Guest article written by Anna Strahl (StR’in), Mathematics und Biology, Montessori Zentrum ANGELL Freiburg GmbH
On Friday, July 18th, 2025, the class 8c from the Montessori-Zentrum Angell, accompanied by the biology teachers Anna Strahl and Annette Schuck, visited the Mooswald forest in Freiburg. Almost time for their summer holidays, the 26 students had just completed their teaching unit on ecology in their biology class – a perfect time to experience a forest ecosystem firsthand.
At the marteloscope “Mooswald”, near the city of Freiburg, the class met with Andreas Schuck, a scientist working at the European Forest Institute. Over the next few hours, he introduced them to the fascinating ecosystem of forests. To start off, a short quiz revealed some interesting facts and figures about Europe’s forests as well as their well-known Freiburg City Forest. Afterwards, the class explored the forest in small groups. The students were encouraged to take in the forest with all its unique features and describe and record their impressions. Following a brief discussion amongst the groups, the terms “ecological value” and “economic value” were introduced. During another explorative walk through the Mooswald marteloscope, the students were asked to identify a tree they considered to be of either ecological or economic significance. They were asked to record the tree numbers and come back together at the main meeting point. The groups shared their findings and were very eager to find out whether they had identified trees with high economic and ecological values. With the help of tablets running the I+software, they were able to select the trees they had identified and check their value. The results led to lively discussions and sparked the wish to re-visit a few of their recorded trees – as to engage and take a closer look.
This day in the forest will surely remain a vivid and hands-on addition to the ecology lesson of class 8c – and a memorable experience for everyone involved.