Science Festival

The Science Festival is an event that has been organized for many years by the Nikola Tesla Technical Museum under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Education, the City of Zagreb, and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia. Its goal is to bring science closer to the public through lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and other interactive content, with this year's theme being Networks. The Krapina Neanderthal Museum once again joined the Festival program on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, through an organized visit to the museum, a presentation, and an educational workshop for sixth-grade students of the Ljudevit Gaj Elementary School in Krapina, accompanied by science teacher Marija Markovina.

The network of galaxies or the cosmic network is the largest structure in the universe, and the Milky Way is just one of billions of galaxies within that network. Our Solar System, as part of the Milky Way galaxy, is connected to this vast cosmic network.

The sixth graders first visited the Krapina Neanderthal Museum and watched a short film as part of the permanent exhibition, Animation of Cosmic Evolution, with the help of which they could see how the universe was created, what the term Big Bang means, and what are the basic phases of the expansion and development of the Universe.

After that, they participated in an educational workshop in which they made spatial models of the Solar System showing the planets and their position in relation to the Sun. The goal of this activity was to provide a better understanding of the sizes of the planets and the scale in the Solar System, as well as to encourage the development of collaborative and creative skills. During the activity, the students worked in pairs using different materials (cardboard, paper, sticks, crayons). In this way, they gained a visual and practical insight into the structure and arrangement of the planets within the Solar System, while also developing team spirit and creativity. Making models proved to be an excellent method of learning through work and play. The students showed great interest and motivation, and they were able to take the finished models home.

The workshop was designed and led by museum educator Mirjana Biljan.