90 preschool children experiment in the school lab for the Day of the Little Researchers

Once a year the school lab says: Open doors for daycare children! 90 preschool children from five kindergartens experimented in the HZB school lab in Berlin-Adlershof for the nationwide Day of Little Researchers. Using homemade spectroscopes, they studied the properties of light and looked at poster snippets under the microscope. Actions are also planned at the Wannsee site.

"Today is a special day for us," says Ulrike Witte from the HZB school lab team. She also welcomes students several times a week to experiment. "But the Day of the Little Researchers is a lot of fun for us. The children, who are only between five and six years old, are very concentrated and full of the action," she says.

The children made spectroscopes in the school lab. These are small cardboard boxes into which CD pieces are glued. The light spectrum of different lamps can be examined at an experimental station through a small slit in the cardboard box. "When the spectroscopes are painted in a nice and colourful way, the children proudly take them home and have something to show and explore," says Ulrike Witte.

The children were also allowed to work on microscopes. They looked at colorfully printed poster snippets first under the magnifying glass and then under the microscope. They discovered that the printing ink consists of many different color dots. Only through our perception do we see orange, brown or green.

Special offers for kindergarten children also at the Wannsee site

In order for as many day-care centre children as possible to be able to experiment, the campaign took place in the pupil laboratory in Adlershof on two days (27 and 28 May). The school laboratory in Wannsee also invites about 60 preschool children who will experiment on the occasion of the Day of the Little Researchers on 4 and 6 June. Further information on the day of action

About the Day of Little Researchers

"Small, but oho" is the motto of this year's action day on 28 May. The nationwide day of participation wants to actively support the research spirit of children of kindergarten and primary school age. The HZB school lab has been participating in the campaign for many years.