Visit from the school - experience work for and with the soil at first hand

Second and third grades of the NMS Hürm were guests at our institute on the morning of April 24, 2023. After the fascinating topic of soil with its functions and properties had already been the subject of lessons beforehand, a hands-on-lecture consisting of four exciting stations was on the program at the IKT. As an introduction, there was first a general presentation of the institute, its tasks and fields of work with a short excursion into its history. After an invigorating morning snack, the participants went from station to station in four small groups for about 2.5 hours. While pipetting, sieving and weighing in the laboratory, the students were able to test and develop their fine motor skills and gain an insight into the work of a laboratory technician. Scientific staff conducted small experiments on agricultural soil and urban substrates with the students. They were able to see for themselves how different soils behave in terms of permeability, for example, and what this means for the landscape water balance and agriculture. The living conditions of urban trees and the novel sponge city principle were also part of the explanations and experiments. The program was rounded off by a station with our IT technician, where soldering, screwing, (un)insulating and fishing were on the agenda. A varied morning, which we hope was also fun.

We wish the young people all the best for their future school and professional careers and look forward to meeting one or the other of them again later in our activities related to soil as a resource!