In December, the Chemistry department made children's eyes light up with its show experiments as part of the Children's Academy.
The Children's Academy is an important instrument of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences to give children between the ages of eight and twelve an insight into various scientific disciplines. The Chemistry Department of the Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences makes an annual pre-Christmas contribution to this. Interesting chemistry experiments are presented to the public, which are integrated into an exciting storyline.
After last year's show took a closer look at a normal school day for a first-grader (Julia Rathmann) and the classic primary school subjects it contains, on December 20, 2024, the story revolved around the subject of "chemistry", which was quickly added to the curriculum. To this end, the graduate chemist and laboratory manager for general and inorganic chemistry, Matthias Jeschke, swapped his lab coat for a classic teacher's outfit. He was assisted by the graduate chemist Maria Riemer. Pupil Julia was there again this year and accompanied the somewhat different lesson with her melodica.
The approximately 80 children and guests in the Audimax Zittau followed the events attentively and were enthusiastic and interested. They were even allowed to slip into lab coats and carry out the experiments themselves. There were fire and smoke experiments, small explosions, various color games and a Christmas firework display to marvel at. In addition to homemade ice cream, each child received a small gift from Santa Claus (Anna Grohmann).
The experiments for this somewhat different kind of lecture were tried out, prepared and carried out by students and graduates of the Bachelor's degree course in Applied Natural Sciences. A big thank you for their great commitment this year goes to Anna Grohmann, Ria Hübner & Pia Schubert.
The Chemistry Department would like to thank all the children and supervisors for their great interest in the event, Frank Schneider and his Children's Academy team for the excellent organization, the Friends of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and the university management for their financial support and is already looking forward to the next pre-Christmas show lecture for the Children's Academy.
Text: Dipl.-Chem. (FH) Matthias Jeschke
Photos: Dr. Peggy Rathmann
