App Ins Grüne

a Learning Application

About

An educational app introducing children (and adults) to Germany’s native tree species through interactive mini-games. Players can engage with nature by photographing leaves, which are stored in tree profiles alongside facts about leaves, fruits, and flowering times. The app’s mascot, a squirrel, guides users on their journey of discovery.

User profile

Project Details

Period
Team Size
Client
App Publisher
Open-Source License
Target group
Platform
IDE
Programming Languages
Database
Version Control System
Mockup Tool

04/2019 – 05/2021
30 (varied over time)
Thomas Gerl (BISA – Biodiversität im Schulalltag)
Prof. Birgit J. Neuhaus (Didactics of Biology), Prof. Dr. Heinrich Hussmann (Institute of Informatics)
MIT
Mainly pupils aged 8-12
Android
Android Studio
Java, XML
Room
GitLab and later GitHub
Adobe XD

Period: 04/2019 – 05/2021
30 (varied over time)
Client: Thomas Gerl (BISA – Biodiversität im Schulalltag)
App Publisher: Prof. Birgit J. Neuhaus (Didactics of Biology), Prof. Dr. Heinrich Hussmann (Institute of Informatics)
Open-Source License: MIT
Target group: Mainly pupils aged 8-12
Platform: Android
IDE: Android Studio
Programming Language: Java, XML
Database: Room
VCS: GitLab and later GitHub
Mockup Tool: Adobe XD

Project Description

‚App Ins Grüne‘ was created by computer science and art students in various courses at the LMU Munich. However, it is not an official product of the LMU. The app was developed in cooperation with BISA (Biodiversität im Schulalltag) and the Institute for Biology Education of the LMU.

As the project leader of a 12-student team, I oversaw the release of the app on the Google Play Store and as open-source software on GitHub (MIT License).

Over two years, I contributed to the project from start to finish, gaining hands-on experience in various aspects of app development, including game design, programming, and project management. More details below! 😊

Features

10 different tree species
4 game categories for every tree
16 different kind of mini-games
Different game modes
Games that require interaction with nature
Tree profiles
Custom collection
User profile

Maple, beech, linden, pine, oak, hazel, birch, rowan, fir, spruce
General, leaf, fruit, bark
4-9 games per category
Single player / multiplayer, some games with different levels of difficulty
E.g. taking photos or finding tree fruits/leaves
Provide information in an interactive way
Photos and other creative contributions from the games are saved for later viewing
Personal information such as favorite tree, possibility of adding friends via internet connection

10 different tree species:
Maple, beech, linden, pine, oak, hazel, birch, rowan, fir, spruce
4 gaming categories per tree:
General, leaf, fruit, bark
16 different kind of mini-games:
4-9 games per category
Different game modes:
Single player / multiplayer, some games with different levels of difficulty
Games that require interaction with nature:
For example, taking photos or finding tree fruits/leaves
Tree profiles:
Provide information in an interactive way
Custom collection:
Photos and other creative contributions from the games are saved for later viewing
User profile:
Personal information such as favorite tree, possibility of adding friends via internet connection

Minigames

(an Excerpt)

Quiz

For each tree there is a quiz about its leaves, one about its fruits and one about the wood. The answers sometimes consist of text snippets and sometimes of illustrations and can be selected by a click. After 2 incorrectly selected answers, the player is shown the correct answer in a popup and has to start the game again from the beginning.

Superkraft

Special form of the quiz: Each tree has a superpower that must be guessed right :)

Baumory

Like in the game ‚memory‘, cards have to be revealed and pairs found. After each move, however, the cards are turned over again.
In multi-player mode (on the same device), two players can compete against each other and take turns playing.

Puzzles

Different types of puzzles: a sliding puzzle with photos and a normal puzzle with illustrations. The aim is to complete the pictures using drag&drop.

Schnapp sie dir!

(engl. catch them!)

Leaves, fruits and other tree elements fall down from top to bottom. Depending on the category, elements of a certain tree must be snapped by quickly clicking on them before they disappear. A timer expires, but time can also be regained by clicking on hearts.

Naturfühlen

(engl. feeling nature)

This is where nature comes into play: the bark of the tree has to be touched with the hands. From a word cloud filled with adjectives appropriate words can be selected. There is no right and wrong, the own perception counts! However, not all adjectives can be selected, such as colors, because these cannot be felt with the hands. In addition, you can also type in your own words (text filter integrated). Your own selection then ends up in the respective tree profile as a reminder of how the bark felt.

Foto Challenge

Depending on the game category, players photograph leaves, fruit, bark, or entire trees. These photos are saved in a custom collection within each tree profile and can be viewed anytime.

Birch profile: photo collection

Enlarged view of the captured photo

Tree Profile

Maple

For each tree there is a profile with interesting information about it. Sometimes, small magnifying glasses can be found that can be clicked to reveal information. At the end of each profile there is also a YouTube video from the BISA project’s ‚Anna’s Trees‘ series. Here Anna and Thomas explore different tree species together:

Fun Fact about the maple

Annual cycle: leaves

Annual cycle: blossoms and fruits

YouTube video of BISA

App Development

The two-year development process was divided into four distinct phases, outlined below.

Part 1 Practical Course at LMU on App Design

(04/2019 – 07/2019)

Our client Thomas had the idea of developing a learning app from partially existing digital learning materials about tree species. This is how a practical course was created at the LMU, in which 14 art and computer science students developed a prototype of the app.

Our client Thomas

Biology and chemistry teacher
Member of the Chair of Didactics of Biology at the LMU
Project manager for the BISA project

BISA (Biodiversität im Schulalltag)

The main concern of the BISA project is to convey species knowledge. They develop classic teaching materials as well as digital learning environments that are designed to be both educational and entertaining for pupils.

What we did:

A lot of brainstorming together to collect our ideas
An interview with primary school pupils who showed us how they use their smartphones, what apps they like and why, and whether or not they have access to the internet with their smartphones
Coming up with game concepts that both impart knowledge and are fun
Specifying the app design (font, colors, logo, etc.) as well as the app name
Creating illustrations of the trees and other app components
Development of the basic app structure in Android studio

My contribution

Assisted in the conception of the mini games
Drawing sketches and formulating texts for the mini games
Helped with the clickable prototype using Adobe XD

Part 2 Further Development as Student Assistant at LMU

(10/2019 – 12/2019)

After the summer semester, two fellow students and I decided to further develop the app beyond a prototype to explore our many ideas. We met regularly with Thomas to plan the app’s progress and were officially employed as student assistants, allowing us to get paid for our work.

What our programmer did

One team member focused on the app’s backend, expanding the code framework (e.g., tree and mini-game ID management, base XML layouts) to streamline future content integration.

What our designer did

The artist in our team created the remaining illustrations using Adobe Illustrator, including tree trunks and icons like a camera icon.

My role: Game Design and Project Management

Revised existing mini-game concepts and developed additional game ideas.
Determined which mini-games to associate with each tree and category.
Wrote clear, child-friendly texts and delegated some text creation to Thomas.
Documented all game concepts and content, including quiz questions with correct/incorrect answer options.
Selected and imported necessary photos for mini-games into Android Studio.
Delegated required illustrations to the designer.
Advanced the screen design in Adobe XD and handed it off to the programmer to build basic game frameworks.
Managed communication among team members and coordinated schedules and appointments.

Superpower — Document: superpower answer options

Screen Design — Screen design in Adobe XD

Part 3 Programming in an Individual Practical Course at LMU

(04/2020 – 07/2020)

When our programmer left the project, I took over as part of a university course where I earned points for my work. Since I hadn’t seen the app’s code before, I first familiarized myself with it. I then implemented the first games, focusing on quizzes and popups, while also addressing various technical issues throughout the app. This experience showed me how much work goes into even small details.

Since there was no database, I worked with XML files to add game content, such as quiz questions and answers, and used another XML file to set the game order in each category based on my earlier documents.

Android Studio — Typing quiz answers in XML files

Part 4 Tutor of a practical course (12 students)

Final Development and Release

(10/2020 – 04/2021)

Becoming project leader

My goal was to develop the app to the point where it could be published on the Google Play Store or used by Thomas and his classes as part of the BISA project. To achieve this, it was clear that additional manpower was needed, so I proposed finishing the app development as part of a university course with me as the tutor. Once a professor agreed to oversee the course, I took full responsibility for leading it.

This was a unique opportunity as a student assistant, allowing me to independently organize the app’s development. I decided on the number of participants, recruited them based on motivation letters, and planned the steps needed to complete the app, estimating how many developers were required for each task.

Our workflow

Finally, the time came: I presented the app’s development and course goals in an introductory event held via Zoom due to the Corona pandemic. Students were given time to set up Android Studio and familiarize themselves with the project before we collaboratively discussed and assigned tasks.

Versioning was managed in GitLab, with tasks tracked through issues and milestones to maintain focus on sub-goals. I intentionally selected participants experienced in app development and GitLab/GitHub, who became valuable technical contacts alongside me. They also handled code reviews, ensuring only approved code was merged into the main branch.

To complement our Zoom meetings, I set up a Discord server with text channels for various topics and two voice channels for occasional pair programming. Using ‚Carl Bot‘, I implemented reaction roles so team members could assign specific roles to themselves based on their area of responsibility. We also ran polls in the channels, allowing quick feedback, especially for frontend tasks, where shared images often received prompt responses.

What the team did:

Integration of a database for content management
Revision of existing minigames and creation of new ones like ‚Baumory‘ and ‚Puzzles‘
User profile implementation
UI and feature refinement (e.g., redesigned tree profiles, creating popup animations)

Release:

Our goal was to release the app on the Google Play Store and as open-source software on GitHub, but we ran out of time during the course. The main challenge was resolving legal requirements for publishing the app in Germany, which took longer than expected. Although the final release wasn’t achieved during the course, one participant and I voluntarily completed the remaining steps afterward. By mid-May, we migrated the project from GitLab to GitHub and successfully launched the app as an Early Access version on the Play Store!

My contribution

Moderated weekly Zoom meetings to discuss the current status of the app and further development
Organized appointments (e.g. milestones, deadlines, final presentation to professors etc.)
Manual testing the app and giving feedback
Grading of the course participants (approved by the professor)
Legal research to publish the open-source app on the Google Play Store and on GitHub under the MIT license
Prepared a contributor agreement for the publication of app content and collected signatures from all contributors
Communicated with the client and publishers of the app
Wrote Legal Notice, Privacy Policy and About Us page in the app
Managed the app’s online presence on GitHub and the Google Play Store (screenshots + text).