Cell phone displays, tattoos and the Olsen Gang - pupils and teachers discover the diversity of chemical topics.
On February 28, 2018, 175 participating pupils and teachers from all over eastern Saxony were introduced to the role of chemistry in a wide variety of subject areas.
The day began with words of welcome from the mayor of Zittau, Mr. Zenker, the chancellor of the university, Ms. Hollstein, and the head of the secondary school department of the Saxon State Office for Schools and Education (Bautzen regional office), Dr. Volkmann.
The lecture program then began directly with chemistry that gets under the skin. Prof. Dr. Roth (Free University of Berlin) shed light on the various aspects of tattoos in the past and modern times. In addition to the history, artistic motifs but also failures, the molecular background of tattoo colors as well as the possible problems were illuminated.
After a break, the participants were able to choose between lectures on the chemistry of modern dyes, which are ubiquitous in modern cell phone displays, for example (Prof. Dr. Greif); on the basics and applications of electrochemistry, without which the energy transition will not be possible (Prof. Dr. Weber) or on the path from amino acid to protein (Prof. Dr. Fuchs).
After a short coffee break and information on the new natural sciences courses at the HSZG as well as a raffle for book prizes, a show lecture was the crowning and entertaining conclusion to the successful day. Under the direction of Dipl.-Chem. (FH) Matthias Jeschke, a chemical play was performed in which Egon and his Olsen Gang tried to crack the safe on the Zittau campus. Under the pretext of studying on the new Bachelor's degree course "Applied Natural Sciences ", the gang gained lucrative access to the university. This somewhat different kind of lecture incorporated numerous experiments prepared and carried out by students from the Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences. A variety of witty dialogues paired with lightning, fire, smoke and color games were presented to the audience. The university's chancellor also made her second appearance of the day.
The event was jointly organized by the HSZG chemistry department, the Leipzig Teacher Training Centre and the Bautzen regional office of the State Office for Schools and Education as part of the school partnership, which has been running for 18 years. The organizers would like to thank all the helpers and sponsors of this day for their support.