Maximilian Moser – Professor of Physiology at the Medical University of Graz, author, Director of the Human Research Institute – Weiz, Austria

April 17, 2024

The students were already eagerly awaiting what was to come and peered curiously out of the classroom when something unexpected happened: two girls appeared in the hallway, each with an important role at the school: the conflict mediators. They were looking for a student who had gotten into a heated argument with another.

Although only ten years old, they had already learned how to mediate conflicts and were now taking on the two troublemakers. The teacher reports that this team of mediators was very successful whenever they took on a case.

The Feldkirchen Elementary School is led by a team of teachers who are passionate about their work. Following a preliminary meeting two months ago, we launched the first school project in Carinthia with support from Software AG, crowdfunding by Wise on Ice, and a grant from the Kärntner Sparkasse Private Foundation.

A dedicated and friendly camera crew accompanied us to document the project.

Once the commotion had died down a bit, we entered the classroom and set up our beautiful equipment.

The Growth Rings – Biography of a Tree

The students sat in a circle, and I began by telling them about the life story of the larch tree, whose tree slice I had brought with me. The tree’s “fat” and “lean” years were clearly visible, and in conversation with the children, we discussed how these had come about. The students were enthusiastic and later reflected that this had been one of the day’s special highlights.

A white orchid that makes music

After that, a beautiful white orchid that had bloomed by the classroom window took center stage.

The students’ first task was to clean the plant; they did so with dedication and in no time at all, as they were already looking forward to the music.
After it was sparkling clean, we attached the TreeMuse electrodes, and the students waited with great anticipation to hear what music would follow. When the first sounds rang out, there was great excitement and amazement. In fact, the plant played beautifully, and the students were deeply impressed.

Looking back, a refreshingly cheeky student named Max said that he had thought it was all a complete fake, but when he saw how the plant made music and that it stopped immediately when the electrodes were removed, he was convinced that we were really playing genuine plant music.
 

Plant music creates shapes

Now came the most exciting part of the project: visualizing plant music using kyma (Greek for “wave”) figures. We filled one of the kyma bowls with Lycopodium spores, which then arranged themselves into fractal structures in response to the music.
The other dish was then filled with water. The students were eager to be allowed to fill the dishes. This kept them busy for some time as they listened and watched the plant’s movements with fascination.

Afterward, I showed them that we humans in the group can also create such rhythms, and the students first held hands and then placed the plant within the circle of their hands. No sooner had the students’ movements settled than the entire circle began to make music, and kyma patterns emerged from this group.

Can trees make music?

One of the students then asked if trees could make music too, and we went outside to the playground, where there was a beautiful old maple tree, which we fitted with electrodes. Now there was excitement about whether this tree would play as well, and indeed, a more majestic music sounded than with the orchid.

After the students had experimented for some time, they became increasingly eager to try new things and asked if they could put snow (it had snowed that night) on the cymatic plate, which sparked enthusiasm when I allowed it.
After that, small stones were placed on it, which bounced wildly around, and some students said that this had been the most exciting part of the entire project.

Processing the Experience

Since the cold was getting to the children a bit, we then went back into the classroom, where the students shared their experiences in a closing discussion and expressed that they now perceived the plants much more intensely and were quite amazed at how capable plants are.

The film crew said that the project would be ideal for a documentary and promised to check with a major Austrian TV station to see if a documentary project might be possible.

A moving day came to an end, and the children will surely remember this school day for the rest of their lives!

We thank our sponsors:
 

Logo SAGST Foundation
 

Kärntner Sparkasse Private Foundation
 

Wise on Ice

Logo: