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Main Event 2022

Can students from different parts of the Earth collaborate and utilize experimentation with simple materials and information technologies in education to measure the circumference of the Earth together following the steps of Eratosthenes? For another year, students of the 1st Lyceum of Ellinogermaniki Agogi in collaboration with students from Bloemfontein and the University of the Free State of South Africa calculated the circumference of the Earth, in a discovery 2250 years of activity inextricably linked to the school curriculum.

The live broadcast of the Eratosthenes 2022 experiment was concluded with great success! Students from Greece and South Africa worked together to calculate the circumference of the Earth using simple materials and ICT technologies. The event started with an introduction by Matthaios Koukleris, student of the 2^nd class of the Ellinogermaniki Agogi High School, Manolis Chaniotakis, Physicist from the RnD Department of Ellinogermaniki Agogi and Professor Matie Hoffman from the University of the Free State of South Africa and continued with the measurement of the distance between Pallini and Bloemfontein using both conventional and online maps. After that, at 12.21 (local noon in Bloemfontein) students from South Africa who participated in the event from the premises of the Naval Hill Planetarium in Bloemfontein performed a demonstration measurement of the shadow length of a 1m long vertical stick. Consequently, students from both locations used data that were taken on Thursday the 24^th of October and announced their measurements online. The measurements were were followed by a live calculation of the Earth’s circumference which can be found at the end of this page. Finally, the event was flanked with a presentation about the experimental uncertainties of the measurement of the circumference of the Earth. The enthusiasm of the participating students and professionals was high, as, despite the pandemic crisis they were given the opportunity to participate in this interactive, didactic and collaborative international experience.

You can see the replay of our event here: