Using augmented reality, schools can bring climate change and its consequences into their classrooms. The app, which has been developed in close collaboration with the WDR, facilitates climate education through immersive experiences and can be used by teachers to design sustainable and future-oriented lessons.
In the app, young people from NRW hauntingly describe events caused by climate change and talk about their personal impressions. Among others, these events include a forest fire in Gummersbach and the once-in-a-hundred-years flood in the Ahrtal. WDR anchorwoman Siham El-Maimouni leads the users through various chapters and informs them about climate change and its consequences.
The second component of the app is an interactive AR game, in which the students can free the oceans from plastic waste. To achieve this, they can dive into the virtual depths and utilize a robot arm to fish tons of plastic from the water. By mixing playful knowledge acquisition with interviews of climate witnesses, the WDR climate app provides a broad insight into various aspects of climate change.
Our other AR app “WDR AR 1933 – 1945” which we also developed in cooperation with the WDR, has already shown how well digital and immersive approaches can work for teaching complex topics. The climate app builds on this experience.
It is designed as an additional tool for school lessons and for students from 13 to 16. As of now, the app is available for download via the iOS store, while a release for android devices will follow soon.
