Third party funded individual grant
Start date : 01.06.2025
End date : 31.05.2027
Extension date: 31.03.2030
The two-year project CO₂RAL (starting June 1, 2025) is conducted by Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in collaboration with several high schools. It combines chemistry education with digitally supported inquiry-based learning.
At its core, the project develops a web-based simulation platform that uses authentic data to visualize how environmental factors affect marine carbonate systems — for example, how increasing atmospheric CO₂ levels threaten coral reef stability through changes in carbonate saturation.
The tool will be embedded in classroom learning scenarios that guide students to formulate and investigate their own research questions using the simulation.
In addition to the software, freely available teaching materials and, in the long term, professional development opportunities for chemistry teachers will be created.
The CO₂RAL project aims to develop an interactive, web-based open-source application for the chemical modeling of marine carbonate systems. Building on the Python package PyCO2SYS, the tool enables real-time calculations of chemical equilibria in marine and freshwater environments. Teachers and students can manipulate parameters such as CO₂ partial pressure, pH, or alkalinity and observe their effects on chemical equilibria and carbonate saturation. The project promotes modeling, systems thinking, and problem-solving competences in chemistry education within the framework of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). In a subsequent implementation and evaluation phase, didactically structured learning scenarios will be co-developed, tested in classrooms, and made freely accessible to the public.