Didactic Material

There is no subject in all of nature more important or more worthy of consideration than the soil. This was already recognized in 1862 by Frédéric Albert Falloun, the founder of scientific soil science. However, the urgency of addressing soil issues and the resulting need for soil conservation has only come into focus in the fields of nature conservation and environmental protection in recent decades. Thus, Agenda 21 from Rio calls for the sustainable management of soil in several places and advocates for the integration of interdisciplinary and holistic approaches in school curricula and in technical, subject-specific university education to address the sustainable planning and management of land and soil resources (Agenda 21, Rio de Janeiro, 1992).

This makes it all the more regrettable that the topic of soil rarely appears in the curricula of the various school types across the federal states. Yet this topic lends itself to interdisciplinary instruction as early as elementary school, e.g., in connection with biology, geography, and chemistry (as in the curricula of the Free State of Saxony). However, the study of soil need not be limited to the natural sciences: connections to music, German, or foreign languages are also possible.

This paper aims to demonstrate how the topic of soil can be integrated into the curricula of various school types and grade levels, with a particular focus on the Free State of Saxony. To this end, it presents proven lesson plans and various teaching materials developed by the author.

This guide is primarily organized by school type and includes the following for each:

a theoretical overview
a theoretical introduction
experiments, worksheets
assignments for students

Soil Protection, Teacher’s Guide on Soil by Katalin Roch

The “Migration, Museum & Me” creative card set is a modular educational resource developed by the Leibniz Research Museums in collaboration with the Federal Agency for Civic Education. The Senckenberg Museum of Natural History in Görlitz is also involved.

Using selected objects from the Leibniz Research Museums, this educational resource offers students in grades 7–9 the opportunity to explore the topic of migration within a museum context.
The topic of migration is addressed with students in three phases. In phase two, this can be combined with a visit to one of the eight Leibniz Research Museums.
However, the material can also be used exclusively in school.

The card set can be downloaded and printed as a PDF free of charge.
You can find all the important information here.

If you would like to combine working with the educational materials with a visit to the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History in Görlitz, you can book an accompanying 45-minute guided tour focusing on the Senckenberg objects featured in the card set.
Please note that during the tour, we focus on conveying the scientific aspects of the exhibits and are happy to engage in discussion with students. The content related to the topic of migration is the responsibility of the teachers.