Challenging Interdisciplinary Science Experiments: Volume 1 Tasks of the European Union Science Olympiads 2003 - 2007

The European Union Science Olympiad (EUSO) is a unique, multidisciplinary, practical-based, team competition in the natural sciences. It was developed to provide young EU students with a platform to display their scientific capabilities. The concept of the competition derived from the senior, single subject, individual Olympiads. For the EUSO to be accepted by EU science educators and governments, it had to mirror these Olympiads in some ways but be totally novel in others. It had to embody and reflect new ways of teaching and learning. It needed to add value to the science education experience of young students and their teachers. Each year, for one week at Easter time, sixteen year old student teams from across the EU gather and test their practical skills in biology, chemistry and physics. This book contains the tasks presented in the five Olympiads of the years 2003 to 2007. The interdisciplinarynature of the tasks makes them appealing for use in the science laboratories of the schools of today. The book will also serve as a valuable resource of interesting and challenging experiments for young scientists everywhere.

Table of Contents:
Contents Dedication Preface Introduction to the European Union Science Olympiad Brief history General structure of the competition Constitution 1st European Union Science Olympiad in Dublin, Ireland Overview (Local team, medals and results) Task A (Photosynthesis) with answer sheet Task B (The Properties of Proteins) with answer sheet List of participants 2nd European Union Science Olympiad in Groningen, Netherlands Overview (Local team, medals and results) Task A (Hexokinase Activity) with answer sheet Task B (Chemiluminescence) with answer sheet List of participants 3rd European Union Science Olympiad in Galway, Ireland Overview (Local team, medals and results) Task A (Water Quality) with answer sheet Task B (Salinity & Mussel Physiology) with answer sheet List of participants 4th European Union Science Olympiad in Brussels, Belgium Overview (Local team, medals and results) Task A (Crime Scene Investigation) with answer sheet Task B (Respiration and Boyle's Law) with answer sheet List of participants 5th European Union Science Olympiad in Potsdam, Germany Overview (Local team, medals and results) Task A (All about the Potato) with answer sheet Task B (All about Starch) with answer sheet List of participants

About the Author :
Michael A. Cotter was educated in St. Patrick's College Dublin, St Mary's College, London University and Trinity College Dublin. He lectured in Teacher Education Colleges in Dublin and in Dublin City University. He has served as Chairman of the Dublin Institute of Technology and as a member of the Higher Education Authority of lreland. ln 1994 he established the lrish Science Olympiad which selects and trains students to represent Ireland at the International Olympiads in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and lnformatics as weil as the International Junior Science Olympiads. He founded the European Union Science Olympiad (EUSO) and is its current President. ln 2003 he was the Director of the first EUSO in Dublin. Stefan Petersen studied physics in Kiel and Hannover where he graduated in mathematical physics. He works as a researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Kiel acting as the head of the German Physics Olympiad. In 2008 he became a member of the Advisory Board of the International Physics Olympiad. Stefan Petersen has been involved in the European Union Science Olympiad since the beginning in 2003 and was a member of the Academic Committee for the EUSO 2007. He is now one of the Vice-Presidents of the competition. ln addition he also takes part in the selection and training of the German teams for the International Junior Science Olympiads.