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HOPE, Hands-on Physics Experience with MIT-Edgerton Center: a collaborative self-learning experience that allows students to learn while having fun

Time: Friday, 12:15 – 13:00 – ONLINE ONLY – ENGLISH VERSION

Speaker: Maria Cristina Trevissoi et al – Liceo Scientifico A. Roiti, Ferrara, Italy

Age of participants: High school

Short description: HOPE is a program run by high school and university students who carry out STEM projects they propose themselves. The teachers support them and the organizational aspects trying to give free rein to the students‘ creativity and autonomy. The work of the teams – made up of students of various ages and heterogeneous by gender and skills – allows you to learn not only the contents but also the soft skills necessary for current generations

Required previous knowledge: None

Hacking – Betweet crime craft and culture

Time: Friday, 11:00 – 11:30 – ENGLISH VERSION

Speaker: Charlie Ahrendts

Age of participants: from grade 8

Short description: We all know the images of black hoodies, screens with lines of green writing and Anonymous masks. But how much of this is true and who are these people who call themselves „hackers“? This talk will give a little insight into the basics, philosophy, morality, culture and practice of hacking.

Required previous knowledge: None

Use of molecular biological methods for the purification of olive oil effluents

Time: Friday, 9:45 – 10:30 – ONLINE ONLY

Speaker: Leopold Bott, University Kassel

Age of participants: High school

Short description: The slides in the lecture are mostly in English. The lecture itself is held in German. During the production of food, wastewater is produced, which can be very dangerous for the environment. As part of my master’s thesis, I worked on a microorganism that can degrade the toxic components of wastewater. The degradation products can then in turn be used as a starting material for the production of food additives (carotenoids). In addition to establishing molecular biological methods, this also involves a separation process for carotenoids.

Required prior knowledge: You know something about the terms DNA/RNA/Protein? You can classify what a polar and non-polar solvent is? Then you are in the right place.

Starting with embedded software development using PlatformIO and Arduino

Time: Thursday, 14:00 – 16:00

Speaker: Jakub Nagy – picoballoon, Bratislava, Slovakia

Age of participants: High school

Short description:

Today, there are various options for embedded software development. The Arduino framework allows even begginers to start developing software for their devices. What if there are bigger requirements for the project? The answer is PlatformIO. In this workshop, we will go over the basics, how to migrate from Arduino IDE and best practices.

Required previous knowledge: Ideally have basic knowledge of programming and the C++ language, useful but not required experience with Arduino. Have VSC installed on your desktop if you want to follow along.

Are we stardust? – A journey through space and time

Time: Thursday, 12:15 – 13:00 – ENGLISH VERSION

Speaker: Christoph Maier – University Heidelberg

Age of participants: High school senior and above, amateur astronomers.

Short description: In the beginning was … Yes, what at all? Together we travel through space and time to get to the bottom of this question.

Required prior knowledge: Basic knowledge what gravity, stars, galaxies, black holes, atoms are helpful.

How much does the universe weigh? – How to make dark matter visible and what it has to do with cosmology

Time: Thursday, 11:00-11:45 – ENGLISH VERSION

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Hendrik Hildebrandt – Ruhr-University Bochum

Age of participants: High school

Short description: Have you ever wondered how much the universe weighs? Does this question make any sense at all? Are there theoretical predictions that can be verified with astronomical observations? Cosmologists use modern large telescopes to measure the sky and make use of the so-called weak gravitational lensing effect. By means of tiny distortions that can be detected in the images of distant galaxies, the mysterious dark matter is made visible. From this, the total mass of the universe and its distribution can be estimated. These measurements can be compared with measurements of the cosmic microwave background that maps the universe shortly after the Big Bang. The highly successful Standard Model of cosmology makes direct statements about how these two observations are related. Recent results reveal a discrepancy between these methods that could grow into a serious problem for the Standard Model. One possible solution to this problem would be to abandon Einstein’s cosmological constant and introduce a time-varying dark energy component.

Required previous knowledge: None

Climate change – what can we do? Learn more about it in the virtual lab

Time: Thursday 8:30 – 9:15 – ONLINE ONLY

Speakers: Franziska Marquardt, Malte Stäps – Labster

Age of participants: Middle and high school

Brief description: Since 1970, global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions have more than doubled, and have even increased more than fifteenfold since the beginning of the last century. We humans are responsible for releasing an additional 32 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. This would fill around 1.6 billion hot air balloons. Some of it remains in the atmosphere and the earth heats up more and more. Carbon is one of the most important building blocks of life! In this workshop, you’ll use an interactive simulation to learn all about the carbon cycle and help Farmer Greg figure out why corn yields are so low this year. He hypothesizes it’s due to the effects of global warming from carbon emissions. Here you can learn more about the importance of the carbon cycle and the negative effects of human emissions on the environment so you can help Farmer Greg with his problem. Will you be able to find a sustainable solution to reduce carbon emissions without having to give up the modern lifestyle?

Required prior knowledge: None (interest in climate change and possibly basic English (intermediate level) are helpful).

It doesn’t always have to be colorful – don’t be afraid of the command line!

Time: Wednesday, 14:00 – 16:00 – ONLY ONLINE- ENGLISH VERSION

Speaker: Aaron Schlitt, HPI Potsdam

Age of participants: from grade 8

Short description: For many, the command line on their own computers is a scary place. Yet many problems can be solved more easily with the command line than through the perhaps familiar ways in your own operating system. In this course you will get a first introduction to the Linux shell and learn about important and practical programs.

Required prior knowledge: Knowledge of using your own computer operating system

Physics PBL – Project Based Learning – in a High School class: a different didactic to support and motivate students

Time: Wednesday, 11:00 – 11:45 – ONLINE ONLY – ENGLISH VERSION

Speaker: Maria Cristina Trevissoi et al – Liceo Scientifico A. Roiti, Ferrara, Italy

Age of participants: High school

Short description: The talk will present the Physics PBL experience within a 12th grade of high school. The teacher will describe the aims and the method. The voice of the students, talking about their experience, will complete the understanding of the results achieved.

Required previous knowledge: None

Solar observation on the computer

Time: Tuesday, 14:00 – 16:00 – ONLINE ONLY

Speaker: Carolin Liefke – House of astronomy, Heidelberg

Age of participants: From intermediate level

Short description: Our sun is an extremely dynamic celestial body: sunspots on its surface come and go within a few days, in a cycle of 11 years they occur more or less strongly clustered. Huge gas clouds, the prominences, rise above the solar surface within minutes. In addition, enormous amounts of energy are released at irregular intervals in bursts of brightness. All these phenomena are summarized under the term activity. Although they can be easily observed with suitable telescopes, systematic observations such as long-term measurements and the inclusion of data from far away from the visible spectral range are limited. The software JHelioviewer or its web application allows interactive access to the archives of various satellite missions for solar observation and thus also to get to the bottom of the causes of solar activity.

Required previous knowledge: Use of an Internet browser

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