Young minds on a journey of discovery

This year, the Empa summer camp once again offered a varied program with numerous exciting workshops. A particular highlight was the experimental station with nitrogen and balloons: the children were able to try out for themselves how a balloon contracts when exposed to extreme cold and expands again at room temperature. It was a fascinating experience that provided many “aha” moments.

What could a sustainable life look like for everyone? This is precisely the topic of the children's book “Zukunfts(K)reise”, which Empa researchers from the “Technology and Society” department in St. Gallen have developed together with children from the gifted and talented development program at the University of Teacher Education St. Gallen (PHSG). A workshop at the summer camp sensitized the children to the topic, after which they were able to implement some ideas on sustainability through handicrafts.

The book was presented by Sandra Hirt, a trained kindergarten and primary school teacher and freelance reading animator SIKJM (Literale Förderung im Frühbereich). She brings stories to life in various libraries and preschool institutions, organizes “Book Start” events and gives various courses for professionals and parents on literacy-related topics topics.

As every year, the research days were filled with eager experimenting and discovery. In between, there were excursions on the program: The children visited Smartfeld in St. Gallen, where they explored future technologies in a playful way in a robotics workshop. The second excursion took them to the a power plant in Zurich – an exciting glimpse behind the scenes of energy production.