Students of the Science-AGs in the elementary school unmask greaseball and earn researcher passports

Research is fun! To ensure that nothing goes wrong, the "Little Explorers" (grades 1/2) and the students of the "Science Kids Club" (grades 3/4) must first earn their researcher passports and prove that they can work like budding researchers. After being introduced to laboratory equipment such as test tubes, squirt bottles and pipettes and trying them out in various experiment checks, an exciting "criminal case" awaited the students:

Someone scribbled "ALL TEACHERS ARE STUPID" on a large poster in the classroom during lunch break! Fortunately, the pens of the possible culprits were recovered, so the young researchers used a chromatography experiment to determine whose pen was responsible for the smearing. The children of the Science-AGs discover that black is not just black, but that every black pencil runs differently when it comes into contact with water - in a very specific color pattern. And since only one of them matches the color stains on the poster, the culprit is quickly identified! In solving this first research task, the children not only realize that research can be quite exciting but in the process they also learn about the principle of the scientific method - from a question and their own assumptions, to the experiment with precise observation and documentation to the conclusion.

After completing the basic research, all the students in the science clubs received a "researcher's passport" from Dr. Marika Haider, certifying that now they can conduct their own experiments and continue their research in the Science Kids Club. What exciting topics are still ahead? In any case, the young researchers are excited and highly motivated!

by Dr. M. Haider