Education

Biodiversity Expo 2008

We are excited to announce CASABIO's involvement in the Biodiversity Expo 2008 being held at Kirstenbosch. This is a valuable opportunity to show the youth how valuable biodiversity is. There are many fun exhibits on the cards, and we will be showing many new and exciting developments from CASABIO, such as the Survival Card Game. A climbing competition will be held with prizes for the best climbers. One of CASABIO's objectives is to explore difficult areas like caves and mountains inaccessible except by climbing. Please donate generously to provide our youth with a memorable experience. Click on the image to view the invitation in full resolution.

Fun Stuff and events:

• "Battle for biodiversity" - will send images
• "Douse the Developer" - test your skill at cleaning dirty developers.
• "Climb for CASABIO" - climbing competition
• "Draw for Diversity" - drawing competition
• "Survival" - exciting new card game under development.

Features:

• New technology - electronic ink: a green replacement for paper - ATP photo finder - gps integration with images.
• Explore the uses of biodiversity - eating indigenous - kei apple jam - uses of biodiversity around us - reed mats, medicinal plants.

Download the programme and the list of exhibitors and speakers as pdf (Acrobat Reader required).

Electronic key for the identification of plant families

CASABIO won the contract for producing an electronic key to the families of the Cape flora. This has been completed and will ultimately be incorporated into the CASABIO database. This will greatly facilitate the searching of families by basic characters.

Survival card game - "Only the fit survive" (Hover to flip the cards)

Take nature to the classroom. Important biological and environmental concepts about diversity are demonstrated in this exciting and challenging card game. Survival aims to brings the South African landscape to life for thousands of scholars who have limited access to information on life around them. Survival teaches the principles of evolution, botany and environmental management in a dynamic way. Collect cards, or swap cards with your schoolmates.

Have your hand of organisms buffetted by the elements by under different climate change scenarios. Specialize on a particular biome, or become a generalist. Will your large-leafed Arum survive in the karoo, or will your Erica be able to compete in the forests of knysna. Improve your chances of survival with specific pollinators and eat your opponents pollinators with your predators. Be careful though, a housing development is potentially a card away.

This game is made possible by the comprehensiveness of the CASABIO database. With information on the plants, distributions, habitat preferences and morphological dimensions encoded. Excellent images extracted from the database are committed to card, to begin one's own field guide.

Volunteers are needed:

• Graphic artists - to work on design of the game, board and presentation
• Photographers - we require images of pollinators, predators and mammals
• Marketing - help is needed to target the game effectively at youth