Grab your passport and get ready to explore a country that's straight out of a fairy tale! Austria has mountains, lakes, interesting history, beautiful cities and fantastic food. It's a great place to visit at any time of year with amazing skiing in winter and plenty of hiking, cycling and watersports in summer.
In this post we'll explore Austria's fascinating history, learn about balancing Ibex and discover the chemistry of the Gugelhupf!
This activity is part of my Around the World in 50 Experiments series. Where will you go next?
Where is Austria?
Austria is located Europe surrounded on all sides by other countries. Germanty and Czechia sit to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west.
Austria doesn't have any coastline, but it does have the Alps, beautiful snow capped mountains that stretch over most of the country.
History
From around 1282 to the end of World War 1 Austria was part of a powerful empire called the Habsburg Empire which ruled lots of countries for 100s of years.
The Emperors and Kings in charge lived in beautiful palaces with magnificent gardens. At the end of World War 1 the Monarchy collapsed and the last Emperor had to step down. The Habsburg Empire was dissolved and several new countries were created, including Austria.
Wildlife
Austria is home to some incredible animals, especially in the Alps.
Marmots - these are squirrels that hibenate through long cold winters and can make whistling noises to warm other marmots about dangers. They are herbivores with a chubby body, rough fur and tail that's about a third of their body length. Marmots are known for digging tunnels underground with multiple chambers and entrances.
Ibex - these are super powered mountain goats with huge curved horns. They can climb very steep rocky cliffs like they're wearing sticky shoes!
Golden Eagles - these are huge birds of prey with large wings and a fan shaped tail. They are mostly found over mountains. the golden eagle is the national bird of Austria.
Deer and Wild Boar - these are common in Austria's many forests. They are omnivores and live in family groups.
Fun Facts about Austria
- Austria is famous for classical music. Mozart was born in Salzburg in 1756. Visitors to Salzburg can visit his house and even walk into the room where he was born.
- One of Austria's most famous dishes is Wiener Schnitzel, which is a thin, breaded and fried piece of meat.
- The Sound of Music movie was filmed in Salzburg.
- Vienna is home to the world's oldest zoo! Tiergarten Schönbrunn was founded in 1752 and is one of the best zoos in the world.
- The snow globe was invented in Austria.
- Austria has over 25,000 lakes!!
- One of Austria's most famous lakes is Grüner See ( Green Lake ). In winter it's dry, but when the snow melts in spring the valley is flooded with crystal clear emerald water.
- Lake Attersee is so clear you can see 25 metres down, buried under the water are the remains of stilt houses fro over 6000 years ago.
- The Grossglockner is the tallest mountain in Austria. The name means Big Bell as the peak looks lik a huge church bell.
- Austria is famous for it's delicious cakes, including the Gugelhupf, which is a bundt syle cake baked in a ring shape.
The Alpine Ibex - Balance STEM Challenge
Ibex are mountain goats with special adaptations that allow them to climb almost vertical terrain and survive extreme temperatures. this simple balancing activity is a fun way to help demonstrate how Ibex manage to climb so well. First let's take a look at some of the adaptations that allow Ibexto thrive in a harsh environment.
- Ibex have special hooves with a hard outer shell that allows them to dig into rock and a flexible inner pad that acts like a suction cup, helping them to balance on small ledges.
- They have thick coats that keep them warm in the cold winter ,onths and are shed for the warmer summers.
- Ibex are very agile. They can jump up to 6 feet high.
- They are great foragers, which helps them survive the cold, harsh winters.
- Female Ibex have smaller, thinner, less curved horns. Both male and female Ibex use thier horns for defence.
This activity shows how adjusting the centre of mass of an object helps it balance!
You'll need
- A bottle with a lid 5 wooden skewers
- 4 Marshmallows or play dough
- A Carrot
Instructions
Cut a small piece of carrot and insert a wooden skewer approximately 2 inches long into the bottom. Most of the skewer should be outside the carrot.
Attach the card Ibex - optional.
Place the skewer on the top of the bottle, it will fall over.
Push the pointed end of two skewers into opposite sides of the carrot, and push a marshmallow onto the end of both.
Place the carrot onto the bottle lid. It should now balance!
Add two more marshmallow skewers to the carrot and see if it still balances. Experiment by moving the marshmallows up and down the skewers.
Why does it work
The carrot ( Ibex ) stays balanced when its centre of mass is directly above the skewer. Gravity pulls downwards, and if the centre of mass isn’t lined up over the skewer at the bottom, it creates a turning force that tips the carrot over.
Ibex STEM Challenge Instruction Sheet
The Science of the Gugelhupf
The Gugelhupf is a delicious cake with a lot of science behind it. It's quite a big, dense cake thanks to the butter and eggs. In a normal cake pan the outside would burn before the middle was cooked.
To get around this, bundt tins have a hole in the middle which allows hot air to flow through the centre of the cake, cooking the inside and outside at the same time.
Traditional Austrian Gugelhupf cakes contain yeast which release carbon dioxide, the bubble of gas get trapped in the dough, giving a fluffy texture.
Finally, the outside of the cake is brown while the inside is yellow, this is because of the Maillard reaction. When the cakes is heated the sugars and proteins react together to give the lovely brown colour we associate with cakes.
Bake your own Gugelhupf cake as a fun kitchen science activity.
Last Updated on March 13, 2026 by Emma Vanstone
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