With the ambition to get students to experience the merits and joy of being physically active while learning STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) contents, cosinuss° developed an in-ear sensor specifically for swimming purposes. Having tackled the challenges of getting the sensor waterproof, transmitting data while swimming as well as adapting algorithms to the complex movements of swimming, cosinuss° had everything prepared to finally go to schools and spread the idea of the STEM on the move project.
After months of preparation and close collaboration with the IES Josep Miquel Guàrdia high school in Menorca (Spain), the cosinuss° team was finally ready to pack their suitcases to cross the sea for organizing a swimming day with the Menorcan students. For this purpose, cosinuss° not only sent their own team, namely Shabnam, Katharina, Clara and Fiona but also the exercise biologist and triathlon coach Dr. Martin Schönfelder who is a lecturer at the TUM, to assist in teaching STEM contents as well as the swim training.
The cosinuss° team arrived at the IES high school in the early morning of the 26th of April. In front of 40 students, they started with a presentation of the STEM on the move project, followed by a lecture held by Martin about the science and biology behind swimming activities.
After that, cosinuss° conducted a workshop with their in-ear sensors. In different situations such as sitting, walking and jumping intensely, the students could observe changes in their heart rate, body core temperature as well as SpO2 values displayed in the LabApp on their phones. With great enthusiasm, the students investigated changes in vital signs, even sprinting around the classroom trying to raise their heart rate as much as possible.
The following swim training was organized at the swimming pool in Alaior in four stations supervised by the cosinuss° team. The students were separated into groups and rotated the stations after 20 minutes each. For the “diving”, “speed intervals” and “push-off” stations, students wore a cosinuss° sensor for visualizing their vital parameters in real-time but also for recording their vital signs as well as acceleration data. Martin supervised the fourth station, putting the focus on the swimming skills of the students and correcting them individually. A fun competition between the groups was putting the finishing touch to the swimming day.
In total, the whole swimming day in Menorca was a complete success! Arriving back in Munich, the cosinuss° team immediately prepared a follow-up meeting via zoom with the IES school to present the data collected while swimming. Together with the students, the team analyzed the vital parameters and acceleration data, thereby explaining the science behind the experiences the students gained while swimming in the pool just one week prior to that. cosinuss° is confident that at least in the IES high school in Menorca the foundations for further classes in the sense of STEM on the move will take place, knowing that the students are already very much looking forward to it.
