The event promoted by INVOLCAN was held at ITER (Granadilla) and La Orotava and aims to encourage scientific vocations.
The Canary Islands Volcanological Institute (INVOLCAN) has brought together more than 400 students at the Science and Volcanoes Fair, an initiative aimed at promoting scientific vocations among students in the 3rd and 4th years of Compulsory Secondary Education and the 1st and 2nd years of Baccalaureate. Eleven educational centers participated in the event. The closing ceremony took place today, May 16, at the Teobaldo Power Theater in La Orotava, and was attended by the Counselor for Innovation, Research, and Development of the Tenerife Island Council, Juan José Martínez; the mayor of the northern municipality, Francisco Linares; and the scientific coordinator of INVOLCAN, Nemesio Pérez.
The goal of these events is to spark an interest in science and volcanology among young people. The aim is for them to learn to do science through cooperation as a working method and through the projects proposed by INVOLCAN and developed in their schools. Students participate in the different phases involved in carrying out a scientific project. This also includes skills such as teamwork, collaboration, and the joint search for solutions.
The Science and Volcanoes Fair is a school scientific congress where the results of scientific works developed by the students are presented. These projects are related to various aspects of the volcanic phenomenon, connected to the fields of experimental sciences, social sciences, and the arts. The projects have been supervised by school teachers with the support of scientists from INVOLCAN.
The schools that participated in the event held at ITER last Thursday were CEIPS Santo Domingo (Güímar), IES Santa Ana (Candelaria), IES El Médano (Granadilla de Abona), and IES San Miguel (San Miguel). Today, the Teobaldo Power Auditorium welcomed students from Colegio Casa Azul (Puerto de la Cruz), Colegio Salesiano (La Orotava), CEO La Milagrosa (La Orotava), IES Mayorazgo (La Orotava), IES La Cruz Santa (Los Realejos), IES Los Realejos (Los Realejos), and Colegio Internacional Pureza de María (Los Realejos).
During the Science and Volcanoes Fair, the documentary ‘Teide, the Sleeping Giant’ was screened, and the Volcanic Olympiad was held. This educational tool helps in learning the main terms related to volcanology. The contest is based on questions and answers about volcanic phenomena and volcanic risk management to assess the students’ knowledge on this topic. In this edition, the groups participating in the Volcanic Olympiad were named after one of the following Decade Volcanoes: Teide (Tenerife, Spain), Vesuvius (Italy), Etna (Italy), Nyiragongo (Congo), Santorini (Greece), Taal (Philippines), Sakurajima (Japan), Colima (Mexico), Merapi (Indonesia), and Mauna Loa (USA).