Digital Primary School Schauenstein

As part of the primary school refurbishment, the town of Schauenstein has installed a green roof on the sports hall to collect rainwater from the building’s roofs in an underground storage tank. The focus is on analysing extreme weather events – such as heavy rainfall and dry spells – as key variable and locally occurring effects of climate change, as well as the importance of digitalisation as a solution for better managing, preventing or mitigating these negative impacts. The town has contacted the University of Applied Sciences in Hof to take part in the SPORE research project. SPORE investigates the effects of climate change in the Upper Franconia region, particularly in relation to heavy rainfall and dry spells. Schauenstein Primary School was selected as a suitable project to investigate the impact of extreme weather events on buildings. A digital rain and water management system is being developed to enable pupils to experience the effects of climate change first-hand in the classroom.

Source: https://www.purple-roof.com/

The DiGrus project aims, for the first time, to monitor the green roof of the primary school in Schauenstein itself – and its impact on the school’s rainwater and water management – using digital technology, whilst also enabling primary school pupils to learn about and experience it first-hand. Various teaching concepts relating to climate change, weather phenomena and sustainability are to be developed both theoretically and practically, and presented in a way that is suitable for primary school pupils. Using a digital twin, the rainwater and water management system of the new green roof is to replicate the school’s ‘sponge’ concept. In this way, elements of gamification, amongst other things, can be used to playfully test and discover the effects of various alternative courses of action in dealing with climate-induced extreme weather events, both individually and in groups. At the same time, what has been learnt virtually can be observed in reality, experienced through the senses and reflected upon under the guidance of teaching staff. The flexibility of the system also allows for the development and testing of new teaching and learning methods, such as those designed to support self-regulatory skills for the development of early academic competences, which are important for sustainable behaviour based on facts rather than emotion-based information.

Procedure

• Start: 1 January 24
• Duration: 1.5 years
• First phase:
  • Development and implementation of the forward-looking rainwater management system
  • Development of teaching concepts by teachers at Schauenstein Primary School and Hof University of Applied Sciences
• Second phase:
  • Integration of the real-world system into the curriculum

Target group: Year 3 and 4 school classes

Technology

A wide range of technologies is represented in this project. A high degree of interdisciplinary work is required to bring the project to fruition. Here is an overview of the key areas of technology:

• IoT
• Fluid mechanics
• Weather/climate/rain simulations
• Various sensors (temperature, humidity, etc.)
• Pumps & valves (remotely controllable)
• SCADA
• Digital twin
• AR/VR
• Databases

A major challenge in software development is bringing all these subsystems together. To achieve this, particular attention must be paid to the interfaces between the subsystems.