Below we present the winners of the competitions organised within the 2020 STEM Discovery Campaign. You can find a brief description of each of the competitions and the names of the winners with a short summary of their winning entries. The 2020 STEM Discovery Campaign took place, mostly online, from the beginning of February until the end of April and gathered more than 89,300 educators, parents, industry representatives, policymakers and pupils from 7,700 schools who participated in 610 activities all across the world. You can find more information about the campaign here.
Scientix organised two competitions this year: the first competition invited participants to organise (online) activities that promote STEM in the context of any STEM subject in class or share their experience and tips regarding remote teaching on the STEM Discovery Campaign Blog. The second Scientix competition encouraged participants to plan activities based on resources available in the Scientix Resource Repository. For inspiration on how you can make your STEM teaching more engaging, and more information on the winning activities, you can still visit the blog here: http://sdc-blog.eun.org/
Me the A.I #2.0: Artificial Intelligence Activity
Georgia Lascaris
This STEM activity was one of the various activities of the European eTwinning project “ME THE A.I 2.0” held in cooperation between Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Lithuania, Spain, Latvia, Cyprus, and Italy. The project started in September 2019. It aims to introduce students with the basics of Artificial Intelligence through various activities and, more specifically, make them:
- Realize how AI works, the range of possible AI uses, and its limitations.
- Reflect on the ethical issues raised by AI (stereotypes, biases, personal data).
- Explore how it can help humans with solving the world’s biggest challenges.
Distance teaching of Physics: peer teaching on wave phenomena
Enrica Maragliano
“Distance teaching of Physics: peer teaching on wave phenomena” activity was a distance teaching experience in Physics with an experimental and peer learning approach. Because of Coronavirus, Enrica Maragliano and her students suddenly had to stop their school routine and stay at home rethinking their teaching and learning process.
The advantages and disadvantages of Nuclear Energy: The Chernobyl disaster-Never again!
Stella Magid-Podolsky
“The advantages and disadvantages of Nuclear Energy: The Chernobyl disaster-Never again!” was a long term activity which took place from the end of February till the 26th of April (the date when the Chernobyl disaster had occurred 34 years ago). The author, Stella Magid-Podolsky, did this activity with her 8th grade students during STEM lessons when her students began to learn the topic of alternative sources of Energy. The activity was divided into two parts. The first part of the activity took place at the school (that was before the Covid-19 outbreak). The second part of the activity began during the quarantine period, so it was held in the form of digital remote learning.
Do we really need nuclear power plants?
Mladen Sljivovic
“Why do I like games in the classroom and why do I hate them at the same time? Well, to start with, games are fun, they keep your mind focused, and are something students will always remember. On the other hand, there are not so many STEM games that are just perfect for the class, and most of them rather focus on completely other things than STEM. What we mostly forget is that STEM lessons should have educational values on the first place, and at the same time be fun and motivating. So when I discovered Android game Nuclear INC 2 you can only guess how excited I was.” says Mladen Sljivovic, the author of this activity.
Be safe on the roads with STEM
Stavroula Skiada
This STEM activity is one of the various activities of the European eTwinning project “STEM On Board” between Greece, Turkey, Lithuania and Republic of Moldova. The project started in September 2019 and the activity in February 2020. It aims to introduce students to computational thinking and teach them how to proceed from conceiving a concept to creating the right algorithm and planning the construction.
A New Balance
Daniele Brioschi
We made this video to involve our students and colleagues in a new challenge, “how can science help us find a new balance in these troubled times?”. The goal was to experiment with the concept of balance by producing imaginative structures.
A STEM and IBSL activity on enzymes: Studying gas-evolving enzymatic reactions by measuring produced gas volume
Georgios Chatzigeorgiou
The teaching approach of this activity replaced the typical “dry” theory-repetitive presentation of this subject in the class with inquiry-based learning, including a hands-on experience in the lab with a strong visual stimulus. In the first implementation, 15 students participated (most of them girls) who showed great interest in the way the STEM fields of Biology and Chemistry were explored with this activity.
Success story about distance learning
Rigonda Skorulskiene
During the pandemic, most of the schools in the whole world were closed. That meant most of the school communities had to take difficult and snap decisions. One of them is moving everything to virtual platforms, nearly overnight. “I am proud of my school‘s community and want to share our great experience and how we managed to survive this transition. In short, teachers and students are proud of our distance learning methods. After receiving the results of questionnaires, we noticed that nearly 75% of 368 students‘ parents evaluated us very positively too.” says Rigonda Skorulskiene, the author of this blog entry.
Improve student Learning with STEM Challenges related to SDGs
Zeynep Ceren Çiftsüren
The lockdown can be a great opportunity for teaching Global Issues and SDGs which students did not find too much interesting. It’s a good opportunity for them to learn what’s happening to our world. This activity gathered a collection of STEM engineering challenges related to SDGs that are fun and engaging, and that also make use of recycled or inexpensive materials. These hands-on, problem-solving challenges will put pupils’ thinking and design skills to the test!
Our interesting STEM journey
Daniela Lungoci
STEM education is based on four important pillars: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The interesting and diverse activities are excellent opportunities to foster the development of a healthy and innovative mindset, to train students, and to inspire tomorrow’s inventors. This activity is a quick overview for any teacher who is interested in trying the STEM approach in the classroom. Giving children the opportunity for STEM education is a chance for a better future!
Computer science week
Georgina Dimova
Computer Science Week was an event organized in primary schools to:
- increase students’ interest in studying Computer Science and coding,
- improve their knowledge in coding,
- involve younger students into coding through playful unplugged activities,
- teach students how to stay safe online and be good online friend
Science lab at home
Vesela Todorova
Inspired by the STEM Discovery Campaign 2020, during the period between 16 – 22 April 2020 Vesela Todorova organised several activities combining scientific method, inquire- based learning and project-based learning.
Exoplanet chemistry
Costica Voinea-Axinte
Mathematics teacher Voinea-Axinte Costica, physics teacher Burduja Dinu and professor of chemistry Surdu Lucian conducted an activity with the main objective of motivating the students of the ninth and tenth grades to study the concepts of mathematics, physics or chemistry starting from a pretext common to all of us – the starry sky – ASTRONOMY. Use of the concept of “cosmic space”, as a creative context, to stimulate the motivation of the students for the knowledge and study of STEM disciplines.
UNplasticize
Honorata Pereira
This project aimed to make students aware of the amount of (micro) plastics present in essential goods of common use. Thus, the students investigated the microplastics present in personal hygiene products, in their clothes, in the washing waters of their clothes and in the waters of the beach. They also assessed the amount of waste they produce at home, as well as the main waste from local industries. Finally, students were invited to present solutions to minimize the impact of waste and plastic on the environment.
The Catapult Challenge
Camelia Timofte
A STEAM mission-based activity about catapults. The activity was designed as a mission-based learning task whilst students designed collaboratively a catapult. There were 2 stages:
- Theoretical stage – research/role play mission to be accomplished
- Practical stage – designing a catapult to accomplish the challenge aims
STEM Workshops
Şerife Takmaz
The purpose of this activity was to inspire students with a sense of curiosity. In addition, it aimed to encourage them to develop critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, cooperation and digital skills at an early age and gain a sense of responsibility. 26 students from 9 to 10 years old attended the event. Of the 26 students, 14 were girls and 12 boys. The activities were carried out in classrooms and also in Konya Science Center. All the events took place between 3 – 7 February 2020.
Learning Trades with Bees
Carmen Diez
International concern to develop sustainability on Planet Earth challenges us to remember the importance of biodiversity. A family workshop was organised to discover the importance of bees, to experience real and virtual, and to learn professions with bees. It aims to bring science closer to citizens. The workshop is a part of the STEM Family Library Project started in 2013. Family workshops are organized to spread the knowledge and interest in STEAM subjects within the society. Each workshop enables the participants to travel through a different everyday reality and build knowledge on a family level. At the end, the participating families must complete a challenge at home.
Build your own weather station
Semih Esendemir
The aim of this activity was to develop scientific and engineering process skills by directing students to research, questioning, and design with the online STEM event organised during these difficult times when teachers are separated from their students. “To achieve this goal, I dealt with the weather events that concern us in our daily lives. I thought to develop Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math skills by having my students’ design tools to measure weather events like a scientist, mathematically express and predict their measurements. Based on these ideas, I decided to implement the learning scenario called “The weather in our town!” says Semih Esendemir, the author of this blog entry.
Coding to improve my neighborhood
Alvaro Molina Ayuso
This STEM activity has been designed in order to contextualize the use of mathematics and statistics to understand the needs in our daily life at the same time the students learn to code and they code to learn how to improve their local environment. Using the microcontroller micro:bit, the work is focused on improving the bike lane next to our school. In several sections, a road crosses the lane in a poor visibility area for cars. The students have made a model to propose a regulated bike lane with sensors that prevent cars and bicycles from another vehicle is approaching.
Sustainable consumption
Małgorzata Kulesza
What we eat not only affects our own health, but also the environment. Food is at the heart of many environmental issues – it’s a significant contributor to climate change and responsible for almost 60% of global biodiversity loss. “I have planned activities which involve a combination of synchronous and asynchronous approaches. A synchronous approach takes place in real-time, allowing instant feedback and clarification. Microsoft Teams gives me the opportunity to set up a live session with my students, to answer their questions and to support each other.” says the author of this activity, Małgorzata Kulesza.
Be smart online, in Safely way!
Erviola Konomi
This event aimed to create awareness of the need of basic understanding of today’s technology and STEM. It emphasized the necessity of teaching children the essentials of algorithms in order to safely make use of today’s internet, of developing of students competences such as computer thinking, problem solving, and increased creativity and teamwork – very good skills in all spheres of life.
The Mirror project
Edina Đorović
Preschoolers from Subotica, Serbia are taking part in eTwinning projects for already a couple of years. The project “Tükröm, tükröm…” (“Mirro, mirror”) was prepared for the Digital Theme Week (held in Hungary) held on 23 – 27 March 2020. The goal was to introduce children to the world of science by working on digital competencies using numerous web tools such as Metaverse, Musiclab, Permadi.
The Green School
Bilyana Yordanova
For the 2020 STEM Discovery Campaign, the PMGKN Little Robotics team at High School of Math and Science “Prof. Emanuil Ivanov” Kyustendil presented their socially significant project called “The Green LEGO School”. The team met twice a week at school before school closure and later, because of COVID-19, they met in a virtual classroom. The activities aimed to find and display the environmental issues and the team decided to work on the global waste problem.
The Clean Tech Competition is a unique, worldwide research and design challenge for pre-college youth. The program encourages scientific understanding of real-world issues and the integration of environmentally responsible energy sources. For the 2020 competition, the Spellman HV Clean Tech Challenge is “Reducing Individual Impacts”, focusing on how we as an individual can instigate change.
Click below to see the finalist teams of the competition who will take part in the Virtual Finals event to be live streamed all over the globe on August 6th!
Atelier for STE(A)M Erasmus+ project invited teachers to send a scenario or lesson plan developed around the topic of “The colours of Science” to give them the opportunity to gain visibility for their work. The authors of 6 best applications were awarded with a drone to continue working STEM in a practical way with their students.
Winner
From White to Black: the Wheel of Colours in Science and Art
Theodora Gkeniou
Finalists
- The Colour of Pixels
Gjorgjina Dimova - The Colour of the Stars
Ayşe Arslan - Eat a Rainbow
Lefter Adriana Silvica - Energy Rainbow
Anita Simac - Colourful Balance
Semih Esendemir
The task for the COMnPLAY Science Contest was to interview online or via email someone who is involved in science, coding or making and send us your questions and answers. The organisers received 27 submissions, coming from 8 European countries. See five winners below!
Winners
- Overall contest winner for the most inspiring interview: Elena V. from Romania
- Overall contest winner for the most creative interview: Cristina Natalia R. from Spain
- Winner in the category “16+” (years old): María Teresa V. from Spain
- Winner in the category “12 – 16” (years old): Katherine K. from Greece
- Winner in the category “under 12” (years old): Mila M. from Serbia
The BLOOM Stories Competition has its winners! Congratulations to Semih-Essendemir and Honorata Pereira for their brilliant classroom implementations of the BLOOM School Box bioeconomy resources!
Organized in collaboration with the STEM Discovery Campaign 2020, primary and secondary school teachers of all subjects were invited to compete in the different categories of the BLOOM Stories Competition by organising classrooms and online activities using bioeconomy, and by sharing their stories about it.
Out of eighteen eligible entries, selected by European Schoolnet, the BLOOM Stories Competition jury panel has decided to award the winners in the following categories:
- Teaching with bioeconomy in primary schools (individual work): “Bioeconomy for a sustainable future” by Semih-Essendemir (Turkey)
- Teaching bioeconomy in secondary schools’ STEM classes (individual work): “UNplasticize” by Honorata Pereira (Portugal)
Discover more about the 2 winners
“Bioeconomy for a sustainable future” is a story of implementation developed by Semih-Essendemir (Turkey). Through active participation, students discover about the concept of bioeconomy and contribute to bioeconomy by transforming the organic wastes they have created in their homes into new products that can be used in their daily lives.
“UNplasticize” is a is a story of implementation developed by Honorata Pereira (Portugal). The aim of the activity is to make students aware of the amount of (micro) plastics present in essential goods of common use. Thus, the students investigated the microplastics present in personal hygiene products, in their clothes, in the washing waters of their clothes and in the waters of the beach. They also assessed the amount of waste they produce at home, as well as the main waste from local industries. Finally, students were invited to present solutions to minimize the impact of waste and plastic on the environment.
And the 6 finalists
“My kitchen without food waste” is a story of implementation developed by Marina Stanojlovic Mircic (Serbia). Through activities in the kitchen, and following SDGs learning, students learn how to be responsible for the environment to reduce household food waste. The activities they carried out in their homes are preparing meals from surplus foods, preparing meals without creating waste, or showing how they and their householders reduce food waste in their homes.
“Sustainable development” is a story of implementation developed by Božica Borbaš (Croatia). In this lesson, students are introduced to the topic of bioeconomy by exploring three topics: renewable energy, biomass, and fossil fuels.
“Why bioenergy?” is a story of implementation developed by Elena Vladescu (Romania). This online GoLab ILS (Inquiry Learning Space) lesson teaches students about different energy forms and bioenergy and involves them by letting them create a informative poster for their peers.
“Bioeconomics and Fruit” is a story of implementation developed by Natalia Grushko (Ukraine). This project aims to prepare students for future realities by organizing an event where students learn about bioeconomy, basic concepts of biofuels, fertilizers, and fruit wastes. The lessons also help them understand the development directions of the future world economy.
“Stay home and learn bioeconomy” is a story of implementation developed by Gjorgjina Dimova and Velika Markova (Republic of North Macedonia). Implemented with online tools, the aim of this project was for students to learn about bioeconomy and how organic waste can be used to create new products and learn about different career opportunities in bioeconomy.
“Copernico in Bloom” is a story of implementation developed by Donata Federici Monesi and Patrizia Zambonelli (Italy). The aims of this lesson is to promote awareness of environmental issues and develop more sustainable and eco-sensitive attitudes and behaviours, both as educators and learners.
The Competition was open to all primary and secondary school stakeholders from European Union countries and Horizon 2020 associated countries who are acting on behalf of their school and developing their STEM School strategy.
The winners:
- Šiaulių lopšelis-darželis "Pasaka" (Lithuania)
- Lycée International de Valbonne (France)
As part of the SDC20, The Teaching ICT With Inquiry (TIWI) Project organised a competition for teachers eager to share their experience and best practices of classroom implementation of inquiry-based science teaching in ICT and STEM subjects. In this competition teachers were asked to create a TIWI implementation story – a transversal report describing the processes and impact of introducing ICT with inquiry method by using collaborative spaces as personal learning environments for students to work on research projects and particular tasks and Go-Lab as a teaching methodology. Notwithstanding the emergency situation caused by the outbreak of Covid-19, the TIWI competition confirmed that teachers care about the continuation of education and are ready to adapt to new situations. On this regard, we received 14 submissions and the following were the winners selected:
- Aleksej Peržu, Vilniaus Aleksandro Puškino gimnazija, Lithuania
- Mario Di Fonza, ISIS EUROPA, Italy
- Lidia Ristea, Secondary Scool I.A. Bassarabescu, Romania
- Rigonda Skorulskiene, Kaunas Jesuit High School, Lithuania
- Stefania Matzari, Olohmero Dhmotiko Scholio To Kryfo Scholio, Cyprus
Find out more about TIWI here.
The Europeana Education Competition 2020 has invited primary and secondary school teachers of all subjects to find innovative ways of using Europeana digital cultural items in their classroom and share their story about it. The competition counted 106 participants from 18 countries and European Schools who submitted ~150 learning scenarios and ~130 stories of implementation. Discover the winners of the competition!
- Francisco José Orosia Salvador (ES)
- Nathalie Chessé-Chesnot (EU)
- Krista Kindt-Sarojärvi (FI)
- Clara Donadio (FR)
- Andreas Galanos (GR)
- Angeliki Kougiourouki (GR)
- Eirini Siotou (GR)
- Sofronia Maravelaki (GR)
- Theodora Tziampazi (GR)
- Anita Lasić (HR)
- Ella Rakovac Bekeš (HR)
- Judit Benedek (HU)
- Angela Capezzuto (IT)
- Sandra Troia (IT)
- Maja Videnovik (MK)
- Anna Maria Gauci (MT)
- Ayrton Curmi (MT)
- Brendan Buttigieg (MT)
- Ivana Busuttil (MT)
- James Callus (MT)
- Mark Busuttil (MT)
- Stephanie Maggi-Pulis (MT)
- Agnieszka Pielorz (PL)
- Marcin Jabłoński (PL)
- Artur Coelho (PT)
- Cristina Lima (PT)
- Daniela Bunea (RO)
- Gratiela Visan (RO)
- Marina Stanojlović Mirčić (RS)
- Reyhan Gunes (TR)
Discover the contributions of the participants, finalists and winners at: https://teachwitheuropeana.eun.org/.
ALL SUBMITTED ACTIVITIES |
About the 2020 STEM Discovery Campaign and the competitions
The 5th edition of the STEM Discovery Campaign was without doubt a unique one from the very beginning. The campaign kicked off at the end of January, for the first time gathering as many as ten outstanding STEM competitions for teachers and students. When many countries decided to close schools in March, due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we decided to continue the campaign itself and support all educators in finding out new, engaging ways of involving students in online activities. The creativity and dedication of teachers, despite this challenging situation, was impressive and extremely motivating.
The 2020 STEM Discovery Campaign gathered 89,300 educators, parents, industry representatives, policymakers and pupils from 7,700 schools who participated in 610 activities in total. While more activities were organised in the previous year, reaching almost 1,000 unique events, we are truly impressed by the number of schools which joined our campaign this year – 7,700 schools compared with 4,700 in 2019. This, together with the number of teachers involved, which oscillated around 15,000 both years, proves that in spite of the circumstances, teachers did a truly incredible job in carrying out various STEM activities online.
Stay tuned and follow Scientix for more details about the 2020 STEM Discovery Campaign results and save the date for the 2021 STEM Discovery Campaign!