Report on the Lower Silesian Science Festival 2024

1 Unit (name, abbreviation): DFL WUST

2 Coordinators:Dominika Rawa, MA, Anna Kania, MA

3 Number of events and presentations:

Scheduled:

• a competition for secondary school students,
• seven lectures (including five lectures on Japanese culture in English, one lecture on British culture in English, and one lecture on Spanish culture conducted online),
• two workshops – a workshop on Swiss culture in German and a workshop on Peruvian culture for children.

The events did not take place on the previously planned date in September, as there was a flood risk at the time.

At a later date, the following events were realised:

• a competition for secondary school students (on 24 October 2024),
• three lectures and a workshop (during the ‘Night of WUST’ on 8November 2024).

4 Description of events:

• Competition for secondary school students
  On 24October 2024, the second edition of the UK knowledge competition for secondary school students was held, in consultation with the schools involved. Two-person teams from eight secondary schools (seven from Wrocław and one from Bolesławiec) participated in the event. The pupils represented the following schools in the competition: General Secondary School No. 4, General Secondary School No. 5, General Secondary School No. 7, General Secondary School No. 8, General Secondary School No. 10, the American School of Wrocław, the Academic Secondary School of WUST in Wrocław and General Secondary School No. 1 in Bolesławiec.
  In the first stage, the students faced a test, while the final had an oral format. In this part, the participants' task was to present a drawn topic, namely to act out a scene on a given topic. The students demonstrated not only their knowledge of English but also their ingenuity, body expression, and adaptation of language and tone of voice to the spoken content. This year's laureates were the students from General Secondary Schools No. 4 and No. 5 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.
• Robots in Japan (held on 8 November 2024 as part of the ‘Night of WUST’ event)
  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.
• Discovering Switzerland - Jungfraujoch Pass (held on 8 November 2024 as part of the ‘Night of WUST’ initiative)
  In this year's edition, participants had the opportunity to discover the charms of Switzerland. Our lecturer took the audience on a journey through the Alps, specifically to the Jungfraujoch pass with the highest cogwheel train in Europe. The views of the mountains were breathtaking, and the lecture itself was warmly received by the audience.
• British cuisine - some myths and facts (conducted on 8 November 2024 as part of the ‘Night of WUST’ initiative)
  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. It surprises not only with its ingredients and preparation, but also with its often original names. The lecture introduced most favourite dishes of the British, as well as those less known, the regional ones, and met with a great interest from the audience.
• Peruvian Tales (held on 8 November 2024 as part of the ‘Night of WUST’ event)
  This year's event also invited the youngest participants from primary schools to join in the fun. Pupils could listen to stories from another part of the world. They saw real Peruvian ponchos made of alpaca wool and did jigsaw puzzles during a colourful workshop, so all the children left the room delighted.

5 Attendance:

• Competition: 8 secondary schools (teams of two) = 16 participants and teachers
• Workshops and lectures: 63 people
• The total number of participants in all events: 87 people

6 Organisers:

• Iwona Frankiewicz, MA (Jury of the Competition)
• Anna Kania, MA (organisation of events)
• Dominika Rawa, MA (DFL coordinator)
• Joanna Grusiecka, MA (organisational support of the Competition)

7. Presenters and hosts of the lectures, workshops and the competition:

• Agnieszka Mirowska, MA
• Zuzanna Wiszniowska, MA
• Joanna Leszkiewicz, MA
• Magdalena Zalewska, MA
• Krzysztof Okulewicz, MA
• Toyotaka Ota, PhD