On March 16, the annual Kangaroo Math Competition took place. This is a multiple-choice competition in which students have 75 minutes to correctly answer as many questions as possible across three difficulty levels. Correct answers are worth 3–5 points depending on the difficulty, but points are also deducted for incorrect answers. “So our students have to be very strategic in how they approach the test,” reports Julia Bernzen on behalf of the math department.
Once again, students from Steinmühle Elementary School and High School voluntarily participated in the Kangaroo Competition; this year, even more than last year—a total of 119 students in grades 3 through 9. Everyone receives a prize at the end of this competition, though grand prizes (1st–3rd place) are also awarded, as well as prizes for the “biggest kangaroo jump” (the longest streak of correct answers).The math department is particularly proud of the fantastic results, and once again, many of the main prize winners are from Steinmühle. Here are the names of our math whizzes, along with the prizes they won:

– Nika Jablonski from Class 4 for the longest kangaroo hop in the elementary school
– Johanna Fuchs, 5a, 3rd place
– Charlotte Hanefeld, 5a, 3rd prize
– Sophia Schlösser, 5a, 3rd prize
– Julian Alshut, 5c, 3rd prize
– Leonard Hilger, 5i, 3rd prize
– Johannes Stroth, 5i, 3rd prize
– Jana Nowakowski, 5i, 3rd Prize
– Anna-Lena Grießler, 6th grade, 1st Prize and the school’s longest Kangaroo jump
– Sophie Menzler, 6th grade, 2nd Prize
– Philian Merle, 6th grade, 2nd prize
– Orlando Geisel, 9c, 1st prize

The following people posed for the photographer:

Front row, from left to right: Charlotte Hanefeld, Sophia Schlösser, Johanna Fuchs, Jana Nowakowski, Nika Jablonski.

Middle row, from left to right: Anna-Lena Grießler, Philian Merle, Sophie Menzler, Leonard Hilger, Johannes Stroth, Julian Alshut.

Orlando Geisel was absent from the photo shoot.

(Back row, from left to right) Maximilian Moll, representing the Mathematics Student Council, and Björn Gemmer, representing the school administration, congratulated the students on their achievements.

A great success for our very young researchers from 6th grade: By winning the regional competition in Gießen, they qualified for the state competition and were able to travel to Kassel for two days with their advisor, Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, to present their research project there. And they won there, too.
, Anna-Lena Griesler (11), Maya Fischer (11), and Marlene Wagner (12) focused on making adhesives from natural sources (as we reported), and this involved a lot of chemistry. But since the three didn’t stop at just making the adhesives—they also built a device to test their tensile strength—engineering played a major role in this project as well. Their force measurements using digital force sensors ultimately fell within the realm of physics as well.
This multifaceted approach—that is, its interdisciplinary nature—impressed the jury. The continuous refinement of the experimental apparatus and the depth of understanding with which they analyzed the underlying processes impressed the judges. In addition, they were praised for their confidence during the presentation and, in particular, for their strong team spirit.

The depth of content is something that is also close to the heart of “Jugend forscht” advisor Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf. “The three of them had to explain the different adhesive properties of the various materials on the paper. Since paper is made of cellulose, that’s more of a topic from 12th-grade chemistry class. Natural adhesives are also rather complex molecules. But you can ‘break it down’ into simpler terms.” During the jury deliberations, the team was able to impress with their expertise and technical terms such as hydrophilic and hydrophobic, hydrogen bonding, and cohesion and adhesion failures.

It was also great to see the students interacting with students from other schools. One team, for example, had been working on an adhesive made from mistletoe berries. A sample was quickly provided and measured by the girls. However, this adhesive turned out not to be suitable for everyday use just yet.
The team’s best adhesive consists of starch, sugar, and a little vinegar, which breaks down the starch molecules into shorter chains.
Last but not least, the Steinmühlen team also took home the special “Materials and Substances” prize from the Institute of Materials Science at the University of Kassel. In total, this meant prize money of 300 € for the three young researchers, though Anna-Lena noted: “The money isn’t really important at all. Spending those two days with like-minded people was the best part.”

We are very proud of you. Congratulations!
Click here for the University of Kassel’s press release