130 children from twelve primary schools in Karlsruhe, Germany, broke the world record by building a ball passing machine with a total length of 68.60 metres made of fischertechnik parts! The much-celebrated, successful attempt by Karlsruhe’s Gartenschule was part of the 9th fischertechnik Day held at primary schools in Karlsruhe and organised by the Karlsruhe technological initiative technika together with fischertechnik.
Ahead of the attempt, pupils from various fischertechnik project groups formed 60 teams of two to three children, each of which built a module for the machine. Teams met in the sports hall of Gartenschule on the fischertechnik Day to present their modules and explain how they work to the four-member jury panel. The judges, Dörte Schäfer from technika, Felix Witzelmaier, fischertechnik Business Development, Philipp Krause, headmaster of Gartenschule, and Dirk Fox from the CyberForum Karlsruhe were impressed by the creativity and diverse methods of transporting the ball from module to module. Following the presentation, the creative young minds had 30 minutes to assemble the individual modules into one long overall machine. When Felix Witzelmaier placed a table tennis ball into the machine, the children, heads of the project groups, and parents watched the ball go from module to module with great excitement until it reached its goal. To ensure everything was in order, the judges personally measured the exact length of the setup with a measuring tape, officially declaring the new world record to the cheers of the 450 or so people in attendance.
In addition to their world record-breaking build, the participating children made further technical discoveries. Several fischertechnik fans from the area attended the event with their creative modules to discuss them and swap experiences.
The organiser technika – Karlsruher Technik-Initiative is a project initiated by the Karlsruhe IT cluster CyberForum association to foster the technical and IT skills of children and young people. In addition to the fischertechnik Day at the primary schools, the project also initiated the STEM Festival, which will be held for the second time this year. technika’s mission is to provide girls and boys with early and sustained access to basic technical and IT skills, to make them interested in these topics and to convey a deeper understanding of the digital, technical world. The association’s members include a total of 151 schools and institutions, including 18 youth clubs, reaching approximately 2,500 children and young people every week.
