During the Saturday lesson, class C2 had some remarkable guests. Pupils were able to ‘meet in person’ three Polish Nobel Prize laureates – Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Wisława Szymborska and Olga Tokarczuk – who came to the school in costume and with props.
Three Nobel laureates, three different paths
On her way to catch a train to the Sorbonne, Maria Skłodowska-Curie stopped for a short rest at the Polish school and took the opportunity to show the children her most important discoveries. She is the only person to have been awarded the Nobel Prize in two different fields of science – physics in 1903 and chemistry in 1911. The element polonium, discovered by the Curies, was named in honour of Poland.
Wisława Szymborska, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996, impressed everyone with her seven languages. Olga Tokarczuk, awarded the prize for 2018, had a wonderful rapport with the children and invited everyone to Lower Silesia – the region with which the writer has been associated for many years. All three heroines proved wonderful, and at the same time very different.
A poem, X-rays and experiments
Inspired by the meeting, the pupils composed a poem together and made their own ‘X-rays’ – skeletons drawn in white chalk on black paper. The classroom also featured a model skeleton and a periodic table with highlighted elements – radium, polonium and uranium – as well as a book about Maria Skłodowska-Curie.
X-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Röntgen, but the story of Maria Skłodowska-Curie is also linked to their use: during the First World War, the scientist organised mobile X-ray units that helped doctors treat wounded soldiers.
But that was not all – the experimenting moved into the classroom, where the children watched experiments with coloured liquid at close quarters. There was no end of joy – it was a wonderful day. More photos can be seen in the gallery.
