PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Science on the Move
SimplyScience School Class Competition
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
INTRODUCTION
SimplyScience proudly introduces a special nation-wide science competition intended for school classes at Secondary Level (Gymnasium). The project, intended to inspire interest in life sciences for a broad spectrum of pupils is noteworthy for its extraordinary top prize for the winning class to spend a science day in Basel and one week in California, with their teacher. The concept and content for this competition have been developed by a special project team as part of SimplyScience.
SimplyScience is an internet platform www.simplyscience.ch. It offers a lot of interesting and astounding information on natural sciences and consolidates a range of other commitments to motivate young people for science and technology.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this competition is to identify the class with the greatest dedication and greatest commitment in the subjects of Biology / Science (e.g. basic science subject Biology, special subject Biology-Chemistry, complementary option Biology etc.) through a two phase competition.
In the first, practical phase, the goal is to conduct classical biological experiments and to discuss the results. In contrast, the second phase of the competition calls for different capabilities. In a brief five-minute live presentation, the top 10 classes will illustrate the experiences they had while conducting the experiments. What highs and lows did they go through? What made them satisfied or glad? What stressed or baffled them? How did they experience teamwork while experimenting? How did they organize themselves? How did their parents, their teachers and the school administration react to their activities? How were they able to motivate the whole class? How can they correlate these experiences with the title of the competition “Science on the Move”?
TARGET AUDIENCE
For once, this is not a competition that seeks individual pupils with distinct strengths in natural sciences (for example: the Science Olympics). Instead the entire class shall compete. Good organisation, clever division of tasks, strong communication in the group and mutual support are all indispensable aspects in order to do well in this competition. People with different strengths should be able to contribute. Apart from performing the experiments, other skills such as preparing layouts, translating, and doing research, for example, are also expected.
This competition is intended for public school classes at Secondary Level (Gymnasium) in all regions of Switzerland. All competition correspondence will be in English - the language in which scientists communicate and publish around the globe.
TEACHER INVOLVEMENT
Participants in this competition are exclusively pupils in the participating classes but not their teachers. Teachers can, of course,provide logistical support to their classes; this is even desirable, especially for Phase 2. It is, however, explicitly forbidden for teachers themselves to get involved in solving the experiments in Phase 1. In order to enforce this requirement of the competition, a signed statement by the respective teacher and the class team leader must be submitted. Their signatures will confirm that they will comply with these rules.
With the number of participating classes limited to 40, the goal is also to have classes from all linguistic regions of Switzerland participate.
ORGANIZATION
Each class will select its team leader from among the pupils and a substitute. These individuals will be the contacts for the “Science on the Move” organizers. Contact information for the attending teachers is also requested in order to offer assistance in case of any competition questions or problems (see registration form attached).
PHASE 1
Challenge
In the first phase, three different experiments will be issued for the participating classes; one experiment assignment will be published every three weeks on www.simplyscience.ch beginning in February 2011.
Each of the three experiments contains 5 questions or tasks to be solved or answered. Based on this particular section, multiple hypotheses should be considered, examined and discussed, and smaller problems must also be solved. The expected scope of the solutions will be provided for each experiment. In general, short answers are preferred rather than lengthy essays. The solutions and documenting material must be mailed as a single PDF according to a time schedule of 3 weeks for eligibility.
Please note, there is an assumption that each school can take photographs through the microscope. It is advised that teachers support the pupils, as required, in handling these instruments.
On the designated form (Activity List) each class needs to report which member was or is responsible for which portion or aspect of the work. Each pupil should be assigned a number on the table provided. Each person in the class must have participated at least once (during the entire competition) in the experimental portion.
The PDF of the solutions and documentations should include:
- Responses to the 5 tasks
- Activity List
- Photo documentation (10 digital photos showing the full class involvement)
Scoring
All eligible submissions received on time will be reviewed and scored quickly by the Project Team. It is the Project Team’s task to determine the top 10 classes.
A maximum of 10 points is awarded for each experiment. Each question/task (1-5) is rated with a maximum of 2 points each.
All participating classes will be notified on 16th May whether they are among the 10 top-rated. At this point, the best ten classes will be expected to compete again in the final (second) round, in order to achieve the maximum number of points needed to win.
PHASE 2
Final
Only the 10 top-rated classes will proceed to the second part of the competition which is organized very differently. For this, the individual classes will each have 5 minutes assigned for presentation on 10th June 2011. How this time is used is up to the individual class. The objective is for pupils to link their experiences during the first phase of the competition as imaginatively and convincingly as possible with the subject of the competition “Science on the Move”.
Teams will be encouraged to be creative!
Music, literature, poetry slam, a discussion theatre, show, or straight forward presentation… anything goes. However, personal delivery is required. Homemade videos are welcome, but may only be a part of the presentation. It is up to the class to determine how many people from their class will participate on stage during Phase 2. The presentations will be judged by a specially assembled expert jury consisting of 5 people representing science, industry and teaching. They will judge the presentations according to the aspects outlined below.
Criteria
Content, relevance to the issue (Is the presentation directly connected with the issue? Are the aspects addressed
relevant?)
Creativity, depth, level (Did the presentation engage? Is it ingenious? Is it thoughtful? Was it thought-provoking?)
Persuasive power, enthusiasm, dedication (How convincing was the presentation? How much passion and dedication is exhibited? How strong a will to win this competition as a team is apparent?)
PRIZES
The first prize is a science day in Basel and a week-long trip to the Bay Area, California with a varied and exciting program reflecting the subject of science. The winning class will visit state-of-the-art businesses and colleges, famous science museums and of course get to see the city of San Francisco. Each day, the class will write a brief blog to be published via SimplyScience.ch.
2nd to 10th prizes are also attractive. Classes winning second and third place will enjoy a one-day visit for the entire class to Roche in Basel. Further, all pupils in 2nd through 10th ranked classes will win an attractive iPod device as well as their teacher and classroom entitled to receive the well-known Genetics Education Experimental suitcase and enrol in the complementary Teacher Workshop.
All participants in the final phase will also receive a certificate to affirm their participation in "Science on the Move“.
REMINDER
All participants entering this competition should recognize that it presents a certain amount of additional effort, on top of everyday school work. However, this experience is primarily intended to enrich learning and be fun! A hotline is available for support in case of ambiguities or questions.
We are looking forward to an interesting encounter with pupils and hope they have success in answering the questions.
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TIMELINE
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Competition invitation posted on SimplyScience: |
Nov 18, 2010 |
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Application deadline: |
Jan 14, 2011 |
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Phase 1 - Challenge |
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Start Experiment 1: |
Feb 28, 2011 |
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Start Experiment 2: |
March 21, 2011 |
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Start Experiment 3: |
April 04, 2011 |
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Closing date (submission of experiment 3 results): |
May 02, 2011 |
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Selection of the top 10 classes: |
May 13, 2011 |
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Phase 2 - Final |
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Announcement of the top 10 classes: |
May 16, 2011 |
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Final presentation and winner selection: |
June 10, 2011 |
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Publication of winners (web and e-mail): |
June 13, 2011 |
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Trip to California: |
Sept 17-24, 2011 |
QUESTIONS
If you have any questions, please contact:
Hotline SimplyScience:
Tel: +41 44 368 17 46 (Mo-FR 9 am - 5 pm)
Mail: scienceonthemove@simplyscience.ch
Thomas Flüeler
ADDITIONAL TERMS & CONDITIONS
Eligible for the competition are Swiss residents. Application to the competition is only possible together with fellow students as whole class. Only classes enrolled in the 10th or 11th schoolyear at a swiss public school are eligible for the competition. Employees of SimplyScience, members of the jury or the project team, as well as their relatives, are not eligible for the competition. If a non-eligible person is affiliated with an applicant school, this will lead to the non-eligibility of the whole school.
Any recourse to courts of law is excluded.
There will be no correspondence concerning the competition. Winning classes will be informed directly by SimplyScience.
The exchange of prizes for cash or any other prize is not possible.
SimplyScience is allowed to publish the names and pictures of all participating classes in print media or on the internet.
By applying for this competition, each applying person agrees to the terms and conditions stated above.
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FIND HERE ALL PDF FILES ABOUT PROJECT DESCRIPTION, PROJECT SUMMARY AND APPLICATION FORM:
Project Description
Project Summary
Application
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