“Youth Research”/”Students Experiment”: Steinmühle Dominated the Regional Competition
Steinmühle was the only high school in Marburg to take first place in the regional “Jugend forscht” competition—and it did so four times. It also won two second-place finishes, as well as special awards and a mentor award.
Used batteries—too good to throw away? With this research project, Akaash Bhagwat, a 6th-grade student at the Steinmühle International High School, won first place in the physics category in the “Students Experiment” subcategory, as well as a day-long field trip with a guided tour at Feig Electronics in Weilburg.
Natural UV filters—an alternative? Anna-Lena Griesler (8th grade), Maya Fischer, and Justus Pöschl (both 7th grade) explored this question in their chemistry class and, as the best interdisciplinary project, also won the regional competition in the same category.
On March 15–16, both teams will head to the University of Kassel for the state competition.
“The Muffin of the Future—0% Egg, 100% Vegan” was the title of the project by Lotta Funk, Lotti Jarosch, and Evin Kaya from 6th grade, for which the trio won second place in the “Working World” category.
Plus-MINT boarding school students took first place
Water Analysis 2.0: Development of an Autonomous, Low-Cost Boat for Determining Water Quality— this is the title of the project by students at the plus-MINT Boarding School Steinmühle: Luis Gerloni, Fabian Sotonica, and Clara Steiner (12th grade). With their work, the young researchers took first place in the field of space and earth sciences. This project was developed in collaboration with Dr. Christoph Reudenbach from the Department of Geography at Philipps University of Marburg.
Plastic wrap made from crab shells—is that possible? Leonard Berger, Quentin Herwig (both 11th grade), and Clara Steiner (12th grade) focused on chitosan films, since chitosan is a waste product and its production therefore does not require any farmland. With their project on this topic, the three students won first place in the “Working World” category and were delighted to receive the additional special prize: a day at the magical Makerspace Gießen.
On March 20 and 21, these teams will compete in the state round of the “Jugend Forscht” competition at Merck in Darmstadt.
“Nettles and More—Natural Insulation Materials for Heat and Sound ” was the name of the project for which Toshiro Beato del Rosal (9th grade), Leontin Schmidt (10th grade), and Paul Fischer (9th grade) won second place in the Technology category and also received the special prize for renewable raw materials.
All of Steinmühle’s projects were led—depending on their subject focus—by Steinmühle’s STEM advisory team, consisting of Dr. Sven Freibert, Jonathan Gröb, Antje Seel, Dr. Patrick Szabo, and Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, who supervised no fewer than five projects.
The competition, which proved so successful for Steinmühle, was ultimately capped off with a special award for particularly dedicated project supervisors: Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, who is responsible at Steinmühle for coordinating the STEM subjects—mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, and technology—as well as for supporting gifted students in these fields—will travel to Lemgo for a three-day networking event, which will include visits to InnovationsSPIN and Lernfabrik 4.0.
