Teaching in the field: students observe nature on an internship in Bavaria

Over ten days, students learned how to make naturalist field observations in geology (rocks and minerals), botany (plants), entomology (insects), ornithology (birds) and chiropterology (bats). They also completed their training practicing photographic shots of landscapes, plants and animals.

The internship offers students an introduction to natural sciences in the field. Activities are essentially based on observations that effectively and harmoniously integrate disciplines such as geology, botany, entomology and ornithology, supplemented, depending on the location of the internship, by marine biology, applied physics, naturalistic and scientific photography, geography, chiropterology, herpetology, etc. The scientific approach is essentially based on a methodology of observation and the student's personal initiative in observing, recording (possibly with photographic support) and proposing explanations for observations, all within the framework of a precise theme. This is established in consultation between the supervisor and the students for each day and in each discipline. At the end of the day, each team is asked to give a presentation, under the guidance of a supervisor. During the course, students take photos of their observations, and the best shots are selected for presentation at the Festival International Nature Namur.

The supervisory team also offers presentations that explain the different contexts of the stay, as well as didactic topics that provide an opportunity to explain certain scientific elements observed during the course (climatic phenomena, optical phenomena in relation to the living world, plant toxicity, etc.).

This summer, 32 students took part in the course, which took place in Bavaria. And this year, the stay was marked by the presence of a team from France Télévisions, as part of the filming of a documentary to be broadcast on France Télévisions by the end of 2023. To be continued...

Each year, a new destination is proposed for this course. Next year, the rendezvous will be in the Pyrenees!