In October 2008 Germany's most famous climate researcher, Professor Mojib Latif from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, opened the first lecture series of the Children's and Students' University of the "The Future Ocean" with his lecture "Why is it so nice and warm on the Earth?" Since then more than 10,000 school students have visited the 48 lectures up to now.
Even today, Professor Mojib Latif's lecture on global warming, combined with the call to reduce emissions of the climate-damaging greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, has not lost its topicality. Reason enough to choose this topic again for the kick-off lecture on December 6th in light of globally visible impacts of climate change and the recently concluded Climate Conference in Bonn.
One week later, on December 13th, ecosystem researcher Professor Hans-Rudolf Bork will take the young listeners on a long journey to islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The tiny island of Sao Tomé, once probably the richest island on Earth, produces cocoa, which we enjoy not only in Christmas chocolate. The lecture by research diver and archaeologist Dr. Florian Huber on January 10, 2018 will deal with the fascinating underwater world and discoveries from the past. For this, parents, grandparents and other adults are also welcome to join the children in the lecture hall experience. Porpoises and seals will be at the center of the lecture by Professor Ursula Siebert from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover on January 24, 2018. The veterinarian, who has been a long time member of Kiel's Cluster of Excellence "The Future Ocean," deals with the impacts of human activities on the mammals in the North and Baltic Sea, including the question of whether researchers can contribute to the protection of the animals.
The team of the Kiel 'Forschungswerkstatt', a set of laboratories at Kiel University open to school classes, will organize the final event of the lectures series with their lecture about the project "Plastic pirates – the sea starts here," Unfortunately successful – this is what the more than 800 school classes and their teachers have been in the past months. They searched the rivers throughout Germany for plastic particles in a project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research during the Science Year Seas and Oceans 2016*2017. The samples were gathered in the Kiel Forschungswerkstatt and scientifically evaluated. Dr. Katrin Knickmeier and her team will inform the listeners about the results of the successful youth project, as well as the topics plastic and microplastic on March 21, 2018.
The lectures of the Children's and Students' University always take place in the main lecture hall of Kiel University and last about 60 minutes. Admission tickets for the price of 1 Euro are sold at the Kieler Nachrichten, Fleethörn 1-7 (Kundenhalle), 24103 Kiel, or one hour before the start of the event in the main lecture hall of Kiel University, Christian-Albrechts-Platz 2. Parents or grandparents can follow the lectures on the screen in the foyer of the main lecture hall. Once again the students will receive a personal stamp booklet. For every lecture they visit they will receive a stamp. Those who attend a minimum of four of five lectures can take part in a prize drawing.
The Children's University is organized by the Cluster of Excellence "The Future Ocean" along with the Kiel Forschungswerkstatt and supported by the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN) and Kiel University. The "Kieler Nachrichten" newspaper and GEOlino, a science and discovery magazine for children between the ages of 8 and 14, are media partners of the Children's and Students' University.
All events and lecture titles with regard to the five topics can be found (in German) at:
www.futureocean.org/kinderuni
Links
www.futureocean.org
www.forschung-werkstatt.de
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