It was only a few days ago that Gilching's Christoph-Probst-Gymnasium was officially accepted into the MINT-EC school network, and the first report of success follows.
Gilching
- In the nanotechnology school competition, a group of schoolchildren from Gilching across Bavaria achieved third place with a sophisticated poster.
"Color change at the push of a button - electrically switchable colors" was the title given by the students Julia Böhnert, Lena Gregorio, Regina Hackenberg and Sarah Preis from class 9b to their award-winning poster.
They developed the poster as part of the two-day project “Fascination Nanotechnology” of the Young Researchers Initiative (IJF) under the direction of student councilor Katharina Heiss.
Young scientists and doctoral students were guests at the CPG on both study days.
After a lecture, the students became active themselves.
They carried out experiments on various topics, including the lotus effect or the visualization of nanoparticles in a detergent solution using laser beams.
To do this, they worked with high-tech microscopes.
All of this is intended to encourage high school students' interest in nanotechnology.
The young people found the measurement of a DVD with the atomic force microscope particularly exciting.
For the second day of the project, the students then prepared a given nano-topic, which they presented on the poster.
The four students opted for the electrically switchable colors.
In a lecture they discussed color changes in nature, for example in the chameleon, and drew parallels to nanotechnology.
Electrochromic fabrics can be switched back and forth electrically between different colors.
The effect arises from the change in light absorption.
The first commercial products to use this include, for example, rear-view mirrors with automatic glare protection, and also car paintwork.
All these aspects can be found in the photo.
“They deservedly received awards for their work,” says MINT-EC coordinator Stefan Nirschl.
MINT-EC is the abbreviation for the Association of Mathematical and Scientific Excellence Centers at Schools, which was founded 20 years ago by the Federal Association of German Employers' Associations.
The non-profit association has set itself the goal of getting students excited about the MINT subjects of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology and promoting them in them.