PressClub United Kingdom · Article.
BMW GROUP LAUNCHES FREE ‘VIRTUAL LAB’ EDUCATION APP FOR UK SCHOOLS
Thu Apr 27 11:00:00 CEST 2017 Press Release
• BMW Group education website updated with new road safety and sustainability resources
Press Contact.
Angela Stangroom
BMW Group
Tel: +44-1252-92-1268
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The BMW Group has created new digital learning resources to help teachers bring a hands-on and smarter approach to sustainability and road safety lessons. The ‘Virtual Lab’, a free BMW Group app, includes curriculum linked lessons to show pupils how sustainability and design ideas like upcycling can help reduce carbon footprints. Created in cooperation with the Birmingham Science Centre, it is the first educational app to be launched by the BMW Group and is now available to register for download at www.bmweducation.co.uk/virtuallab.
The updated BMW Group Education programme, www.bmweducation.co.uk, features new 3D characters guiding pupils through road safety scenarios in ‘Safe on the Streets’ while a futuristic ‘i-City’ has been developed for pupils to explore in the ‘Intelligent Living’ resource.
“Education is vital to building a sustainable future, and we are passionate about how digital apps can be used in the classroom to bring these subjects to life, said Graham Biggs, Communications Director for BMW Group UK. “We want students to gain a better understanding of future mobility and encourage them to look for imaginative solutions to some of the challenges society is facing.”
Designed for use by pupils aged 11-14 years, the ‘Virtual Lab’ app consists of two theme paths focussed on design and sustainability and both can be played at school and at home. Each path contains four interactive games, together with explanatory videos and texts, and takes around 50 minutes to complete. The aim of these real world challenges is to give young people the ability to apply sustainability principles to the world around them, whether sorting objects for recycling at home, or understanding how manufacturers can use renewable alternative energy sources.
Teachers can follow sustainability and design ‘learning pathways’ aligned with the UK Physics, Chemistry and Design Technology curriculums, with short animations to explain concepts and additional student challenges like creating a wallet by upcycling a milk carton. The Virtual Lab also provides additional teaching material including worksheets, puzzles and discussion topics.
The launch of the new, curriculum linked education programme continues the BMW Group’s legacy of providing free and accessible education to young people, with a focus on its expertise in road safety and sustainability. ‘Safe on the Streets’, the company’s flagship road safety education programme equips pupils aged 7-11 years to make safer every day decisions when walking or cycling on roads, or travelling in the car.
‘Intelligent Living’ (i-Living) helps pupils aged 11-16 years understand the sustainability and mobility challenges facing our future by investigating issues like global development, urbanisation and energy use. i-Living helps pupils understand how applications of science, design and technology can help to limit the impact on the environment.
Notes to Editors
BMW Group UK Education:
BMW Group UK Education (www.bmweducation.co.uk) provides users with comprehensive and award-winning educational resources for primary and secondary schools on topics including road safety and sustainability.
All the resources are available free of charge and schools do not need to subscribe.
The BMW Group
With its three brands BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 31 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.
In 2016, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.367 million cars and 145,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax was approximately € 9.67 billion on revenues amounting to € 94.16 billion. As of 31 December 2016, the BMW Group had a workforce of 124,729 employees.
The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.
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For further information please contact:
Angela Stangroom, General Manager Corporate Communications
Tel: 01252 921268/07815 370425
Email: Angela.Stangroom@bmw.co.uk
Graham Biggs, Corporate Communications Director
Tel: 01252 921256/07815 376867
Email: Graham.Biggs@bmw.co.uk
Safe on the Streets
Safe on the Streets (SoTS) is the flagship road safety resource of the BMW Group Education programme, underlining BMW’s commitment to education and the safety of car drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
It is an award winning programme designed to teach 7 to 11 year old (Key Stage 2) pupils valuable road safety lessons, building their road safety knowledge and supporting them as they move towards independent travel.
Intelligent Living
Intelligent living (i-Living) is the BMW Group’s key programme for 11 to 16 year old students, underlining BMW’s commitment to sustainability. It has evolved from the award winning programme CleanEnergy to incorporate up-to-date themes and content on sustainability, global development, sustainable design and mobility.
The content of this programme includes curriculum links to Key Stage 3 (KS3) and Key Stage 4 (KS4) in Science, Design & Technology, Geography and PSHE, and offers a variety of resources for flexible classroom teaching, including literacy and numeracy tasks