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Die Temperaturorgel ist ein typischer Schulversuch, um das Verhalten von Tieren in Abhängigkeit des abiotischen Umweltfaktors Temperatur zu untersuchen. Der Einsatz einer Wärmebildkamera hilft, das Phänomen besser zu erfassen.

Taking into account German students’ deficiencies in scientific literacy as well as reading competence and the ‘mother tongue plus two foreign languages’ objective of the European Commission, bilingual courses on molecular biol-ogy (Genetic Fingerprinting, n = 490) and bionics (A Glue from Snail Slime?!, n = 120) were developed. Affective and cognitive factors were measured in a pre, post, follow-up test design, with intrinsic motivation being assessed by the Kurzskala intrinsischer Motivation (KIM) (Wilde et al., 2009). This study focuses on questions concerning the presence of intrinsic motivation under condi-tions where bilingual learning is combined with phases of practical experimen-tation. The intent was to investigate: i) the presence of intrinsic motivation in general, ii) the causes for the occurrence of pertinent aspects of intrinsic motivation (experiment-related or foreign language-related), and iii) possible influences of students’ general interests and preferences relating to intrinsic motivation. Bilingual courses in an out-of-school laboratory can trigger intrin-sic motivation in general, and all-rounders seem to profit from the bilingual courses most. Additionally, it has become evident that the perceived choice seems to be the component of intrinsic motivation showing the greatest cor-relation with content-related biological achievement.

Taking into account (German) students’ deficiencies in scientific literacy as well as reading competence and the ‘mother tongue + 2’ objective of the European commission, a bilingual course on molecular biology was developed. It combines CLIL fundamentals and practical experimentation in an out-of-school lab. Cognitive and affective evaluation of 490 students from upper secondary schools followed a quasi-experimental design, including two experimental (bilingual course and monolingual course) and one control group that did not take part in any of the courses. Cognitive achievement concerning molecular biology and self-concept were measured in a pre, post, follow-up test design. The study has shown that cognitive achievement concerning biological content knowledge of students having participated in a bilingual course (English and German) does not differ significantly from cognitive achievement of those that have participated in a monolingual course (German). Regarding biological self-concept, no significant differences between students having assessed themselves as being rather interested and talented in foreign languages and students having assessed themselves as being rather interested and talented in science could be observed. This indicates that bilingual courses in an out-of-school lab are equally beneficial for both of these groups.