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How and what we breathe, they found out in Banská Bystrica 

Our colleagues from the Slovak Environmental Agency, Martin Tršo and the air quality managers for the Banská Bystrica, Žilina and Nitra regions - Nikola Benková, Františka Krajačičová and Lenka Kašická, jointly focused the populair info stand on the air around us in the context of air quality.

In the morning hours, the main participants of the Science Night event in Europa SC were elementary school students. The educational activities were focused on determining lung capacity using a spirometer. With this activity, the students tried a deep breath, which they used to determine their real lung capacity. Afterwards, they discussed with our colleagues what we inhale with every breath, except oxygen, and we don't even realize it. The students learned that pollutants are present in the air and that we breathe them in every day.

In addition to the spirometer, the students also had the opportunity to try out a hygrometer and measure the moisture content of wood with it. They learned how our households pollute the air and how adopting the principles of proper heating can reduce emissions from heating. They learned how long it takes to dry wood, what types of fuel do not belong in a heating system, and they also became familiar with the Ringelmann scale, which is used to determine the darkness of smoke, i.e. the risk of pollution.

A survey was also answered about the sectors that contribute the most to air pollution in Slovakia with dust particles. The children tested their knowledge by completing various knowledge quizzes and information activities.

Visitors (including teachers) learned more about upcoming and ongoing campaigns, such as Go to School on Your Own, Šarkaniáda, and Something Hanging in the Air. The air quality in the Banská Bystrica Region and the main sources of air pollution were presented in more detail. Dust particles were measured using a measuring device throughout the event.

Trma – vrma in Žilina

What can air do? Where does pollution come from? Children, students, and adults sought answers to these and other questions through experiments and didactic games that allowed them to measure, see, and feel the air. They saw it for themselves (and with their own breath) thanks to air quality managers from the Žilina and Trenčín regions, Ivana Fiťmová, Františka Krajačíčová, Petra Baďurová Renčová, and Michal Matúšek.

Visitors tried out various activities focused on air quality at the populair stand in OC MIRAGE and learned more about current trends in ecological heating. Dust particles were measured live using a monitoring device, air cannons were fired, labyrinths and puzzles were solved and air quality in Slovakia was learned. Visitors could learn information about the state of the air, especially in the Žilina region, and how to conveniently monitor it on the web application www.dnesdycham.sk.

Tricky questions in Košice

Air quality managers for the Košice region, Imrich Fekete (SAŽP) and Ján Rudy (KSK), participated in the event for the fourth time. In the company of another 64 scientific stands, they spread awareness about air quality among participants from eastern Slovakia in OC OPTIMA.

Visitors' knowledge of air protection was tested with quizzes and sometimes more, sometimes less tricky questions. The gaps in the participants' knowledge were filled with interesting information, such as a comparison of the size of pollutants. Using technology, they measured the concentration of particulate matter in the air directly on site.

Our colleagues noted an increase in the number of researchers who associate the issue of air quality with the populair stand at the Science Night and did not hide their enthusiasm. Young visitors improve their knowledge year after year and do not hesitate to show us about it.

Researchers in Poprad

During the Science Night in Poprad at OC MAX, visitors at the populair stand could vote in a survey about ways of commuting to school or work, but also about what pollutes the air the most in Slovakia.

Participants were also able to try out different devices and play as researchers. With a hygrometer, they found out how the moisture content of wood is measured, while a dust particle meter showed how pollution can differ in the outdoor and indoor environment, or even when there is increased activity around the stand, thus showing that pollution is always local. A thermal camera brought smiles to faces when trying to measure ambient or body temperature. Our colleague František Luterančík (SAŽP), air quality manager for the Prešov region, explained to the children the reasons why we use these devices and what the individual indicators mean in relation to air cleanliness.

More curious visitors were rewarded for being interested in the topic and setting an example for others. Leaflets and brochures provided additional information about our air, sustainable mobility and heating. When science and knowledge travels to the regions for the community

When science and knowledge travel to the regions for the community

Our colleagues Veronika Basta (Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic), Ladislav Bíro (BBSK) and Miloš Veverka (OZ CEPTA) participated in the Science in the Village event as part of the European Science Night 2025 event. They visited clever children in the elementary school with kindergarten in Lubeník and the elementary school with kindergarten in Jelšava - thus bringing scientific activities, experiments and environmental awareness directly to the heart of Gemer.

Thanks to OZ Equity and Lýdia Šuchová, our colleagues had the opportunity to lecture children about the air. Children and adults could try measuring wood moisture, sorting anthropogenic activities beneficial to the air and those that harm air quality.

Even in an environment with limited material possibilities, science can be accessible, fun and useful. This event reminded us once again that scientific curiosity knows no boundaries – neither social nor geographical. And neither the boundaries of our imagination :)

We would like to thank everyone who participated in the organization of the European Science Night and Science in the Village events, the curious visitors, the management of elementary schools in Lubeník and Jelšava, the YMCA Revúca community center and the local residents for their acceptance, interest, curiosity, openness and energy.