Department of Geography and Planning

In the middle of the summer vacation the high school Alexander-von-Humboldt Gymnasium was visited by a professor from the US who appeared to be quite taken with the work of this school. Prof. Kevin Czajkowski and his wife visited the GLOBE study group (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment).

In this study group lower grade students aged 11-14 analyze the water of the River Rhine and collect data on the weather daily. This data is subsequently uploaded to the GLOBE website (www.globe.gov). There the data is available to be used in research. With the help of the study group, students are not only introduced to experimental methods used in science but also learn that scientific work can only be successful if data are collected regularly over a longer period of time. In a press release it was said that since the GLOBE study group had been set up by teacher Christoph Goldstein in 2008, it had worked its way up to one of those schools which, within Germany, has uploaded the most data. Also on a worldwide scale Alexander-von-Humboldt Gymnasium is one of the most active schools concerning data collection. Worldwide there are over 25,000 schools within the GLOBE network.

During his visit, Professor Kevin Czajkowski, who teaches meteorology at the University of Toledo, Ohio and is one of the GLOBE scientists, complimented the students of the GLOBE study group and the teachers Christoph Goldstein and Sebastian Haber on the excellent work that had been done for the GLOBE program. Nicolai Scherer, 7th grader and GLOBE student at Humboldt Gymnasium, demonstrated water analyses to the guests and welcomed suggestions for further analyses. As a present Professor, Kevin Czajkowski gave the GLOBE study group school an infrared thermometer, which can be used for further series of measurements.

Newspaper article and Dr.C's blog about this GLOBE trip