- Innovation
- May 23th, 2018
Students from Corinto School visit the CRI to celebrate Fascination of Plants Day
Within the framework of this day, organized worldwide by The European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO), the Center for Research and Innovation (CRI) received 40 students from the neighboring school to explain the fundamental role of plants in our ecosystem.
Various activities, different countries, one objective: to celebrate along the communities the fascination for the study of plants. This was the goal proposed by The European Plant Science Organization (EPSO) when designating May 18 as the Fascination of Plants Day, an event celebrated around the world by institutions linked to the study of the vegetal world.
This year and for the first time, the Center for Research and Innovation (CRI) of Viña Concha y Toro participated in this celebration, inviting 40 students from Corinto School, neighboring the CRI, to learn more about the importance of plants in the environment.
Students from 5th to 8th grade attended an introductory presentation at the auditorium, which included a presentation about responsible consumption of wine in adults. Later, they were able to tour the center’s facilities, distributed in groups that rotated among the three interactive modules that CRI professionals had prepared specially for them.
The first module focused on the sensory experience of the olfactory descriptors of grapes and wine, carried out by Leslie Moya, Chemical Analyst, in the Agricultural and Enological Laboratory. There, the students were able to smell the different aromas that come off the grapes and that are part of the wine, concentrating on identifying each of the descriptors.
The second activity was held in the Molecular Biology Laboratory, where Rosa Roa and Paulina Arraño, Molecular Biology Analysts, taught the children how to prepare a sample from a vine leaf. The students watched carefully while specialists poured liquid nitrogen on the leaf to freeze and grind it. Then, they saw the elements that are added to the sample for analysis and the equipment capable of processing that information.
The last module was carried out in the agricultural lands of the CRI, where the meteorological station is located. Sebastián Vargas, Project Engineer, explained how the soil, water, plant and atmosphere are related, emphasizing the importance of protecting natural resources for the survival of the plant world.
Felipe Gainza, Researcher in Molecular Biology, gave closure to the activity by thanking the school and the students for the visit and remembering the importance of studying and caring for plants, due to their fundamental role in the ecosystems which we are also a part of. Then, a vitis vinifera plant was given to Maribel Mendoza, a science teacher at the Corinto School, so that the students could plant it, take care of it and watch it grow.
