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Introduction
 
The connection between man and nature is basic to the human race. In a variety of cultures, man has created his natural surroundings by himself, and has organized nature according to his particular needs. In ancient times already, from the times of the Egyptians to the times of the Romans, creating landscapes and gardens was highly important. It is not surprising therefore that one of the Seven Wonders of the World is known as the legendary Gardens of Semiramis.
All three major religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, show the idea of paradise as being connected with the image of a garden. Gardens and organized nature are closely related to the human existence and the human culture. One of the major educational tasks schools have to achieve is to make nature more accessible to their students. This should be done not in a theoretical way only, but rather in a very practical way, possibly taking place in a school´s own school yard. It was quite obvious that our school yard couldn´t meet these standards in the past. So, as early as 1982, plans were made to rearrange the vast asphalted yard. It took almost seventeen years, though, until rebuilding was actually started.
This new school yard now is meant to be a recreational area, used not only for physical, but also for mental recovery. It needs to be spacious, therefore, but should also offer a beautiful ambience for the eye to rest on. The outdoor-classroom might help to create a more comfortable situation for the students during the summer heat. Besides that, the school yard is turned into an area suitable for the teaching of subjects like Biology or environmental education. Both are based on a deeper understanding of nature. The same applies to many other subjects and educational projects which will certainly take up the offerings and opportunities of the new, rearranged school yard.
Last but not least, our new school yard will be a place for a number of communicative events, thus supporting the idea of a school family made up of students, parents, and teaching staff. So far most of the activities had to be executed without the participation of the students and were done by professional construction companies. The construction and the designing of the outdoor- oven, however, as well as the planting of the biotope was basically done by the students themselves.
This presentation in the internet is also for the sponsors of the project to show them what their money was used for and thereby thank them for their generous support.