Laboratory employee for one week

When the 8th-grade students presented the results of their science project week last Friday to parents, teachers, university faculty, and students from various grade levels, those in attendance were quite impressed by the variety of topics, the good work, and the happy and grateful students. Also present in the audience were the Vice President for Education and International Affairs, Prof. Christa Heidger; the principal of the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium, Dr. Dietmar Stephan; and members of a jury. The jury selected the good presentations and awarded the students book vouchers, which were provided by the Friends of Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences e. V., among others. Following the project week, the student groups are now creating posters on their respective project topics. These will also be evaluated by a critical jury, and the good entries will receive awards.

This marked the fifth consecutive year that Class 8/5 of the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium Löbau (GSG) participated in the science project week at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. Through nine different individual projects, the students—who receive an in-depth education in mathematics and the natural sciences at the GSG—were able to explore university laboratories, work with state-of-the-art research equipment, familiarize themselves with standard laboratory practices, and conduct scientific experiments on their own. The university staff members involved invested a great deal of time and dedication to introducing the students to the world of science through hands-on activities. In his speech, the principal expressed his deep gratitude for the close ties with the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. He noted that the science project week is one of the most important milestones in the academic education of this specialized class, which is unique in eastern Saxony.

This year, for example, students in the chemistry lab of the Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences (F-N) discovered what zeolites are and how they can help soften water—for instance, to prevent limescale buildup in household appliances. The Institute for Process Development, Peat, and Natural Products Research (iTN), in turn, sent its young researchers on a quest to find microscopic particles. Instant soup, nail polish, sunscreen, and milk—diagrams were created using the “Analysette 22” for these everyday products, each illustrating the particle size distribution and revealing which particle size occurs most frequently.

Two of the projects, also both proposed by the F-N, were field studies. One group conducted their study at the Grundbach stream, measuring its width and depth at various points. To determine water quality, the students identified, among other things, the types and numbers of organisms living there. Other students had the opportunity to try their hand at climate research and learned how to collect and analyze weather data at the climate station in the Zittau Zoo.

The project “All That Glitters Is Not Gold,” offered by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in cooperation with the IOT, focused on the analysis of various metals and alloys as well as methods for surface and material characterization. The Department of Electrical Engineering opened the doors to its laboratories for two additional groups. One of the groups explored sensor technology using the example of automated coin recognition. The other group experimentally investigated the phenomenon of thermoelectricity—that is, the mutual influence of temperature and electricity.

How much energy does a building need, and where is there potential for savings? Students who spent their project week at the Faculty of Business Administration and Engineering Management (F-W) tackled this question and worked on creating an energy performance certificate for a planned building. Group 9 also had the opportunity to experiment with a model wind turbine at the F-W, and one student, showing great enthusiasm, even built his own model wind turbine. The students examined how the turbine’s achievement changes when, for example, wind speed increases or decreases, or when the pitch angle of the rotor blades is adjusted.

To mark the fifth anniversary of the science project week, two eleventh-graders from the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium agreed to film their classmates at work in the labs and document the entire project on video. Under the guidance of the Saxon Training and Testing Channel (SAEK) in Görlitz, the two boys planned, conducted interviews, and filmed the individual projects while collecting video footage. This footage will now be used to create a video portrait of this special program offered by the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences for the eighth-graders at the GSG Löbau.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to the following university staff members, who contributed significantly to the success of the project week: Dr. Reinhold, Mr. Kitta, Mr. Herrmann, Ms. Huwaldt, Ms. Kobelt, Ms. Franke, Dr. Vogel, Ms. Kupka, Prof. Weber, Mr. Jeschke, Dr. Gärtner, Mr. Pohl, and Mr. Schäfer. We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Mr. Kopte, who once again took charge of the organization on behalf of the school and coordinated everything superbly, to the SAEK Görlitz for mentoring the young filmmakers, and to the Zittau Zoo.