Listen, guess, explore – schoolchildren discover the microbial world

240 schoolchildren enjoyed the Max Planck Kids' University

The Max Planck Children's University, in cooperation with the Botanical Garden of Marburg University, welcomed 240 guests from the Otto Ubbelohde School and the Elisabeth School in Marburg, as well as the Stiftschule Amöneburg. In two sessions, around 120 students from years 5 and 6 were given an exciting insight into microbial research.

After arriving at the MPI's large lecture hall, the children listened to an exciting presentation by Managing Director Prof Dr Helge Bode. They learned how small microbes are, where they are found, how long they have existed, and how to discover them. Colorful cards were used for lively and enthusiastic voting. Then, accompanied by a team from the Marburg University Botanical Garden, located just a short distance away in the Marburg Lahnberge hills, the children took on the role of researchers and headed out to the grounds. There, they collected leaf samples and bagged and labeled them with the plant names.

When asked what they liked best, the children answered unanimously, "Everything!" They particularly enjoyed the trip to collect samples. "Because we could move around," one child explained. "I thought it was great that we got to visit the botanical garden. We spotted some cool things there," said Ariane, a fifth grader at Otto-Ubbelohde-Schule in Marburg.

Many MPI employees were present at the institute to assist the young researchers in "stamping" the leaf material onto agar plates. Bacterial colonies will grow from the imprint on the culture medium over the next few days. The researchers are particularly interested in colorful bacteria because they often produce exciting active substances. The MPI is researching, among other things, how bacteria, as tiny "masters of combinatorics," use the same simple building blocks to form numerous active substances that form the basis of many of today's antibiotics and other drugs.

"It's important to us to show children how exciting science can be," explains Prof. Bode. "In our presentation, they learn about the importance of microbes for themselves and for our research. In the second part, we ask them to support our research by assisting us in the botanical garden at Marburg University.”

Madita, a fifth-grade student at Stiftsschule Amöneburg, enjoyed the quiz about microbes. "I also liked that we could collect samples and make prints ourselves. I'm excited to see what comes of it later.”

By the time the colonies appear, the children will be back in school. However, they will all receive a photo of their experiment so they can see which bacteria have grown on the leaf they collected. "Children of this age are open-minded and very curious," says Helge Bode. "They are the researchers of tomorrow."

The Max Planck Children's University is open to all schools in the district and beyond. Registration is done by class through the institute's press office. The program is aimed at fifth and sixth graders from all types of schools.

 Up to 120 students from each grade can participate in two sessions on this day. The next date will be announced on the MPI Marburg website in January 2026.