Practical science education in remote sensing at the DLR_School_Lab Oberpfaffenhofen

The DLR_School_Lab Oberpfaffenhofen, operated by Germany´s national research center for aeronautics and space (DLR) is a typical extracurricular science lab, its main objective being to attract secondary school students to Mathematics, Informatics, Natural Sciences, and Technology (MINT). It has been developed and operated since 2003 and offers thirteen hands-on experiments for secondary school classes, as well as advanced teacher trainings in physics and geography. Based on the expertise gained in the past eight years with approx. 18,000 students and 2,000 teachers, the concept behind the DLR_School_Lab is described, with special focus on its remote sensing experiments radar, laser, and infrared technology, optical environmental remote sensing, satellite navigation, and earth observation with satellite data. Furthermore, the issue of effectiveness of extracurricular science labs is addressed, as well as their suitability for talent support.