Brose donation raises elementary students curiosity in science and technology with the help of experiments

International automotive supplier Brose provided 32 elementary schools in and around Coburg with experimental kits to be used in class with a total value of around 6,000 euros.

On October 21st, 2010, in the presence of school principals, representatives from the city and district of Coburg, and state education authorities, Michael Stammberger, head of apprentice training at Brose, presented the experimental kits to the attending principals. Each kit has enough materials for classes of approximately 30 children and includes directions for teachers and students on how to use these to conduct around 45 experiments focused on air, food and water in groups or together with a partner.

“Children are very curious about scientific and technical phenomena. We want to encourage their curiosity and natural motivation to learn, which is why we are supporting the Knowledge Factory initiative. Working together we aim to promote early childhood education and already get kids interested in exciting topics from the natural world around them during their elementary school education,” said Stammberger, explaining the company's involvement in the initiative.

“Brose is making an important contribution to ensuring that the future generation will be even more excited about learning and prepared to compete globally. I'd like to thank the company for their helpful assistance with this project as early as the preparation phase and I'd be very pleased to see Brose continue to support our initiative as a member company,” emphasized Dr. Karl Weick, Knowledge Factory Germany project director, in his speech.

Education authority director Johannes Barfuß, responsible for the Coburg district, added: “We are very grateful to Brose for this generous donation which helps make teaching science even more interesting and illustrative.”

As part of the project, the Coburg education authority and the city's office of education coordinate continuing education seminars for selected teachers who then pass on what they have learned to their colleagues at the remaining elementary schools in experimental procedures.

This regional campaign is based on the Knowledge Factory Germany initiative. It was founded in 2005 and joins together more than 70 companies that want to strengthen Germany as a home for business. With “Promote and share knowledge” as its slogan, the initiative is active throughout Germany in education projects, particularly in cooperation with kindergartens and elementary schools where children already begin to learn and develop skills at an early age that prepare them for their future careers. This also includes carefully preparing the future generation for dealing with issues in science and technology.

In addition to the “experimental kit” project, Knowledge Factory Germany is also active across the country with other technical and scientific campaigns such as “KiTec – Kinder entdecken Technik” (KiTec – Kids discover technology) and “NaWi – geht das?” (Natural science – how does that work?) and is planning further cooperations in education. In light of this, Brose is currently examining the possibility of supporting the initiative on a long-term basis as a member company.