Primary school children conduct research on humour
Pupils in grades 5 and 6 playfully contribute to scientific research
From May 13 to 24, the educational programme True or False? was carried out for a second time. True or False? was developed by the Utrecht Young Academy and Wetenschapsknooppunt Utrecht with the aim of bringing scientific research closer to primary school children.
Following the success of the first edition in November, it was decided the programme would be expanded to more schools within the Utrecht province. For the Parkschool in Utrecht-city, this was their first time participating. On Friday May 24th, the school was visited by an instructor from the Wetenschapsknooppunt, accompanied by a yellow suitcase and the question: "Does laughing make you more creative?"
What followed was an afternoon full of discoveries. The pupils set up their own research project. Using the tools provided by the yellow suitcase, the pupils had to make each other laugh so they could find out if they had really become more creative. By conducting the research themselves, the children get to see how interesting scientific research can be. Aside from laughing, the pupils also learned.
Surplus value
The research question the children tackled is based on the humour research of UYA member Madelijn Strick. This way, the children's research projects end up contributing to actual scientific research. Wetenschapsknooppunt will continue running the program for the next two years, each time based on the research project of a different UYA member. For more information on the activities of UYA, visit our website.