Pupils from the two schools in the multifunctional accommodation De Groene Borg in Westerbork would like to adjust their school. Reason: the school is very hot in the summer. The building is made of aluminum and a sheltered playground is hard to find on the schoolyard. With experiments and experiments, students investigate the consequences of extreme weather and how they can best adjust the school accordingly.
“From IVN Nature Education, projects have been set up for primary school to make students aware of climate adaptation,” says Robert Bos. He is the master of group 8 of IKC De Lindelaar and knows well why it is necessary. “In the summer it gets very hot here. The aluminum building attracts a lot of heat and holds it. We then notice that the productivity is less. If you are in a class that runs around 30 degrees, then a lesson, arithmetic or language is exhausting.”
Iris, Danique and Silvie from group 8 of the Lindelaar stand by a so -called water table. On the table a city has been simulated with stone houses and asphalted roads. The tiles can get out and make way for green sponges that symbolize a lawn or a ditch.
The effect is clear: “If rain comes and you only have tiles, the water will not run away easily. If you have more green, it will float into the ground,” says Danique. Iris points to a parking lot with a kind of tile with holes. She would rather have that parking space than the current one. Other tiles can also get rid of her from the schoolyard. “You need a lot more green, otherwise it will be much too hot.”
Further on the square at CKC De Wegwijzer are also busy groups of students. Anne-Linn and Sem get a picture of what can happen in the Netherlands in the event of a flood or a dyke breach on the basis of a 3D high card. “We are still safe in Drenthe, but Friesland is completely flooded,” says Sem.
Anne-Linn is worried about the situation. “It’s just your own country. It may also be possible to you once,” she says referring to the high water. Fortunately, she also learns what she can do at the weather extremes as heat and drought can do. “A rain barrel for catching water or cutting up like not leaving the tap open. All things that you can also improve at home.”
The students held a sponsored run yesterday. “Because our school is the hottest part of Westerbork and we want to do something about it,” says Sem. With the money, solutions against the heat and drought are paid such as trees for the schoolyard. Anne-Linn adds: “Then we can play in the shade and it is fresher.”
A number of students will soon also be allowed to think about the destination. “We then involve a calculation lesson so that they can design part of the square or give an idea for that,” says Meester Bos. “Tiles out and green in it.”
The two schools in the Groene Borg in Westerbork are one of the first schools to receive education about climate adaptation. Ultimately, several primary schools in Southwest Drenthe get to work in this way.