The competitions

Innovative Technologies Move Europe II

Europe's countries are growing together. Political and social boundaries are disappearing, and distances are being covered with increasing speed. These trends have consequences: Europeans are becoming more mobile, energy must be used more efficiently, and we must manage our lives surrounded by greater complexity. That's enough reason for innovative, attractive and practice-oriented teaching methods, and is the impetus for our second student/teacher project, which has a clear focus on natural sciences but an interdisciplinary approach as well.

1. Participants and Target Group:

Schools from North Rhine-Westphalia and three schools from neighboring countries.The target group consists of students from junior high and high schools plus teachers of natural sciences and other subjects (English, sports, art, etc.).

2. Assignment:

A team consisting of teachers and students must create a new project and tasks related to natural sciences must be solved in a creative fashion. The team must build something that is either innovative, artistic or surprising.

You can select one of the following three topics:

• Constructing a means of locomotion.
• Energy requirement: One liter of water.
• Competition criteria: The relationship between the transported mass and net mass, the distance and the control.

Assignment II: Topic: Energy

• Constructing a model of a system that converts regeneratable energy into electric power. Basically the idea should permit a configuration for line voltage.
• Competition Criteria: The electrical energy that is generated. As few commercially-available resources as possible

Assignment III: Topic: Chaos

• Representation of chaotic movement using elementary means.
• Competition criteria: Originality

Participants must apply in teams consisting of at least 2 teachers and at most 4 students. The teachers must develop an interdisciplinary lesson concept or one that can be used on an interdisciplinary basis for the purpose of the team's bid. These concepts should then be implemented during school lessons.

The schools from North Rhine-Westphalia and neighboring countries will present their final results - models, calculations, experiments, lectures, etc. - to each other in English at the concluding event. A jury will choose the best project in each of the three assignment areas, and the students will receive an acknowledgment of their participation.

Lenord + Bauer will offer professional consulting and technical support for the participants during the project phase (for example, through the provision of small physical units or sensor elements up to a value of 500 euros). To simplify communication, the participants from neighboring countries will be supported by sales partners of Lenord+Bauer. The contact person for schools in North Rhine-Westphalia is Mr. Strick, Principal of the Landrat-Lucas-Gymnasium in Leverkusen. Ms. Zweifel of Science on Stage Deutschland e.V. will handle overall coordination (see below).

3. Schedule:

Phase 1: Preparation: September-December 2006

August 14, 2006: Written announcement to the MINT-EC schools in NRW and the neighboring countries. Binding registration will take place through October 1, 2006.

The first meeting will take place at Lenord + Bauer at 3 p.m. on Friday, December 8, 2006. At this kick-off event you will introduce your project, present your initial results, and have the opportunity to take a tour of Lenord + Bauer. The European schools will be connected via video conference.

Phase 2: Implementation: January - April 2007

The teams will implement their projects in their schools. Lenord + Bauer will be available for help as needed in this phase. Interim results of the projects should be recorded. E-mail should be used as far as possible to communicate with the other schools and countries. The contact persons for this are Mr. Strick for the schools in NRW and Ms. Zweifel for the foreign schools.

Phase 3: Presentation: May 2007

At 3 p.m. on Friday, May 11, 2007, the schools will present their results to one another at the concluding event at Lenord + Bauer. A jury will award a prize to the best projects in the three assignment categories.

Phase 4: Wrap-up: 2007

Cooperation between the schools and Lenord + Bauer or its sales partners can be continued. The results of the projects will be published (on a website) so that other teachers can also make use of them.

4. Participation incentives for schools

• Exchange with schools from other countries
• Contact with the company Lenord + Bauer (orientation to various professional fields, internships, etc.)
• An attractive, unusual and practice-oriented teaching approach
• Professional and technical support (for example, through the provision of small physical units or sensor elements up to a value of 500 euros) by Lenord + Bauer

5. Contacts

Overall coordination:

Coordination of schools in NRW:

Coordination with Lenord + Bauer and technical questions: