From 14 to 22 March 2022, pupils in year 9 researched and experimented in the ExperiWatt competition
The ExperiWatt student competition was only open to pupils in year 9 at a secondary school or grammar school in Leipzig and the surrounding area. As ExperiWatt is designed as a team competition, four students always had to form a team. A total of 22 teams registered and took on the challenges of the competition.
Two participants from each team then completed special STEM modules at the ExperiWatt locations HTWK Leipzig, INSPIRATA e.V., UFZ and VDI GaraGe in March 2022. After a theoretical introduction, the students had to carry out specified experiments, perform calculations and analyse them. The duo of a team then had to complete each module at the MINT location with a knowledge test, in which the experiences and findings from the day's experiments were incorporated.
In this year's ExperiWatt 2022 competition, the teams of pupils focussed on the following STEM topics:
Module 1 | Fuel cells in cars? What will drive us in the future if we want to remainCO2-neutralmobile?
MINT location: UFZ student laboratory
Module 2 | FitForFuture - muscle power, solar energy or coal power? What forms of electrical energy generation do we want for our future?
MINT location: Faculty of Engineering, HTWK Leipzig
Module 3 | The wind, the wind, the heavenly child - How much energy is in it and how can we use it sensibly? Find out!
MINT location: INSPIRATA - Centre for Mathematics and Science Education e.V.
Module 4 | Energy from the sun - It is the basis of all life, providing us with light and heat. But how can we utilise the sun technically and what happens when it "doesn't shine"?
MINT location: VDI GaraGe gGmbH
In the laboratory of the Faculty of Engineering at HTWK Leipzig, Module 2 awaited the competition participants with a total of six different experiments on energy generation (see picture gallery above). In the first experiment, the students had to generate and analyse energy while cycling with the help of a bicycle ergometer and carry out calculations, for example on heat energy. The "hub dynamo" experiment involved determining the differences in performance between LEDs and light bulbs.
The leXsolar plug-in system awaited the teams at the VDI GaraGe Leipzig (see picture gallery above). Various circuits had to be tested so that solar energy could be used to turn small motors using solar cells of different sizes or not. The students also had to measure the power, compare the voltage and current of series and parallel circuits and determine the efficiency of different energy conversions.
The winning teams
HIGH SCHOOLS
1st place | Team Artur-Gamma, Artur-Becker-Oberschule Delitzsch
2nd place | Team Future Boys, 56th Secondary School Leipzig
3rd place | Team Artur-Beta, Artur-Becker-Oberschule Delitzsch
GYMNASIES
1st place | Goethe-Team, Goethe-Gymnasium Leipzig
2nd place | Team Vento-Sole-1, Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium Taucha
3rd place | Team experi-what?, Humboldtschule Leipzig
Background: 16 years of school competition
With ExperiWatt, HTWK Leipzig/Faculty ING, INSPIRATA, UFZ and VDI GaraGe offer a supplement to the curriculum and at the same time encourage independent work and individual experimentation. ExperiWatt focusses on the urge to research and the exploration of STEM topics relating to renewable energy and energies of the future.
