Geopiste offers various activities for students in lower and upper secondary schools all over Finland. Through our operation we want to stress the importance of geography and geosciences today. Geography traverses many disciplines and understanding complex connections is central for preventing and managing phenomena such as climate change, water scarcity and various types of inequalities. By emphasizing the importance of being connected to the time we live in and to the ground we stand on we want to help young people get to know their own geographies. This feeling of co-belonging to Earth will be a requisite for dealing with the multifaceted problems of the Anthropocene and if we want to consider alternative futures.
Through a strong collaboration with the staff at the Department of Geosciences and Geography, we offer interesting, current, and versatile activities and materials that give something extra to the regular school education. See our range of activities below and join us to explore and marvel at the world!
Our study visits are designed to inspire students with hands-on activities, expand their understanding of key geographical research areas, and demonstrate how geographical thinking can be applied in practice. We offer four thematic visits that showcase the diversity of geography and geosciences by exploring:
You can read more about each theme on Geopiste’s Finnish website.
In addition to the main activity that is specific to the theme (75-90 min), we are also happy to tell your group about geography and geosciences as disciplines (15 min) or how it is to study geography/geosciences at the University of Helsinki (15 min). On our campus tour (15 min), students get to know three buildings located at Kumpula Campus: Exactum, Physicum and Chemicum.
The main target group for study visits is upper secondary school, but we also welcome groups from grades 7-9.
Our study visits are free of charge.
Start preparing your study visit well in advance – the booking must be made at least two weeks before the visit. Reservations are made through the shared booking calendar, where you can select a thematic package, presentations, and whether you want to visit us in person at Kumpula or participate remotely. The calendar calculates the duration of your study visit and sends an automated message confirming whether your reservation was successful. About two weeks before the visit, a staff member will send you an email with more practical information.
Please note that our study-visit are currently only available in Finnish (materials also in Swedish). If you want to visit us in English, please email us at geopiste@helsinki.fi. We’ll then try to arrange an English-speaking supervisor to guide your group, either online or on Kumpula Campus.
In our material bank, you will find teaching materials that have been developed by researchers, university teachers and students, for example in connection with research, as coursework or as part of the master's dissertation. The materials are currently available only in Finnish or Swedish.
Geopiste borrows various tools that can be used for field work and in teaching. Our tools include drills for soil tests, IR thermometers, noise sensors, anemometers, a water analyzer and more. Check out all our tools and the borrowing policy on the common page for borrowing tools, link below.
Besides our formal science education for school groups, Geopiste also offers a range of informal learning opportunities for children and young people. For example we help run interdisciplinary summer camps at Kumpula Campus and host hands-on workshops at public science events such as the Night of Science.
The science class for Geography and Geosciences is located in the Physicum building on Kumpula Campus (Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2, Helsinki). Contact us by e-mail (geopiste[a]helsinki.fi) or regular mail (Geopiste, PL 64, 00014, University of Helsinki).