Researching through time. On an expedition into the deep sea.

In the hands-on exhibition “Researching through time. On an expedition to the deep sea”, schoolchildren explore past, present and future marine research. The hands-on exhibition is therefore divided into three parts: Past, Present and Future.

The past

The first part of the hands-on exhibition deals with the first German deep-sea expedition, the research voyage on the ship Valdivia. With 43 people on board, the steamer weighed anchor in Hamburg on July 31, 1898 and began its nine-month expedition through the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The students should analyze this research trip from a biological, political and geographical perspective. The central element of the hands-on exhibition is a large map on which the journey and the various stations of the expedition can be traced.

Present

The second part of the hands-on exhibition focuses on today’s marine research. The warming of the oceans as a result of climate change is just one aspect of current research. Scientists are also working on ocean acidification, ocean currents and biodiversity.

The future

In the final third part of the hands-on exhibition, the pupils independently design a scenario of how research might be carried out in the sea in 120 years’ time.

The hands-on exhibition is aimed at pupils in grades 7 to 9, with each session lasting around 4 lessons. Thanks to its interdisciplinary approach, the hands-on exhibition can be integrated into biology and geography lessons as well as political education or history lessons. Conceptually, the hands-on exhibition is based on the principles of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Working on the exhibition therefore trains several skills – working independently, as well as discussing and solving problems together.

Background information is available for teachers in the method guides. These help to understand the topic and provide didactic and methodological support. There are worksheets for the pupils to fill in. There are also other elements of the hands-on exhibition:

• The three boxes for the Valdivia expedition
• A map showing the route of the Valdivia expedition
• Texts for discussing current marine research

The hands-on exhibition “Researching through time. On an expedition to the deep sea” was created by the Independent Institute for Environmental Issues in cooperation with the Mediasphere For Nature application laboratory at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and other museum staff.

The hands-on exhibition can be loaned free of charge to schools or extracurricular places of learning or can be held at the Museum für Naturkunde with a school class.