Background of the project: In 2006 the Beegroup led by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Trautz initiated the project Honey Bee Online Studies (HOBOS) at the University of Würzburg. A hightech beehive equipped with numerous measuring and observation instruments collects data about the behaviour of bees and their environment. The project is based on the idea of a virtual teaching and learning platform: On the website www.hobos.de interested visitors – pupils, scientists and apiarists alike – can study bees by exploring the hive at the University of Würzburg via webcam. Studying the behaviour of bees also provides insights into physics, chemistry and even mathematics. Project objectives: With the help of the University of Würzburg, a company run by pupils develops and builds simplified observation stations (HOBeebox) and distributes them in Europe. Partner schools and other institutions use the HOBeebox to collect data that is networked to HOBOS at the university. Institutions of teacher training will use the data to develop, test and evaluate skills- and practice-oriented STEM lesson plans in German and English. The partner schools will then translate these lesson plans and tailor them to the educational needs of their respective countries. Using eTwinning, pupils will communicate about their findings free of charge and without barriers. In doing so they will get to know different environments, use foreign languages and reduce national stereotypes. The know-how gained in the project will be employed in the education and training of teachers. Number and profile of potential participants: This strategic partnership will be coordinated by europafels, an institution that successfully connects educational institutions in many European countries and trains teachers. In addition to the University of Würzburg and a Bavarian seminar that develops high quality HOBOS lesson plans, innovative schools in seven European countries take part in the project. They are renowned educational institutions in their respective regions and experienced in opening the school to the outside world. They ensure a competent integration of the HOBOS lesson plans into the national education systems. Based on a network of twenty European countries, Science on Stage Europe contributes significantly to the spread of the project among innovative teachers of the STEM subjects. Implementation of the project: The HOBeeboxes will be installed, populated with bees and operated. The data obtained regarding the behaviour of the bees and the environment will be placed on the HOBOS server. The lesson plans are made accessible on the HOBOS homepage free of charge to all users worldwide. The project partners disseminate the project idea as well as the project results in various ways. Information about the HOBeeBox is freely accessible, too. After completion of the project, the distribution of the HOBeebox will be continued. Intended results and long-term benefits: The project combines real observation of nature with the potentials of both electronic data processing and communication. The construction and operation of the HOBeebox promote manual and organisational skills as well as the pupils’ sense of responsibility. The complexity of the data obtained requires interdisciplinary evaluation and consequently the understanding of holistic scientific thinking. The network of educational institutions in Europe creates opportunities for communication. The access to an institution basically serving science builds bridges between school and science. Pupils from underprivileged educational backgrounds will be acquainted with scientific procedures and their inhibitions towards pursuing a career in the field of the STEM subjects will be reduced. Exchanging information about the features of the different natural landscapes and the distinct behavioural patterns of the bees as a consequence of the various living conditions in Europe as well as the necessity of using foreign languages improve the pupils’ intercultural competencies. Via eTwinning socially disadvantaged pupils are also able to participate in the international exchange of information and thus have access to intercultural experiences. The vividness and practical relevance of the lesson plans and material motivates pupils with learning difficulties and provides disabled pupils with barrier-free access to nature observation. The project has already had a successful preliminary phase for several years now and aims at sustainability by further developing HOBOS.
In 2006, HOBOS was founded at the Julius-Maximilians-University of Wurzburg. A single beehive with a great many sensors and a value of several hundred thousand Euros was at the heart of the interactive concept of HOney Bee Online Studies. It was the aim of “HoBeebox” to design a simplified and lower-cost “eHive”, a small number of which were to be produced and installed in schools all over Europe creating an eHive network with access to all data collected. Being quite literally closer them, the object of study becomes easier accessible to the students and triggers more interest in them than a beehive in remote Wurzburg. The participants of a practical seminar at Deutschhaus Grammar School in Wurzburg constructed the eHive prototype. Thirteen eHives were set up and populated with bee colonies in eight European countries. After finishing school, the team, which were to become BeeBIT e.V., installed more powerful circuit boards and developed the eHive into a commercial product. They have already managed to sell more eHives thus broadening the network. All data collected on the behaviour of bees and the environment are sent to and stored on the BeeBIT servers. The BeeBIT interface on www.beebit.de allows retrieving all or filtered data as spreadsheets or graphs. This project also developed learning units, presentations and videos that use eHive data. The learning materials are designed for STEM as well as interdisciplinary classes and were tested and evaluated by partner schools in Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Sweden, Poland and Slovenia. On careful consideration of national curricula, selected units were translated into the respective languages. In addition, the German and English versions were used for CLIL. All products of this project are available for free online in BeeBIT’s learning managing system; everyone has access to all learning materials, teaching resources become available to teachers upon registration. Links to BeeBIT on the Science on Stage Europe platform facilitate and enhance international dissemination. All participants in the project were coordinated by the non-profit organisation “europafels”, which, for more than ten years, has built European-wide networks for educational institutions and provided high-quality teacher training on an international platform. To ensure a long-term effect of the project outputs, an eHive teaching unit is made available through School Education Gateway and also by the “German Department of Education Bozen”. Moreover, an ECTS-Moodle course has become an essential part of the teacher training program at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich. Other teaching assignments are being discussed. Some project results will be published in a pedagogical journal. The success of the project – even surpassing predefined goals and expectations – was made possible by the high level of commitment, often on a voluntary basis, of all participants. On BeeBIT’s website, real-life observation and electronic information technology unite to create new forms of smart-object-based teaching potentials that are fully accessible to everyone. The eHive learning materials promote thinking beyond disciplinary boundaries and enhance both students’ independence and intercultural competence: Mirroring the complexity of the data, they are designed to create tasks which transcend simple fauna observation (e.g. mathematical temperature analysis, geographical climate studies) to not only deepen comprehension of ecological correlations within the differentiated living spaces [biotopes] of Europe but also encourage hands-on approaches: from playfully investigating the honeybee in kindergarten to carrying out complex chemical analyses of honey on the secondary level. Using foreign-language materials, learners broaden their understanding of the foreign language. Beehive installation and maintenance increase students’ as well as teachers’ practical, digital and organisational skills and their sense of responsibility. The hands-on design of the teaching resources motivates students with learning disabilities. The project brings scientific thinking and research skills into the school thus reducing, especially for educationally marginalised students, barriers to STEM-based educational and professional fields. It is these academically disadvantaged students that strategies of curriculum development focus on in particular. In a new project, europafels and BeeBIT plan to not only contribute to broadening access to education across all levels of society but also to take the next step in standardising STEM qualifications and mobility across Europe by translating the brand-new Common European Framework of Reference for STEM subjects into practice.