ERASMUS+

"Energy Storage and Alternative Energy"

2017-1-DK01-ΚΑ219-034248-4”
Meeting In Denmark 5-9 February 2018

Taking part in the Erasmus project offered us the opportunity to visit the incredible
capital city of Denmark, Copenhagen. During our stay there we met some amazing people with
whom we created strong bonds and great memories. We also got to experience their culture in
person but the most important part is the knowledge we gained regarding energy storage, which
included capacitors, wind turbines, solar and fuel cells.

To begin with, the greek team arrived in Denmark at 4:10 pm on Sunday, the 4th of
February. We were welcomed by our hosting families and after some quality time with them, we
met up with the other participants of the program to get to know each other. The following day,
Monday, students and teachers both gathered at the school at 8 am. The headmistress and the
coordinator of the project Mikkel Max, welcomed and introduced everyone to all the
assignments we would have to complete. Before we wrote reports on certain experiments we
would have to perform later on the week, the Danish students gave us a tour around the building.

Around 3 pm, we visited the European Commission, walked around the centre of Copenhagen
and finally the students gathered again.
 Additionally, on Tuesday we visited a part of the Technical University of Denmark and
we performed the IPHO experiment from the Olympiad 2013:

(​http://ipho.org/problems-and-solutions/2013/IPhO2013_E2_solution.pdf​,
http://ipho.org/problems-and-solutions/2013/ipho2013-experimental-problem-2.pdf​)
The next day, we visited another part of the university and had a closer look at the wind turbines
and the way they work. Two experts there informed us on the new techniques used in order to
minimize noise.

Afterwards, there was a presentation on energy storage and later on we interviewed some of the
university’s professors about fuel and solar cells, wind energy and energy storage. We presented
the information we gathered to teachers and the rest of the students.

In the afternoon, we payed a visit to the Experimentarium, or the so called ‘Physics Playground’
and we performed a variety of fun and interesting activities concerning physics.
On Thursday we went back to school to finish the experimental part of the assignments we were
given on Monday. All the students participating were divided into three big groups, a Chemistry,
an Electricity and a Mechanics one.

The Chemistry group worked with batteries. They tried to make their own batteries and they did
some measurements. However, they had some difficulties during the process which helped them
understand how complicated and difficult their manufacture is.

The Electricity group worked with capacitors. They made their own capacitors out of paper and
aluminium foil in a water and baking soda solution. The group did some measurements with
amperometers, voltmeters and an led light as well and the capacitors actually worked and stored
a certain amount of energy.
The Mechanics group performed an experiment with water, pullies and thread.

We had some free time and then we gathered again for some dinner and the party.

The next day, Friday, was spent at school, where all the students of the programme presented
their work throughout the week to the second graders of the school.
Then, we officially ended the program and later in the afternoon, we gathered one last time at a
student’s house to say our goodbyes.

On our last day in Copenhagen, the greek team went sightseeing, and we visited some of
Denmark’s most famous sights such as The Little Mermaid, the Queen’s Palace, the New
Harbour and the Marble Church.
Unfortunately, as every good thing has to come to an end, on Sunday we left Copenhagen and
flew back to Athens. We spent the night there, and the next morning we headed to the airport
again and at last landed back home.

To conclude, our visit in Denmark was one of the most unforgettable experiences we
ever had. We obtained social skills, were taught how to adapt to different lifestyles and got
introduced to a new way of life.
We are grateful for what the Erasmus+ project has offered us and we wish we would have
another chance like this, to create such incredible memories and strong bonds with people from
every side of the world.

The greek team

Elena Paraskevopoulou
Afroditi Chlapani
Charalampos Parvantonis
Alexandros Gialousis
Stamatia Arvanitaki
Chrysanthi Syri

Article written by:

Elena Paraskevopoulou
Afroditi Chlapani