Chemistry Education and Geography working groups at the University of Siegen coordinate international school project.
The Chemistry Didactics working group at the University of Siegen, in cooperation with Geography (both Schools IV), has been awarded the contract for an Erasmus+ project in the area of school partnerships. Under the title "BRO - The breath of the earth - CO₂ as a mediator between inorganic material and organic life", school classes from Germany, Norway, Austria and Slovenia are jointly researching karst phenomena in their surroundings.
The focus is on geoscientific and chemical investigations on site: the pupils explore caves, analyze water bodies using wet chemistry and obtain rock samples in order to understand the influence of climate change on natural CO₂ cycles. The project is being funded with around 60,000 euros as part of the European Union's Erasmus+ program.
The aim of the project is to get students in different countries interested in scientific topics and raise their awareness of climate change issues. At the same time, international exchange between schools is to be strengthened and practice-oriented learning in the field of environmental education promoted.
Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Martin Gröger (Chemistry Education Group), the project recently began with an excursion by Slovenian pupils to the Slovenian coast. There they examined rock and water samples and documented their results in an international exchange with the participating schools.
