Environmental pollution, overexploitation of resources and climate change are terms children and adolescents are confronted with more and more frequently. These terms are connected with the threatening and extinction of plant and animal species. While the environmental conditions are changing faster, many species are not able to adapt. Even landscapes change increasingly under the pressure resulting from new climatic conditions. This has an effect on the basic food resources and the animals’ habitats. Additionally, many animal species worldwide are threatened because of direct human impacts like poaching and land sealing, which is increasing pressure on these species further.
A characteristic example of an animal species threatened with extinction in Germany is the lesser spotted eagle, which has been indigenous in large areas of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Bavaria in former times. Today, it can be spotted only in very few German regions. To counter this trend permanently, environmentalists and animal protectionists observe the lesser spotted eagle’s situation and the landscape changes in its habitat.
Satellite images have great potential for observing landscape changes: They are giving a large-scale overview of areas which otherwise can only be examined on a small scale. Additionally, image data is recorded at regular intervals and is used to deduce image products offering a greater depth of information. It is possible for instance to analyse vegetation and its time related changes with the help of NDVI-imagery. NDVI stands for „Normalized Difference Vegetation Index“. The NDVI is calculated on the basis of surfaces‘ reflections in the red (which is highly absorbed by vegetation) and infrared range (which is highly reflected by vegetation) of the wavelength spectrum. Two NDVI images showing different points in time can be compared to understand the changes of vegetation cover in the course of the year the biology curriculum for secondary education I in North-Rhine Westphalia includes a topic named “seasonal adaptation of plants and animals”, which also includes hibernating. The use of virtual globes on a satellite image basis makes it possible to look at images of different regions at different seasons and to visualize changes in vegetation. By means of satellite imagery, the pupils can identify the biomes the lesser spotted eagle crosses while migrating.
The teaching unit‘s aim is to reproduce the migration route of the lesser spotted eagle with the help of the geobrowser Google Earth. In „The Lesser Spotted Eagle – Up, Up and Away“ the pupils get to know all different biomes the eagle crosses while migrating. It is not intended to introduce pupils to complex systems like biomes or ecozones. Instead, the pupils shall identify certain zones on their own by extracting information from the material available. They are encouraged to deduce their own categorisation from the joint vegetation dynamics within these zones.
Furthermore, media competence is promoted by specific use of computers for deriving own insights and methodological competence is extended by the use of remote sensing for answering biological questions.
Link eingetragen von fis2013 am: 07.12.2012 20:26:24
