Geoscience Education for the Young Generation: mileko – The Mineralogical Science Kit

Geosciences only play a minor role in today’s German and Austrian school curricula, although being strongly related to important topics such as climate change or the sustainability of resources. The Mineralogical Science Kit (Mineralogischer Lehrkoffer “mileko”) aims at bringing back geoscientific and mineralogical contents into STEAM-fields (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) by linking mineralogy to regular teaching subjects.

In 5 different modules, pupils can not only discover the world of rocks and minerals but also get an understanding of important principles and processes such as redox reactions by extracting copper from ore (chemistry), the density of rocks that can be linked to the structure of the Earth’s interior (physics, geography), or how the inner structure of materials affects their outer appearance by exploring natural crystalline bodies and their geometry (chemistry, mathematics). Since 2014, about 650 boxes were produced and sent to schools and museums all over Germany.

This year marks the start of a new format in the “mileko” portfolio, which is the development of an online accessible video channel. This new digital format aims to expand the applicability of the Mineralogical Science Kit by making geoscientific contents directly accessible for a broad young target group, which not only complements former activities but will also allow us to attract the attention of a wider audience. In combination with activities such as workshops and school visits, we hope to enhance discussions between children, teachers and scientific experts resulting in knowledge transfer from the scientific community to the public.