Students Explore the World Beneath Their Feet During GeoWeek
Each year during GeoWeek, students aged 10 to 15 get the opportunity to explore the exciting world of geo-sciences. Across the Netherlands, they participate in fieldwork, visit companies, or attend guest lectures given by professionals from the soil, water, and geo-information sectors. The focus of the week is on hands-on learning — from drilling soil samples and creating digital maps to testing the strength of dikes.
As part of this initiative, we had the pleasure of hosting two classes for special sessions: a second-year pre-university class (2 VWO) from Veurs Lyceum and a third-year class (3 VWO) from Bonaventura Lyceum. Each visit began with a mini-lecture on geothermal energy and underground heat storage, delivered by Carlijn Hes and Mathias Torres Ruhe, two student board members of Stichting DAP.
Following the lecture, the students worked in teams on experiments to determine the permeability and porosity of sand(stone). Using these values, they calculated when temperature changes would become visible in a scale model of a geothermal doublet, a system consisting of two wells that are used to extract geothermal heat from the subsurface using a model specially designed by Marc Friebel and Alexis Koulidis. The team with the most accurate prediction won a prize!
GeoWeek proved to be both educational and inspiring — not just for the students, but also for the professionals who shared their expertise with such enthusiasm. Together, we’re sparking curiosity and building the next generation of geo-specialists.
PUSH-IT is a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101096566.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
