The Children’s University: lectures for youngsters

Monday, April 12, 2010

It's rather full in the lecture theatre today. Wim van Leussen, professor in water management, is just starting his PowerPoint presentation. Today's lecture is about climate change and the rising sea level. Up to now, it seems like a normal lecture, but it's not. Those aren't students sitting in the lecture theatre, but school children - a group from the De Esch primary school in Oldenzaal. As part of the Children's University, they are attending one of the lectures on climate change and sustainable energy.

The children are introduced to Professor Wim van Leussen: 'Today, you're going to be real students, so you'll be taught be a real professor.' Professor van Leussen gave his lecture on 8 April, and it was called The climate is changing and the sea level is rising. He begins by asking the children whether 'climate' is the same as 'weather'. The school children know that the answer to this is no. 'Climate is the same as weather, but then over a longer time,' they answer.

The 'Climate machine'

Then Professor van Leussen explains to the children that climate is not constant. Actually, it is constantly changing over time. 'During the ice age, for example, it was much colder on the earth. We can look at climate as a kind of machine, and we are doing research to try to find out exactly how this "climate machine" works.' But finding out how climate works is proving rather difficult. There are so many things which influence the 'climate machine', explains the professor, including volcanic eruptions, ocean currents, gases produced by human activity and sunspots. When he says the word 'sunspots', lots of arms shoot into the air. All of a sudden, the professor has a lot of questions to answer - 'What are sun spots exactly?', 'Why does looking at the sun make you go blind?', 'How big is the sun?' and 'When will the next eclipse be?'

Questions

After the lecture has finished, Professor van Leussen explains that what makes lecturing to children different from giving normal lectures is the type of questions that are asked. 'I'm very pleased that I can lecture to these children, but it really is a whole different world. Students ask more critical questions about the methods used for making measurements, for example, while the school children ask whatever comes into their heads in an uninhibited and spontaneous way.'

One thousand school children

Professor van Leussen's lecture is part of Schools at University for Climate and Energy, a children's university for the top groups in primary schools. A programme on climate change and sustainable energy will be taught at seven different European universities over a one-week period. The University of Twente is one those participating in the Netherlands. It is organizing an extensive programme from 6 to 13 April. Almost a thousand school children will visit the University of Twente campus over the course of the week.

'Wow - it's just like a cinema!'

The children say they found the lecture really interesting. 'At school we sometimes talk about climate change, but a real lecture is very different from a school lesson,' says one. It was also the first time that they had ever been to a university and the children see it just like a school outing. 'Everything is much bigger here,' one of the children says. The audiovisual equipment in the lecture theatre also makes a big impression. When Professor van Leussen plays a clip from the climate change disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow, there are cries of: 'Wow it's just like being in a cinema!'

School outing

It's not only the school children, but also the children's teachers who get a lot out of the day, they say. 'We learn a lot from this, too,' they say. 'Climate change is an interesting subject, and highly relevant. We look at it a lot in geography and we'll develop the subject during lessons back at school. The visit to the University of Twente is also a great outing for the children. We cycled all the way here, and on the way home we're going to have a nice picnic.'

Coffee

After 45 minutes, Professor van Leussen says it's time to take a break. 'There'll now be a quarter of an hour for coffee and after that we'll carry on with the second lecture,' he says. There are gasps in the lecture theatre. 'Coffee? But we never drink coffee.' Luckily, there is fruit juice ready in the canteen, along with biscuits and sweets. The level of noise in the canteen rises steadily, just like in the playground at break time. The school children might be students for the day, but they're still children!

Further details

The CSTM (the Twente Centre for Studies in Technology and Sustainable Development) is organizing the Children's University at the University of Twente. Children's universities are being held in seven different places in Europe, under a programme entitled Schools at University for Climate and Energy. The project is being supported financially by the EU's Intelligent Energy Europe programme. The University of Twente is also working with the Municipality of Enschede to promote education about the environment and nature. You can find more information about Schools at University here.