Nature project days: learning with head, heart and hand

Shortly before the Whitsun holidays, the nature project days for Years 5 and 6 took place as part of the school-wide One Health initiative. Embedded in the ongoing epoch study programme on healthy eating, the project days combined theoretical knowledge with a variety of practical experiences.

The focus was on questions such as: How do you recognise healthy food? How are the animals we use for meat, milk and eggs kept? Why does it make sense to buy regional and seasonal produce? And how can we prepare simple, nutritious snacks?

At Demeterhof Rengoldshausen, the pupils were able to explore these questions in a very concrete way: Feeding cows, exploring vegetable fields, collecting herbs - and then cooking together over an open fire. Fresh ingredients were used to make herbal salt and simple meals, which were prepared and eaten together with great enthusiasm. The following week, the experience was continued in the school kitchen: The children developed their own recipes, chopped, stirred and tasted - and put into practice what they had previously learnt outside.

Another building block was a visit to the Weltacker in Überlingen. There, the children learnt how much arable land is mathematically available to each person worldwide - and how differently this land can be used. It was particularly impressive to realise how much land is needed for the production of animal-based food - and what sustainable alternatives there are.

The nature project days made it possible to experience what education for sustainable development means: learning with your head, heart and hands - through your own actions, direct experience and thinking outside the box. In this way, topics such as nutrition, the environment and global justice became tangible for the pupils - and it became clear how sustainable action begins on a small scale.