Report on the 18th Lower Silesian Science Festival 2025
- Unit: DFL WUST
- Coordinators: Dominika Rawa, MA
- Number of events and presentations:
Scheduled:
- 1 competition for secondary school students,
- 6 lectures (including 5 lectures on Japanese culture in English, 1 lecture on British culture in English),
- 9 workshops relating to French, Spanish, English, German and Polish.
The following events took place at tha DFL:
- 1 competition for secondary school students,
- 5 lectures (4 lectures on Japanese culture in English and 1 lecture on British culture in English),
- 6 workshops (3 of them were held twice) relating to French, Spanish, English and Polish.
There were 19 events in total.
- Description of events:
- Around Britain in 80 minutes Competition
The Great Britain Knowledge Contest, which is becoming increasingly popular, was held for the third time. Two-person teams from nine secondary schools in Wrocław, Wałbrzych, Kłodzko, Legnica, Syców and Długołęka participated in the event.
In the first stage, the students faced a test, while the final had an oral format. During the final part of the competition, the participants had to act out a scene based on a topic they had drawn. The students demonstrated not only their knowledge of English but also their ingenuity, body expression and adaptation of the language and tone of voice to the spoken content. This year's laureates were the students from General Secondary School No. 8 in Wrocław and General Secondary School in Legnica and the winning team represented the Academic Secondary School of WUST. The competition has become so popular that another edition is being planned
for the next year.
Lectures and workshops:
- Robots in Japan Robots in Japan (3 participants), Japanese Monsters (5 participants), Public Space in Japanese Culture (17 participants), Shinkansen (19 participants)
The lectures introducing Japanese culture, which are held entirely in English, are a unique offer of the DFL. Due to a great and continuing interest in them, they appear periodically in the DFL’s offer.
- More Than Just Tea & Scones: Some Myths & Marvels of British Cuisine (45 participants)
We hear a lot about French chefs and all sorts of exotic dishes. However, during the ‘British cuisine’ event, the participants found out that the cuisine from the British Isles can be just as tasty as it is surprising in its flavours. British dishes surprise not only with their ingredients and preparation but often also with their original names. The lecture, which introduced most favourite dishes of the British, as well as those less known and the regional ones, met with a great interest from the audience.
- Spanish Scientists (29 participants)
This year's event also invited the youngest participants from primary schools to join in the fun. Pupils guessed which discoveries we owe to the Spanish – many of them we have all seen and are familiar with from our everyday life. Some inventions can be found in our homes; others have changed the face of medicine forever. All the children left the classroom delighted.
- If I were an animal (13 participants + 36 participants)
The workshop was a new addition to the DFL’s offer and due to the high level of interest, it was held twice. Our younger participants learned about animal body parts and how to describe their appearance in a colourful and fun way. The teachers expressed their willingness to cooperate with the DFL and participate in similar events in the future.
- What France is famous for (10 participants)
This year the participants of the workshop had the opportunity to learn which everyday objects and inventions we owe to the French. The students were surprised to discover how many of them they have at home!
- A trip to Brittany (17 participants)
Our students not only learned where Brittany is located and saw some amazing photos of the Emerald Coast but also learned about traditional dishes and interesting facts about the region. Now all that is left is to wait for the holidays in France!
- Discovering Shakespeare (17 participants + 15 participants)
The workshop was a new addition to the DFL's offer and due to the high level of interest, it was held twice. Our seventh and eighth grade students and secondary school students had the opportunity to learn more about Shakespeare and the most famous quotes from his works, which might be useful in English lessons or in the eighth grade exam.
- Learning with mind maps (24 participants + 18 participants)
The workshop was a new addition to the DFL’s offer, and due to the high level of interest, it was held twice. Our participants learned how to construct a mind map correctly, take notes in this form and learn from them without rewriting the textbook. Mind maps are a very effective method used at various stages of education, also by students and lecturers.
- Attendance:
- Competition: 9 secondary schools – 17 teams of two + 16 teachers (43 people),
- Workshops and lectures: 268 people,
- The total number of guests at the DFL: 311 people.
- Organisers:
- Iwona Frankiewicz, MA (Director of the DFL, Jury of the Competition)
- Anna Kania, MA (representation of the DFL, organisation of events)
- Dominika Rawa, MA (DFN coordinator)
Presenters and hosts of the lectures, workshops and the competition:
- Agnieszka Mirowska, MA
- Zuzanna Wiszniowska, MA
- Joanna Leszkiewicz, MA
- Magdalena Hołowko, MA
- Katarzyna Martynowicz, MA
- Eunika Rejda, MA
- Magdalena Zalewska, MA
- Mariusz Stanisz, MA
- Justyna Dylewska, MA
- Toyotaka Ota, PhD
Technical support:
- Piotr Reizer, MA
- Comments:
Two workshops were cancelled by schools at the last minute for formal and organisational reasons beyond the control of the teachers involved (e.g. approval of a trip card).
We received a lot of positive feedback about the events at the DFL, as well as several thank you emails.
‘On behalf of myself and the 3rd grade secondary school students, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to participate in Dr T. Ota's lecture. The students found the lecture interesting and are open to similar outings in the future.’
Natalia Siodłowska, General Secondary School No. 2 in Wrocław
‘On behalf of myself, the students and Primary School No. 29, I would like to thank you once again for the opportunity to participate in the workshops. They were extremely interesting and valuable classes.
At the same time, I would like to express my willingness to participate in future workshops, if they are organised. We are also interested in ongoing cooperation with the Department of Foreign Languages of Wrocław University of Science and Technology.’
Anna Faryniarz-Hadi, Primary School No. 29 in Wrocław