In an nutshell:
131 pupils took part in the 'Jugend forscht' Emsland regional competition with a total of 73 projects
ROSEN supported the competition in Emsland for the twelfth time
Colleagues from a wide range of fields joined the jury and awarded special prizes for creativity and innovation
Under the motto "Make up your mind", 131 students presented a total of 73 research projects at this year's 'Jugend forscht' regional competition and its sister competition 'Schüler experimentieren' in Lingen on February 22 and 23. Both competitions are dedicated to promoting young talent in the fields of work, biology, chemistry, earth and space sciences, mathematics/computer science, physics as well as technology and were supported by ROSEN for the twelfth time this year.
ROSEN traditionally awards a special prize for innovation and a special prize for creativity as part of 'Jugend forscht' and 'Schüler experimentieren'. These prizes are awarded to projects that deal with a particularly innovative or creative idea. As part of the jury, our colleagues Daniel Molenda, Jonathan Geukes, Marius Grigat and Thomas Stubbe decided on the recipients of the special prizes this year. Our colleague Franziska Rake, Head of our initiative for youth ROYOUTH, presented the ROSEN special prizes, in the form of the board game 'Ranklotzen', at the award ceremony at BBS Lingen Technik und Gestaltung.
Special prizes for innovation
Seventh-graders Pia Dellos and Bo Oswald from the 'Gymnasium In der Wüste' in Osnabrück won the special prize for innovation in the 'Schüler experimentieren' category. With their 'Hair the World' project, they focused on protecting the oceans. The two students used hair-filled nylon socks to filter different types of oily sunscreen from water. Studies have already shown that human hair is well suited for filtering due to its high absorption capacity. Pia and Bo compared the results of the nylon socks filled with human hair in their experiments with dog hair.
Klara Ehlen and Jolina Grätz received the second special prize for a particularly innovative idea in the 'Jugend forscht' category - also from the 'Gymnasium In der Wüste' in Osnabrück - for their project 'How long do medications last: it's the appearance that counts!'. The aim of their project was to find out whether medicationscan still be used after the best-before date (BBD) and whether they retain their effect after the BBD has expired. In various experimental approaches, the students looked at the shelf life of medicationssuch as aspirin. They focused on developing a detection method suitable for everyday use in order to test the shelf life of medicationsquickly and efficiently.
Special prizes for creativity
Josephine Neve won the special prize for creativity in the 'Schüler experimentieren' category for her project 'Oxygen and water for autonomous life on Mars'. The focus of her project was on the production of water and oxygen, which are essential for a mission to Mars. Their aim was to produce these substances from resources available on Mars wherever possible in order to reduce mission costs. To realize this project, Josephine researched extensively about Mars, as well as possible reaction equations and finally began researching possible ways to reuse water and oxygen.
The special prize for creativity in the 'Jugend forscht' category was awarded to Cheyma Stiti and Lynn Battermann. With their project, the students from Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Gymnasium in Osnabrück attempted to make clear-air turbulences in aviation predictable using schlieren methods. This turbulence often occurs in mountainous areas and near jet streams and cannot be predicted by pilots. As it is assumed that these turbulences will occur more frequently and more strongly in the future due to global warming, the two students therefore focused on a topic of increasing importance with their project.
About the competition
'Jugend forscht' is Germany's best-known competition for young talent. The aim is to get young people interested in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology and to find and promote talent. There are 120 competitions nationwide each year. Young people from the 4th grade up to the age of 21 can take part. If you want to take part, choose an interesting question for your research project yourself. Attractive cash and non-cash prizes await the winners. You can find more information here.
'Schüler experimentieren' is the junior division of the 'Jugend forscht' competition. All young researchers who are not older than 14 on December 31 of the registration year take part. You can find more information here.