied in an interdisciplinary manner, allowing teachers to customize their approach to the particular lesson and context. 

• Moving away from the school desk to learn by working together and problem solving. 

• Using digital tools such as robotics, the internet and geocaching. 

• Making learning fun through increased physical activity.

Environments

• We brought together teachers and experts from all four countries. 

• The aim was to produce lesson plans and tools adaptable to different environmental and educational contexts.

• For example, with the weather conditions in Estonia and Iceland, we had to broaden our approach to allow for indoor potted plant learning. Whereas in Slovenia, the strict educational context had to be addressed rather than the weather.

• The resulting materials were flexible enough for teachers from all environments to tailor them to the needs of their pupils.

Teachers

• We developed our handbook in close cooperation with teachers from all four countries.

• The teachers tested our methods and innovative materials in class with their own pupils.

• We also created an international network across social media so that teachers could share their experiences and best practices with their peers in an immediate and non-formal manner. 

Impact

The overwhelmingly positive feedback from all participating educational institutions showed that:

• children respond well to the new methods 

• gain key competencies quickly 

• enjoy the process of learning more than before which leads to reduced dropout rates. 

• The children shared their learning experiences with their families 

• Outdoor activities engaged the wider community boosting the outreach

• Our teachers shared the methods with their community

• The international EcoSchools network and tens of other projects are willing to use our methods in future training.