Since the beginning of this year, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), together with the non-profit education organization BBQ Berufliche Bildung GmbH, has been active in the early scientific and technical education of children at day-care centers. Within the framework of the foundation “Haus der kleinen Forscher” (House of Little Researchers), teachers are trained in order to playfully arouse the interest of children aged from 3 to 6 in natural sciences and engineering. On June 07, training of the 100th teacher for the “Haus der kleinen Forscher” was completed at KIT.
The foundation “Haus der kleinen Forscher” is based on a joint initiative of the Helmholtz Association, McKinsey & Company, the Siemens Foundation, and the Dietmar Hopp Foundation. Germany-wide dissemination of their offers is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. KIT is member of the Helmholtz Association.
“In the region of Karlsruhe, more than 40 day-care centers and kindergartens participate in the project,” underlines Dr. Julia Ehlermann, who is responsible for the training of pupils and teachers at the KIT Center for Advanced Technological and Environmental Training. “On June 07, training of the 100th teacher for the “Haus der kleinen Forscher“ was completed at KIT.”
At day-care centers that have joined the local network of the foundation, children aged from three to six experiment with every-day materials like straws, pipettes, funnels, plasticine, and balloons. While experimenting and speaking about the phenomena observed, natural sciences and engineering are experienced by the children. In addition, they acquire language, learning, and social competences and further develop their fine motor skills.
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.