PARTICIPATE IN THE BIOTOPIA LAB

Free activities at the weekend

Do you want to research yourself and discover exciting things from science and nature? Then you have come to the right place with our open programs in the BIOTOPIA Lab. The open programs are free of charge and change regularly. Below you will find a selection of different topics that are offered.

The drop in activities will initially only take place on weekends and holidays.
Special programs take place during school vacations in some cases.


VR Flight Simulator Birdly

Fly like a bird

With our virtual reality flight simulator "Birdly" you can fly as an eagle over the most beautiful landscapes of Bavaria, discover the Jurassic age as a pterosaur or swim through a coral reef as a sea turtle.

Depending on availability, the Birdly can be tried out during opening hours. If the demand is high, you may have to wait a little. Use this time to explore the other areas of the BIOTOPIA Lab!

To fly with the Birdly, the "wingspan" (fingertip to fingertip) must be at least 1.20m.

We look forward to a voluntary donation for the use of the Birdly.

The experiences

Currently, several immersive adventures can be experienced in the BIOTOPIA Lab on our VR simulator Birdly. Only one adventure is offered per weekend. When which offer takes place, you can find out below in our program schedule.

What is it about?

In "Reef Dive" you swim as a sea turtle through a coral reef and can discover the different creatures there. In some places of the reef, the destruction by humans becomes clear and you learn what happens when we mistreat the environment.

What is it about?

Are you ready for a journey through time? "Jurassic Flight" is not just for dino nerds! Glide as a pterosaur through the Jurassic Age, passing giant long-necked dinosaurs, experience dangerous prehistoric predators on the hunt and discover the plant life of that time.

What is it about?

You always wanted to know what it's like to soar over the peaks of the Alps as an eagle? In our Berchtesgaden-Experience you can experience exactly that! Fly over mountains, over the Königssee and explore the landscape of the Berchtesgadener Land from a completely new perspective!

What is it about?

Become a butterfly and explore an ecosystem with plants, insects, birds, reptiles, snails, and mammals. Use your insect senses to discover aspects of our world usually hidden from our eyes. UV-Vision lets you to see hidden patterns on the plants and animals while Smell-O-Vision allows you to discover hidden insects by their pheromone trails.

COME & JOIN:

The BIOTOPIA Lab offers various walk-in activities on weekends, holidays and vacations. Basically, every Open Program is intended for everyone and we always try to cater to the respective visitors' needs and age groups. Nevertheless, we specify a recommended minimum age for each program, from which an optimal experience is made possible. 

When which program is offered, you can find out in our program schedule.

Drop-in activities

Our drop-in activities are all about joining in! Every weekend you can participate in an exciting activity and learn something exciting about life or nature. You don't have to register. Just come and join us when our pilots start a new round.

World of Trees
Do you know the trees in our forest?

How can we tell the trees apart? Decipher the secrets of the forests, get to know the forest as a community and find out what meaning the forest has for us humans!

Recommended from about 6 years old

Bare your teeth
You are what you eat

Investigate and compare the dentition and teeth of different animal species and deduces from this how the respective animals feed.

Recommended from about 6 years old

HUMUS sapiens
Soil stratification, soil dwellers, material cycle

Get to know the incredible diversity of living things that break down and recycle animal and plant remains in the soil

Recommended from about 7 years old

Journey into the micro world
The view through the microscope

Together we look under the microscope at the hidden world that can be found in water or soil samples. We learn more about this fascinating microcosm, its biodiversity and the importance of the individual species for us and our habitat.

Recommended from about 7 years old

The History of the Hermetosphere
Flower Power Special

Self-sufficient material cycles in closed systems appear mysterious at first. How is such an ecosystem able to function and how can permanent life be possible in it at all? There is a fascinating ecological principle behind hermetospheres, which makes the material cycles on earth visible and impressively illustrated in a miniature version.

Recommended from about 7 years old

FruitCity - The Edaphon, an unknown universe
Flower Power Special

FruitCity is a joint program of BIOTOPIA LAB and the Munich Science Communication Lab (MSCL).

Edaphon is the name of the community of soil organisms and the creatures that populate them are just as mysterious as their name. Microbes, fungi, worms, arthropods - they all ensure that nutrients circulate in the soil and that organic material is built up and broken down. Without this flat share, life as we know it would not be possible.

You can bring your own soil sample to this programme and we will look at it with you under the microscope.

Recommended from about 7 years old



Beyond the plate
Food here and elsewhere

Food not only fills you up, it is full of secrets and surprises. How and what do children and adults eat in other countries? Why does it smell and look so different? Which food is considered particularly healthy?
Together we want to get to the bottom of these and many other questions about food.

Recommended from about 6 years old

Water worlds
Physics and Life in the wet element

Look through the microscope and discover life in the water. Participate in various water experiments.

Recommended from about 7 years old

The Code of Life
Isolate the banana DNA

Isolate the DNA of a banana and learn about the building blocks of life.

Recommended from about 12 years old

Aquatic plants/ focus on algae
Flower Power Special

Which aquatic plants grow in our domestic waters and which ones do we know from our aquariums. Algae are not only an issue for aquarists, but are increasingly finding their way onto our plates. How do they taste and are they really healthy - for us and our environment? In the workshop we look at aquatic plants under the microscope.

Recommended from about 7 years old

FruitCity - A view through the soil window
Flower Power Special

FruitCity is a joint program of BIOTOPIA LAB and the Munich Science Communication Lab (MSCL).

For plants, a healthy, well-aerated soil is a hub and recycling center for minerals and water. Urban soils can often perform these tasks only to a limited extent. Why do densification, overbuilding and air pollution pose a threat to urban green spaces?

Use the Geowindow to explore how natural soils are formed and what happens when they are modified by human activity.

Recommended from about 8 years old



Biodiversity
Life is diverse!

What is actually biodiversity and what is it important for? Can't we live just as well with a few fewer species? These are questions that concern young and old alike.

In our workshop, we will learn about the diversity of individual species by looking at different groups of animals. Each species shows its own characteristics with its specific adaptation to the habitat which we want to discover. The diversity of habitats causes the diversity of species and thus determines our environment.

Recommended from about 6 years old

The Eternal Garden
Mini Ecosystem in a jar

Create your own hermetosphere with small plants and a little imagination.

We ask you to bring your own screw-top jar (500-1000 ml) for this program if possible (e.g. old pickle or jam jar).

Recommended from about 6 years old

Fungi for future
The world of Fungi

Come into the world of mushrooms and discover how to use them to dye wool or start your own mushroom cultivation.

We ask you to bring your own screw-top jar (500-1000 ml) for this program if possible (e.g. old pickle or jam jar).

Recommended from about 8 years old

The colors of the tulips or how does the yellow get into the egg
Flower Power Special

Red and yellow tones are particularly striking and important colors. You can find them hidden all over the world: on tulips, eggs, fish... They all have something in common. In this experiment you can take a look at the tricks of nature and explore the secret of its colors.

Recommended from about 7 years old

Scoop paper and embellish with pressed flowers
Flower Power Special

In this workshop it gets really active: From a self-made pulp, which we can color with different petals (e.g. roses), we create our own paper and use it to make e.g. bookmarks.

If you have pressed flowers yourself, you can bring them with you and decorate the paper with them.

Recommended from about 7 years old

Smell Lab
Flower Power Special

The scent of flowers is often pleasant for us humans, but in nature it also has important functions, such as communicating with pollinators. In this walk-in program hosted by Berlin-based smell artist Klara Ravat, you'll learn about different building blocks of floral scent and get to mix them together to create your own floral perfume and take it home with you!

Recommended from about 8 years old



PROGRAM SCHEDULE

The program schedule is constantly updated and expanded.

You can find descriptions of the different program points by scrolling up.

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BIOTOPIA Lab@Home

BIOTOPIA activities for at home

With an exciting hands-on program, the BIOTOPIA Lab can also be experienced at home. Instructions, experiments and do-it-yourself concepts bring "hands-on science" into your own four walls. BIOTOPIA Lab@Home awakens interest in scientific relationships and provides inspiration for young and old. It gives a taste of the activities in the BIOTOPIA Lab - from bottle gardens or growing your own mushrooms to isolating DNA from vegetables or fruit. Browse the website and find the right experiment for you!

Naturkundemuseum Bayern
Botanisches Institut
Menzinger Str. 67
80638 München, Germany

BIOTOPIA Lab:

Phone: +49 (0)89 178 61-411
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Pressekontakt:

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Sonstige Anfragen:

Phone: +49 (0)89 178 61-422
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