Geopiste offers various activities for students in lower and upper secondary schools all over Finland. Through our operation we want to stress the importance of geography and geosciences today. Geography traverses many disciplines and understanding complex connections is central for preventing and managing phenomena such as climate change, water scarcity and various types of inequalities. By emphasizing the importance of being connected to the time we live in and to the ground we stand on we want to help young people get to know their own geographies. This feeling of co-belonging to Earth will be a requisite for dealing with the multifaceted problems of the Anthropocene and if we want to consider alternative futures.
Through a strong collaboration with the staff at the Department of Geosciences and Geography, we offer interesting, current, and versatile activities and materials that give something extra to the regular school education. See our range of activities below and join us to explore and marvel at the world!
The four themes for our study visits gives a glimpse of the versatility of geography and geosciences by dealing with three complex issues: 1) The occurrences of earthquakes and their spatial impact, 2) Changes in land use and water scarcity at the Taita Mountains in Kenya, 3) More-than-human relations in a changing world and, 4) Beyond concrete: exploring urban geography. The aims of the study visits are to inspire the students through interesting activities, to broaden their knowledge of the theme area and to show how geographical thinking and knowledge can be applied in practice. In two of the themes students also get familiar with geographic information systems, a commonly used tool for geographers. You can read more about these study visits on Geopiste’s Finnish webpages.
In addition to the main activity that is specific to the theme (75 min), we are also happy to tell your group about geography and geosciences as disciplines (15 min) or how it is to study geography/geosciences at the University of Helsinki and about career opportunities (15 min). On our campus tour (10–20 min), students get to know the three buildings located at Kumpula Campus: Exactum, Physicum and Chemicum.
Geopiste arranges study visits live on campus or, through the means of video communication, virtually in your own classroom. The main target group for study visits is upper secondary school, but we also welcome groups from grades 7-9. Our study visits are free of charge. Note that you can also visit our other science classes during the same visit if you have more time at your disposal!
Start preparing your study visit well in advance. The booking must be made at least two weeks before the visit. Familiarize yourself with our range of programs and consider the goal of your visit. Then include the programs that best suits your needs. Make sure that you have reserved enough time for your study visit, the approximate length of the various activities can be found in the description above.
Unfortunately, the materials of the study visits are not currently available in English, but if you wish, the presentations about geography and geosciences, about student life and the tour of Kumpula Campus can be arranged. We are also open to arrange some other activities in English. For visits in English, we only accept bookings via e-mail (geopiste@helsinki.fi), we then try to find an English-speaking supervisor who can guide your study visit either virtually or on Kumpula Campus.
In our material bank, you will find teaching materials that have been developed by researchers, university teachers and students, for example in connection with research, as coursework or as part of the master's dissertation. The materials are currently available only in Finnish or Swedish.
Geopiste borrows various tools that can be used for field work and in teaching. Our tools include drills for soil tests, IR thermometers, noise sensors, anemometers, a water analyzer and more. Check out all our tools and the borrowing policy on the common page for borrowing tools, link below.
In addition to activities related to more formal forms of science education, Geopiste also participates in arranging various leisure activities. In 2022 we offer interdisciplinary summer camps for children aged 10-12 (9-13). More information about these camps and the virtual camp from 2021 can be found on the camp pages in Finnish.
The science class for Geography and Geosciences is located in the Physicum building on Kumpula Campus (Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2, Helsinki). Contact us by e-mail (geopiste [a] helsinki.fi) or regular mail (Geopiste, PL 64, 00014, University of Helsinki).