CHILDREN’S UNIVERSITY – Little answers to big scientific questions
In the year 2008 the University of Turku launched an event called Children’s University; an event never arranged in Finland before. Also this year the enormously popular Children’s University will kick off with six science lectures.
Lectures will be held on four Saturdays in April. In the summer, two science camps will be held on the Seili island in the beautiful Turku archipelago. This year University also organizes a science camp for young people to be held at the campus.
Summer camps provide an insight into the world of science
In summer 2010 the Children's University will offer an opportunity to take part in two science camps in the Turku archipelago, more precisely on the island of Seili where the University's Archipelago Research Institute is located. The camps are intended for children aged 10 to 12, and the programme includes scientific research into insects and other organisms, and a research trip on the Baltic Sea.
Children's University will offer also a science camp held at the University campus for students aged 13 to 15 who are interested in biology and geography. Topics covered at the camp include GPS navigation and cross-breeding of organisms, and students will also prepare a digital herbarium.
Children are encouraged to ask and discover
More than 2,000 school children attended the science lectures held in spring 2008, 2009 and 2010.
"We received an enormous amount of positive feedback from the science lectures, the summer camps, and our stand at the Turku International Book and Science Fair. Children and young people are genuinely interested in science and research. This is a good start for more established activities", says Maija Palonheimo, the University's Director of Communications and Public Affairs.
"Children are naturally curious. The purpose of the Children's University is to encourage them to think further and to discover the joy of doing things on their own. While offering small answers to big scientific questions, we can help children understand the work of scientists and the research conducted at the University of Turku."
