SHAPING THE FUTURE WITH BIG & SMALL
Education in action
During a school visit to the “Freie Schule Anne-Sophie” in Gaisbach, the aerodynamics colleagues had the pleasure of introducing the pupils to the world of ZIEHL-ABEGG.
The primary school children immersed themselves in the world of ‘buoyancy’ in a playful way and learnt how it can be used in certain situations to solve problems through various tests and experiments.
The curiosity of the young researchers was
was very great, so our experts were
overwhelmed with lots of questions.
The following experiments were carried out:
Water column experiment:
The aim of this experiment was to teach the children that the buoyancy of a body has to do with its surface area. For the experiment, a small container was filled with water and each child was given a piece of modelling clay. In the first experiment, the modelling clay was compressed (round, square, as compact as possible) – the result was that it sank to the bottom. In the next experiment, the children were asked to flatten the piece so that the modelling clay floated to the surface. In the last experiment, they were asked to mould the modelling clay into a shape similar to a boat hull, so that a ball could also be placed inside and the modelling clay boat floated on the surface of the water despite the additional weight.
Paper profile experiment:
Similar to the experiment with the water column, the children were asked to look at buoyancy. The aim of this experiment was to find out which aerofoil profiles (with air flowing around them) generate the highest lift. The airfoils were made by the children themselves (see picture) and could be taken home. The physics behind the lift was not as important as the crafting and subsequent blowing of the airfoils with a hairdryer. Depending on suitability, the profile either rose or not.
Garden hose experiment:
In this experiment, the children were asked to feel (air) resistance for themselves. The experiment consisted of two garden hoses of different lengths and a table tennis ball. The table tennis ball had to be blown away by blowing it through the garden hose. Every child succeeded with the short piece, but none succeeded with the (very) long piece. In this case, the children were able to experience for themselves that air and friction lead to a resistance that they had to overcome with their breath – they themselves were a kind of fan.