We don't want to repeat ourselves in the assignment. At the same time, we know that elementary school students can solve complex technical problems. We want their work to result in a working machine. That's why we have moved the difficulty level up again in the basic round.
This time we came up with an assignment that combined electricity, mechanics and ecology - the task was to build a sorting line. Compared to previous years, we had to prepare more components, which we handed out to those interested in joining the competition at the open days of the SE School of Science and Technology.
In total we gave away over 150 sets of motors, switches, diodes and 3D prints and we got 52 solutions, 3 of which were from girls. And they weren't just any solutions - some involved using paramagnetism, others involved making their own prints on a 3D printer or working on a lathe. Lego or Mercury also made an appearance.
The basic round was won by Damián Štefaňák, whose solution can be seen in the video below:
From the best solvers we selected 10, who were invited to the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Technology and put in front of them another task, this time limited in time. Within 2 hours the contestants had to make a functional sliding/lifting bridge with a light signal. The jury talked to each contestant about their design to see how they understood what they had done. Once again, the committee was impressed with the work the boys and one girl managed to do in 120 minutes on this task
CEZ Group supported us again this year, both by funding the solution kits and by preparing the regional round and awarding the winner of the regional round. The winner was Oliver Jan from Pohůrecká Elementary School, and he and his entire class went to see The Dark Side of the Moon at the Observatory and Planetarium in Č. Budejovice. In addition, we are planning an excursion for all participants of the regional round to TARC Temelín - the training and implementation centre where the metrology department is located.
Thank you to all the contestants for your participation, your involvement gives our contest meaning and shows the possibilities of promoting technology as mentioned at the conference Education Compass
(Mgr. Jaroslav Koreš, Ph.D.)
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