Space2School: DLR’s comprehensive school portal
Space, space technology, and the Earth as daily subject material – by the current state of scientific knowledge? DLR makes that possible. On the platform www.space2school.de teaching staff as well as pupils find a variety of exciting learning modules, school documents and competitions. From 1st to 13th form – and for all scientific and mathematical subjects. All offers are free of charge!
(Cosmic) space for education
What can we do to preserve our Earth and how can space flight help in environmental protection? These were the questions pursued by pupils from 8th, 9th, and 10th form in the ideas competition “Earth Guardian 2.0” initiated by German Space Agency at DLR. Schools applied for this competition nationwide to investigate one of four habitats – Cities & Villages, Water Bodies, Fields & Meadows and Forests, and to develop a project for protecting the Earth. With the help of Earth observation and data on birds via the Animal Tracker App of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, the pupils were given the opportunity to get a better understanding and knowledge of their habitats. ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst accompanied this ideas competition as “Ambassador from Space” and sent video messages to the participating forms in which he imparted important information about the protection of the Earth. The competition aimed at motivating the pupils to do research and giving them an understanding of space technologies in environmental protection.
In the beginning of 2022, the third Earth Guardian competition was launched. Under the motto „Space for Change”, pupils from the 6th, 7th and 8th grade are invited to investigate one of the four climate zones in terms of climate change, nature conservation, and sustainability with the help of satellite data, and to develop ideas of how to protect these habitats. ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer will accompany this idea competition during his stay at the International Space Station ISS during his Cosmic Kiss mission.
The winning forms
School form experiment with “Space Seeds”
© DLR
What happens if one disseminates wildflower seeds on Earth that have been on the ISS for 197 days – and thus in microgravity? Do they grow better or worse? In this exciting DLR experiment named “Space Seeds” about 400 school forms are participating, i.e., 3rd and 4th forms! This is hands-on space research for children, imparting knowledge about the environment and ecosystems at the same time.
The Space Seeds 2.0 experiment starts in the school year 2022/2023. Again, primaryschool pupils are invited to investigate wildflower seeds that have been in space with ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer during his Cosmic Kiss mission to the ISS.
Science of Earth now going live –
with Columbus Eye
© ESERO Germany
Interpreting satellite images, understanding a tropical hurricane via Augmented
Reality, comprehending the vanishing of a lake, learning more about major cities:
Columbus Eye offers educational content for the forms 5–13 and subjects like geography
and mathematics – based on real and current satellite data that are also used in research.
© ESERO Germany
In addition, there is the most up to date world atlas anyone could imagine: as life images from space. Four cameras onboard the ISS, mounted on the outer shell of the European Columbus laboratory, transmit Earth images as livestream to the Earth. Moonrises and sunrises, oceans, land, islands: all that is made visible from an astronaut’s view, and education turns into science. How can one distinguish clouds, water bodies and landscapes on satellite images? How can the height of mountains be determined? Where are rain forests? What do damages caused by mining look like? How can one create an atlas from images? All that increases our consciousness of our Earth’s uniqueness.
The interactive applications on columbuseye.rub.de and the app in the Google Play Store are free of charge for use in schools.
Getting an understanding of the Earth with geo:spektiv
© Abteilung Geographie – Research Group for Earth Observation (rgeo)
You can learn even more about Earth by means of remote sensing methods with the platform geo:spektiv. Each of the free geography education modules fits into a double lesson: pupils work with satellite images and a web-based remote sensing software on real tasks. geo:spektiv is a project from the University of Education Heidelberg, funded by DLR with funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
© ESERO Germany
Additional educational material can be found on the digital education portal “Remote Sensing in Schools” (FIS) at www.fis.uni-bonn.de, starting with 5th form.
The biggest space flight show for young people
© Abteilung Geographie – Research Group for Earth Observation (rgeo)
The DLR Space Flight Show stages research: with exciting insights into space flight, striking experiments and fascinating videos. In June 2019, over 15,000 young people participated in the premiere in Erfurt. In total, DLR captured the imagination of over 56,000 spectators on the tour.
Close to scientific reality:
the DLR_School_Labs!
© DLR
Experimenting with fuel cells, controlling robots on an artificial Martian surface or find out in the wind channel why even very heavy aircraft can lift off and fly in the air. These are some of many exciting topics and questions which pupils can examine on their own in the DLR_School_Labs. These 12 laboratories operated by the DLR for pupils give children and adolescents of different age groups the opportunity to get to know the fascinating world of research by carrying out their own experiments – always with a topical reference to DLR projects from aerospace, energy and traffic research.
Discover the DLR_School_Labs
The first DLR_School_Lab was opened in 2000 at the DLR site in Goettingen. It met with so much response that further DLR_School_Labs were established. Meanwhile, DLR_School_Labs are available at the following sites: Berlin, Braunschweig, Bremen, Cologne, Goettingen, Neustrelitz, Oberpfaffenhofen, Lampoldshausen/Stuttgart as well as at four cooperating universities – RWTH Aachen, TU Darmstadt, TU Dortmund, TU Dresden, and TU Hamburg-Harburg.
Meanwhile, more than 250,000 pupils have visited the DLR_School_Labs and have made an exciting experience in the fascinating field of research by carrying out their own experiments. And the best thing about it: children and adolescents discover that physics and other school subjects in the field of natural sciences can be real fun!
The DLR_School_Labs Award: win 2,500 euros
Building a rapid airship with a rubber engine from balloons? Thinking through, planning and designing a complete Moon station? Every year, the school competition “DLR_School_Labs Award” offers teams from 6th to 11th form the opportunity to win up to 2,500 euros with an aeronautical or space flight project! The award is donated by the Society of Friends of DLR.
DLR_Project_Lab: researching after school finishes
© DLR
At the DLR Neustrelitz site, one can become a junior scientist after school lessons: in the DLR_Project_Lab. Various free-of-charge, six-month or one-year courses in weekly intervals for children and adolescents from primary school onwards are offered for performing handicraft work, experimenting, or researching.
“Jugend forscht” – the DLR is supporting
The “Jugend forscht” initiative (a German contest for young scientists) and the DLR are closely cooperating, since young researchers do not only need ideas but also insights in top research.
This is why the winners of “Jugend forscht” in the German federal states are given the opportunity to take a scholarship at DLR institutes. The winners of the national contest are even invited to the DLR_Talent_School, a challenging information at the DLR site in Oberpfaffenhofen.
If that is not sufficient to prompt young people to participate: every year, the DLR awards three special prizes to “Jugend forscht” participants, each worth 1,000 euros.
CanSat: pupils building satellites
© DLR CC BY 3.0
Building one’s own satellite as a pupil? That is possible at the German CanSat contest. The specifications: the satellite must not be larger than a beverage can (this is why the contest
is named CanSat). Though CanSat will not be launched into an orbit like a real satellite, however, at least it will be carried by a real rocket to an altitude of 700 metres.
© DLR CC BY 3.0
The winner in 2019, the “CANone“ team from Wolfsburg, investigated the light at certain altitudes and the resulting effects on the human eye.
© Cedric Frauendorf
The German winner automatically qualifies for the European CanSat competition. In 2019, the German winner in 2018 took first place, the ”PerpetuumMobile“ team from Halle (Saale). Their minisatellite turns into an automatically self-landing quadrocopter for landing.
Aiming even higher with StratoSat
© LMU, Lehrstuhl für Didaktik der Physik, Projekt SatTec
Take one’s own “minisatellite“ to the atmosphere to explore the Earth – as a school project? This does not work when using resources from the physics room, but it does work with the help of DLR and LMU Munich. In the StratoSat school competition, ten teams of pupils won the opportunity to lift off their own project, as payload on a stratospheric balloon reaching a flight altitude of 30 kilometres. The winning teams received the balloon with parachute plus know-how. The teams were allowed to manage the launch, the landing, and the data evaluation by themselves. Much responsibility, big learning effect.
DLR_next: the portal for youngsters
© DLR
DLR_next is the official DLR web portal for children and adolescents. Lots of information on topical research issues is available here, complemented by picture galleries and many other multimedia features. For example, you can make a virtual trip through the solar system or develop the car of the future. Besides entertaining knowledge, the offer also comprises teaching materials and guidelines for experiments.
Virtual trip through our solar system
© DLR
That’s how beautiful the universe is: the discovery machine
© DLR