News & Events

Scientists from the Laboratory of Ecochemistry and Environmental Engineering of the IB PAS reveal the secrets of their work to children

On June 23, one of our institute laboratories, the Laboratory of Ecochemistry and Environmental Engineering, located in Szarów, on the edge of the Niepołomice Forest, was visited by extraordinary guests – third-grade students from a nearby primary school. The event was hosted by Małgorzata Stanek, head of the Laboratory.

First, the students were invited to the oldest part of the building, where they could see the historic equipment formerly used by researchers. In the second, typically laboratory part of the building, they learned the basic rules of the Laboratory and then carried out their own analyses of water and solutions prepared from materials known to them from everyday use. Visiting the rooms equipped with specialised devices for various purposes, the children gradually discovered what the work of a scientist and laboratory technician was about. The collections of plants grown in the greenhouse made a particular impression on them. The children learned that the blue-red light used in a greenhouse was optimal for plant growth, and found that being in such a room would result in a short-term view of the world in green colours (which was the reason for general amusement).

After an eventful tour, the students were invited to the garden for refreshments by the fire. To the joy of the Laboratory workers, the children used their free time not only to grill sausages and play in the garden but also to ask detailed questions about the research conducted in the Laboratory, to which they expected exhaustive answers.

Thank you for a nice visit! We hope that the memories of it will stay with children for a long time and, perhaps, will allow some of them to discover the passion of a researcher and scientist.

Here are the children's impressions after the visit to the Laboratory, written "hot" by the Laboratory employees :)

  • Joanna liked the experiment with colours the most.
  • Kuba liked the fact that after leaving the greenhouse he saw the world in green.
  • Zosia wanted to play hide and seek because large buildings (such as the Laboratory building) have plenty of hiding places.
  • Adam's dream is to become a scientist and discover a new drug.
  • The boys really enjoyed exploring the basement rooms.
  • After visiting the Laboratory, almost all girls want to be laboratory technicians and walk "in such white coats as Laboratory workers".
  • Adam liked the old microscopes.
  • Kuba and many other children with flushed faces told about the experiments they conducted in the Laboratory.
A woman in a white coat stands among school children. They all stare at the contents of a glass display case

Collection of antique laboratory equipment.
Photo: Cecylia Barańska.

A woman in a white coat stands among school children in a modern laboratory

The spectrometry room equipped with the apparatus used during the determination of elements, including in water and soil.
Photo: Cecylia Barańska.

Children and a teacher stand in a laboratory. A boy in the foreground looks at plants in pots

Another laboratory room with the cultivation of tomato seedlings.
Photo: Cecylia Barańska.

A boy uses a pipette to measure out a portion of purple liquid. His friends watch what he does

Determination of pH of solutions prepared from vinegar and washing powder.
Photo: Cecylia Barańska.

A girl uses a pipette to inject purple liquid into a glass beaker of green liquid. Other pupils watch her

Determination of pH of solutions made of red cabbage juice.
Photo: Cecylia Barańska.

The children and their teacher stand in a purple-lit, windowless room. On the counter in front of them is a tray of plants

Collection of plants grown under blue-red light.
Photo: Cecylia Barańska.

Children and their guardians stand on the grass at a snack table. One of the boys puts a sausage on a metal skewer

A well-deserved rest in the garden.
Photo: Cecylia Barańska.

Children stand around a campfire. They hold sausages on skewers above it

Grilling sausages.
Photo: Cecylia Barańska.