New Zealand Science Teachers Association was invited this year to take part in the 7th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, which will be held in Volos, Greece from 27 of July to 5th of August 2013.
Under the auspices of Argo Navis, the most famous ship from the Greek history, immortalised in the sky as one of the ancient constellations (see the logo), the 7th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics will open the doors for 40 teams from around the world.
Having grown up and participating myself in many national Olympiads back in Romania, I have been a huge fan of such events. And I have been looking forward for many years to support an Astronomy Olympiad in New Zealand, my other favourite place on Earth. Due to the large number of amateur astronomers, I strongly believe that our country, New Zealand has a great natural advantage (we could say with the best skies to train) and the intelectual capability to participate in international olympiads. We are very good and competitive in the Olympics, bringing gold medals home, Olympiads are just the same. Sending students to an Olympiad would mean making sure they have equal opportunities for development as any other students around the world.
KiwiSpace Foundation and the Education Section of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand are in the process of discussing a pilot project that will see what possibilities are there for five students from New Zealand, aged between 14-18 years to part take in this event.
Why sending students to an Olympiad?
Most of the times, Olympiads entail lots of preparation and learning, in a country-large effort. However this year it would have to be a pilot programme - and I underline this - due to the limited amount of time we have to prepare for it. The Olympiad syllabus should for the future be integrated with the Curriculum for Planet Earth and Beyond. Hopefully in a few years we will see contests in which students around New Zealand would participate to be selected for representing our country in the international Astronomy competitions.
A few highlights from the invitation:
About Olympiads
(excerpt from IOAA website)
Every year, international scientific organizations organize and conduct internationally, student Olympiads in various fields (Mathematics, Physics, Information Technology, Chemistry and Biology). Each country is represented by the students who have been selected after the competition, and who have subsequently been trained and prepared adequately to represent their country. It is the goal of every mission to honor his or her country by earning a medal or a distinction at the International Olympiad.
The Olympiad on Astronomy & Astrophysics was initially established with Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki professor John Seiradakis' initiative, who, during the general meeting of the International Astronomical Union held in Prague in August 2006, contributed to the implementation of this international event.
The competition is in 3 phases.
- Phase 1 entails the Theoretical Part. The students must solve 15 short problems and 2 long problems on Astronomy and Astrophysics (duration of exams: 5 hours).
- Phase 2 entails Data Analysis. Students are provided with real Astronomy-Astrophysics data and are required to solve 2-3d problems based solely on the data provided (duration of exams: 5 hours)1
- Phase 3 entails the Observational Part. Students are outside in the nighttime, (unless it is cloudy with little visibility and they are then inside a planetarium), and are required to answer questions pertaining to constellations, stars, the planets and the moon.
Why participate in an Olympiad? (IOAA view)
"The aim of the Astronomy Olympiad is to inspire and provide high school students with the opportunity to acquire knowledge in the sciences of the sky, i.e. Astronomy and Astrophysics. Through their participation in this international event, participants are given the opportunity to meet other students, from other countries, who have the same scientific interests as themselves. Additionally, cooperation between countries enables future scientific research.
The Olympiad, like all Olympiads, projects a country amongst scientific and academic circles and attracts high-level tourism (university professors, team leaders, observers and guests)."
According to the statutes of the Olympiad, all participating countries are obliged to undertake the organization of the Olympiad at least once. After the evaluation in 2010, Greece was proposed to host the organization of the Olympiad. In every Olympiad, each country is represented with two leaders and five students. Observers and accompanying attendants are also welcome. To date, the average of participating countries has been 25, with numbers growing at a steady rate
Links
Wikipedia Astronomy Olympiad Page
An interesting link to Saudi Arabia urge to prepare more students for Olympiads, considered by the General Supervisor of the Olympiads Ahmed Al-Baloushi as a "good opportunity for youngsters to discover their talent and develop their skills according to the latest scientific methods. Participation would contribute to building a knowledge society." (Do not forget that the Arab knowledge in astronomy was amongst the most complex and in the same time scientific in the ancient world).