Experimental Soil Biodiversity Workshop Series

Details about the process and content of the educational offer

For elementary school, secondary school (SEK I and SEK II), college, and adults

What is life like underground? What do the creatures in the soil do? Why are they so important for our survival? What do Berlin’s school gardens sound like? We want to answer these and other questions with you—using soil microphone recordings and experiments—in this two-part workshop series.

In Part 1, we’ll come to you, introduce the topic of soil, start our experiments, and use the soil microphone to record the first sounds of your garden. 

In the second part, we’ll dive deeper into the topic: We’ll check whether the sounds of the soil have changed and discuss the results of the experiments. The second part can take place at your location again, or you can join us at the 2,000-square-meter Weltacker in Pankow or at the Ackerlabor in the Späth’sche Baumschule.

Learning Objectives of the Workshop Series

After the workshops, children, teenagers, and young adults will:

• gained an understanding of the connections between the edaphon (soil organisms), agriculture, and healthy eating.
• gain an understanding of the influence of soil organisms on the decomposition of organic material and plant growth.
• gain insight into conducting an experiment, collecting and simply analyzing data, and engaging in scientific research.

Information About Visiting the Weltacker

The first workshop will take place at your school. For the second session, you’re welcome to visit us at the 2,000-square-meter Weltacker in Pankow or at the Ackerlabor in the Späth’sche Baumschule. However, we’d also be happy to come back to your school. Please specify this in your request.

When we’re out and about at the Weltacker, please remember to wear weather-appropriate clothing—sun protection if it’s hot and rain gear if it gets wet.

The Weltacker in Pankow and the Ackerlabor at the Späth’sche Baumschule are accessible without steps. In rainy weather, maneuvering a wheelchair can be a bit difficult—we’re happy to help!

Costs and subsidies

We want everyone to be able to visit Weltacker—including groups that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the visit. Thanks to funding from the Senate for Mobility, Transportation, Climate Protection, and the Environment, we’re able to offer these tours. 

If your school or group can cover the cost of 150 € per tour on your own, we’d appreciate your support!