Can you drink glacier water? What is the black layer on the ice? Around 150 schoolchildren from Carinthia and Styria found answers to these and other questions during the last week of school at the Dachstein, where the University of Graz held its second outdoor glacier laboratory. This special classroom on the ice is the result of the joint Erasmus+ project “GlacierXperience” by chemistry and geography educators from the universities of Siegen, Tromsø, and Graz. The aim is to integrate the topic of glaciers into science lessons and make it a direct experience.
“With our outdoor lab, we want to teach young people here at the glacier the scientific basics of eternal ice,” says chemistry educator Philipp Spitzer from the University of Graz. “Surprisingly, even young people in Austria know very little about glaciers.” This year's outdoor lab was funded by EU Horizon and the European Researchers' Night “Life is Science” (www.lifeisscience.at). Thanks to the support of the Ramsau transport company, the students did not have to pay tolls, and the Dachstein cable car provided free tickets for the students.
Exciting experiments
With the help of three chemistry students, the pupils were able to carry out exciting experiments high up in the mountains: they determined the boiling point of water at 2,687 meters above sea level, used a thermal imaging camera to investigate the temperature differences between ice and rock surfaces, and learned about the effects of carbon dioxide on global warming. Samples were also taken on site for use in class.
School classes without direct access to the glacier laboratory can take a virtual tour of glaciers in Europe. This is made possible by a freely accessible digital learning environment (www.glaciereducation.com). With the addition of virtual reality, it is also possible to hike across the glacier yourself with the help of VR glasses. The project has also impressed the experts in the Erasmus program, who have awarded it the title of “Good Practice Project.” Spitzer is already thinking about the future: “In the long term, we want to roll out this project to the Arctic.” He has even managed to get the world's northernmost school on Spitsbergen on board for a collaboration. And “in the future, we want to enable students to get even more involved in research.”
Would you like to stand in front of a class teaching a science subject? Study teaching at the University of Graz.