The team from Kholodnohirsk district of Lyceum No. 18 (#18_Kittens) took first place in the final of the STEM Championship of Kharkiv among high school students in natural and mathematical sciences. The final intellectual battle took place on December 23 in the bomb shelter of Kharkiv Polytechnic. During the month, the selection rounds were held with 164 teams from 140 Kharkiv lyceums. Nine winning teams went to the final. The competition was held in the form of Kahoot quizzes on the following topics: chemistry, physics, mathematics, IT, and the history of Kharkiv. The questions were made up by scientists of Kharkiv Polytechnic. The STEM Championship, which was attended by more than a thousand schoolchildren, was held for the first time in the history of Kharkiv. Its organizers: NTU «KhPI» with the support of the Kharkiv City Administration.
The final competition of the STEM Championship of Kharkiv among high school pupils in natural and mathematical sciences brought together pupils of grades 10-11, teachers, representatives of the Kharkiv City Administration, scientists and teachers of the National Technical University «KhPI». The participants of the tournament have become the winning teams from 9 districts of Kharkiv.
Before the start of the competition, the organizers of the STEM championship welcomed the participants: Professor Yevgen Sokol, Rector of NTU «KhPI», and Valeriy Shepel, deputy director of the department of education of the Kharkiv City Administration. They wished the players good luck and victory.
The competition consisted of 5 blocks of tasks and was held in the form of Kahoot quizzes on the following topics: chemistry, physics, mathematics, IT, and the history of Kharkiv. The questions for the quizzes were developed by a team of young scientists from NTU «KhPI». The leaders from Kharkiv Polytechnic were: Serhii Petrov, professor of the department of organic synthesis and pharmaceutical technologies, executive secretary of the admission committee (CHEMISTRY); Kseniia Minakova, associate professor of the department of physics, finalist of the L’Oréal-UNESCO award «For Women in Science» in 2023 (PHYSICS); Oleksii Larin, professor, director of the Institute of Computer Modeling of Applied Physics and Mathematics (MATHEMATICS); Andrii Kopp, associate professor of the department of software engineering and intelligent management technologies (IT). A fifth set of questions about Kharkiv was compiled especially for the STEM Championship final, hosted by members of the Kharkiv City Administration: Gabriel Mikhailov and Alisa Panova.
During the breaks between the competitions, the participants of the intellectual tournament were supported by the vocal show band «Suzirya», a collective of the NTU «KhPI» Students’ Palace.
Following the results of the Kharkiv STEM Championship, the team from Kholodnohirskyi district #18_Kittens (KhL No18) won the title, ІМПУЛЬС161 (KhL No161) from Nemyshlianskyi district took second place, and One for all (KhL #82) from Slobidskyi district won third place. All participants received diplomas, and the winners also received interesting gifts: power banks and memorable books about Kharkiv. In addition, 10 teachers of NTU «KhPI» – the organizers of the STEM Championship – received the Mayor’s Acknowledgments. And the leaders of the intellectual tournament, the #18_Kittens team, won the Winner’s Cup. The awards were presented by first deputy mayor of Kharkiv Oleksandr Novak and Rector of NTU «KhPI» Professor Yevgen Sokol.
The participants and organizers of the intellectual tournament noted that the competition was a unique event not only for Kharkiv, but also for the whole of Ukraine. Support and popularization of natural and mathematical subjects and technical specialties is extremely important today, although these specialties are not popular among graduates and applicants. After all, this generation will be responsible for the revival of the Ukrainian economy and industry! Therefore, the introduction of gamification, along with the popularization of STEM education and the development of Soft skills, is among the most important components of the educational process.
Note:
The STEM Championship of Kharkiv in natural and mathematical sciences among pupils of grades 10-11 was held from 22.11.2023 to 23.12.2023. The competition was attended by 164 teams from 140 lyceums. The selection stage took place on 11/30/2023. The semifinals were held on 2 December, 2023, 9 December, 2023 and 16 December, 2023. In total, more than 1000 high school pupils from Kharkiv took part in the championship.