24. September 2015 Kieler Forschungswerkstatt’s pupil project wins Research Team 2015

“Tracking Plastic Waste“ is a citizen project of the ocean laboratory of the Kieler Forschungswerkstatt, Kiel’s pupil research lab, in which students from Germany and Chile together with their teachers and marine scientists collect data and actively engage in avoiding waste accumulation in the world’s oceans.

 “In this project the students have the opportunity to experience how commitment and learning is connected trough current socially and scientifically significant topics. Surely, the exchange with the Chilean students opens up a completely new perspective which is less likely to be achieved in everyday school life. I congratulate Katrin Kruse and her team to this great project,” says Prof. Dr. Ilka Parchmann, vice president of Kiel University and responsible for teaching knowledge transfer and advanced education.

The jury was particularly convinced by the international approach of the project by "Citizens Create Knowledge“, in which both intercultural as well as scientific competences are taught. According to the jury’s opinion, the project emphasizes the fact that global problems such as pollution of the oceans can only be solved through international cooperation. “School children are curious explorers that like to take action for the environment. The chance that they can contribute to scientific research is an extra motivator,” explains Katrin Kruse, delegated coordinator of the Citizen-Science-Project at the Kieler Forschungswerkstatt.
 
This year, approximately 450 pupils between the ages ten and fifteen, together with 20 educators in Germany and Chile conducted research on plastic waste on beaches. Where does the most amount of plastic waste occur in Germany? Where in Chile? Where has this waste come from? These and other research questions were answered by an international network of pupils, teachers and scientists. During the process, the children learn about scientific methods of data collection, take samples from beaches and enter their results on the website www.save-ocean.org. Via this website, the German and Chilean school groups can exchange their experiences and discuss possible solutions.
 
In spring 2016 the German and Chilean school children will continue their search. The project “Tracking Plastic Waste” will be extended to other parts of Germany so that, for the first time, the entire German and Chilean coast will be studied and compared.

Background
The project “Tracking Plastic Waste” is the first citizen science project at the Kieler Forschungswerkstatt and is conducted by the ocean:lab which is lead by the marine biologist Dr. Katrin Knickmeier and Katrin Kruse, chemistry and biology teacher. International cooperation partner is the marine biology group of the Chilean Universität Catolica del Norte in Coquimbo with their project “Cientificos de la Basura”. The project is supported by the Cluster of Excellence “The Future Ocean”, the Leibniz Institute for Science Education and the Ministry for School and Education of Schleswig-Holstein.
www.save-ocean.org
www.forschungs-werkstatt.de

“Citizens Create Knowlege“ is a central platform for citizen science in Germany. It offers an overview over all citizen science projects and increases public awareness. The online platform is a joint project of Science in Dialogue and the Museum for Natural Science Berlin and the Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity. It is funded by the BMBF and the donor’s association for German science.
http://buergerschaffenwissen.de
http://buergerschaffenwissen.de/projekt/dem-plastikmuell-auf-der-spur

Contact

Katrin Kruse, Kieler Forschungswerkstatt, (+49) 0431-880-5914
kkruse@ipn.uni-kiel.de

Dr. Katrin Knickmeier, Kieler Forschungswerkstatt, Cluster of Excellence “The Future Ocean“, (+49) 0431-880-5914
kknickmeier@uv.uni-kiel.de

Friederike Balzereit, Public Outreach, Cluster of Excellence “The Future Ocean“, (+49) 0431-880-3032
fbalzereit@uv.uni-kiel.de