Over 11,000 children are contributing to scientific research

On Friday 22 May, the ‘Alle Scholen Verzamelen’ event took place. Researchers from Utrecht University and Wageningen University enlisted the help of children from across the country to tackle two research questions: What is the state of biodiversity in Dutch school playgrounds? And how connected do primary school pupils feel to nature?

During the so-called Schoolyard Safari, 11,254 pupils in Years 6 to 8 collected all sorts of data for genuine scientific research in a single day. Almost a quarter of the pupils are from the province of Utrecht. A total of 69 schools, comprising 100 classes, took part.

Exploring

The pupils take a closer look at their own school playground. Working in pairs, they discover the different habitats to be found there, such as a bush, a green roof or an insect hotel. Then it’s time to investigate biodiversity. Are there actually any butterflies to be found? They tick off the species they find on a worksheet. But equally important: what can’t be found in the school playground? That, in fact, also says a great deal about the area.

Interview your classmate

Part two involves conducting interviews. The children do this themselves! First, they learn how to conduct an interview and are given a list of questions to ask, such as ‘Where do you play most often?’ They also ask each other what they think of the amount of greenery in their school playground. The primary schools then send all the completed interview sheets to the researchers.

This is how they discover what science is and develop an inquisitive mindset.

Biogeographer Sietze Norder: We would like to understand what factors might explain the differences in connection with nature and biodiversity between schools. To answer this question, we will, among other things, link the results of the research into biodiversity in school playgrounds and the results of the interviews to spatial data (‘maps’) on, for example, the greenness of school playgrounds.

Results

The results will, of course, be shared with the participating schools. An overview will be provided showing which species groups are most commonly found in school playgrounds, and which are not. Social psychologist Tina Venema says: But we also want to investigate whether children who attend a school with a green playground - and who have therefore encountered greater biodiversity - appreciate nature more. Or perhaps it’s the other way round!