Grab Your Shovels! Exploring the Soil with Scientists

Course Objective

Promotion of scientific thinking through the teaching of experimental skills (e.g., experiment planning, control of variables), application of the research cycle, understanding the nature of science, and strengthening interest and motivation in scientific topics.

Course Content

The course fosters scientific thinking and a spirit of inquiry by introducing children to scientific working and discovery processes. The goal is to give primary school children an understanding of how scientific work and knowledge generation function and to inspire enthusiasm for scientific research. Through inquiry-based learning, they explore soil processes and their ecological importance, while reflecting on their methodological steps.

Citizen Science

A central component of the course is participation in a citizen science project based on the so-called Tea Bag Index — an internationally established method for measuring the decomposition rate of organic material in soil. The aim is to make ecological relationships visible and to develop a basic understanding of scientific research. By participating in a citizen science project, children can contribute to real research and apply what they have learned directly. At the same time, their interest in scientific inquiry is reinforced.

The project is a collaboration with the Soil Science and Geomorphology research group at the University of Tübingen (Head: Prof. Dr. Thomas Scholten).

Trailer

Target group

Especially gifted and highly gifted third- and fourth-grade students from the Hector Children’s Academies program. Participation requirements: enjoyment of experimenting as well as of written and oral engagement with soil science topics, and the ability to concentrate.