On the 21st of March 2024, we hosted this yr’s Faculties Geology Problem closing at Burlington Home. It was an thrilling and provoking day with 10 groups competing to win the trophy and £500 in direction of geoscience training at their college!
What’s the Problem?
The Faculties Geology Problem is an annual competitors for college students aged 16 to 18 the place they’re given the prospect to showcase their ardour for geoscience, teamwork, and presentation abilities. The competitors is open to college students learning geology, geography, or science topics. Faculties enter the problem by the qualifier spherical the place groups produce a bit of media for an internet viewers on any geoscience subject of their alternative. The highest 10 groups are then invited to the grand closing at Burlington Home to finish a problem-solving exercise based mostly on actual world points, presenting their findings to the competitors judges.
Qualifiers
This yr’s Qualifiers stage noticed an unimaginable vary of entries together with: a web site investigating the geology of structure, a cease movement animation on Mars, and a newsroom fashion presentation on growth of civilisations being affected by geology.
After cautious deliberation from the judging panel the highest 10 groups have been selected and invited to Burlington Home for the ultimate.
Closing
The ultimate includes a problem-solving train which the scholars full of their groups. This yr’s problem-solving had college students contemplating environmental, social, and monetary elements as they sought to search out one of the best web site for a wind farm within the fictional city of Quinnston.
College students have been launched to Quinnston, a city seeking to develop into the UK’s first city utterly powered by wind power. To do that the city council have been on the lookout for an appropriate wind farm web site and that is the place the groups are available. The scholars have been the contractors and needed to current their plan for the construct.
Utilizing geological cross sections and maps of the realm, college students wanted to not solely discover a appropriate web site for six wind generators but in addition develop a verbal pitch to current to the city council (our judges) within the hope they’d be chosen to win the contract. Though the positioning wanted to be appropriate when it comes to wind prevalence there have been additionally different elements to think about:
- The positioning wanted to have the ability to help the massive generators and be a delegated distance from residential housing
- Tackle residents’ issues of the positioning disrupting the migration path of the King Burleys, a species of birds that brings in a number of tourism to the city
- Constructing within the protected space of St. Catherine’s Park which is closely surcharged
- Protecting inside the £1 million funds and justifying what they select to spend the cash on
As soon as time was up the scholars offered their pitch for the contract to Quinnston city council – our improbable judges. This yr’s competitors was decide by Roni Savage, Antony Benham and Edith Brazier who’ve experience in geotechnical engineering, minerals and mining and environmental engineering. Groups solely had 3 minutes to pitch their concepts, needing to be very concise!
Winners
After contemplating all of the groups’ pitches the judges then selected the profitable workforce and runners up.
This yr’s winners have been The Tiffin Ladies College! Their pitch earned them the contract from Quinnston city council, and so they received this yr’s amethyst trophy alongside £500 in direction of geoscience training at their college.
This yr’s runners up have been The Sixth Kind School Farnborough and Runshaw School each profitable £200.
The day was successful, an enormous thanks to all of the Geological Society employees who helped facilitate the day in addition to our improbable judges who volunteered their time and experience to encourage college students on the day. Additionally, an enormous nicely finished and thanks to our superb groups who all produced improbable work on the day and to their academics for his or her help!
The 2025 Faculties Geology Problem will open for entries in September 2024. Head to our web site to search out out extra data, join competitors updates and see clips from earlier entries.
If you need to be a decide for the 2025 Faculties Geology Problem closing or want to contribute to the competitors ultimately, please contact training@geolsoc.org.uk.
Photographs taken by Murray Pettit.
Please assist us to cross on a ardour for geoscience. We’d welcome donations to help our training and outreach actions. To search out out extra, please contact us at growth@geolsoc.org.uk or name +44 (0) 20 7432 0960.
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