The science festival has conquered the Far East

Science days—a unique Dynasty Foundation project for popularizing science—is expanding its territory from year to year. In 2009 it reached the Far East.

In the three years of its history, the science days festival, whose high level is confirmed by participation of the best Russian and foreign teachers and scientists, has become a meaningful event in the world of popular science. The festival events were held in Vladivostok from September 24 to 28, and the science marathon continued in Khabarovsk from October 1 to 3. More than 2000 people—from school children to Russian science leaders—visited the festival events during those days.

The festival started on September 24, 2009, in the all-Russian Children's Center Ocean, where more than 600 school students from 26 regions of Russia became acquainted with Nikolay Andreev's “interesting mathematics.”

A round table in the main conference hall of the Presidium of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences officially opened the festival on September 25. The topic “From school to the world of science and high technology: How to help a school student make this step” was discussed by representatives of the state authorities and nonprofit organizations, educational institution employees, teachers, and scientists. The people of Khabarovsk also had an opportunity to discuss this question in the Far Eastern scientific library on October 1. A charitable event, which has become traditional, was conducted in the framework of the round table. During this event, popular science publications of the Dynasty Foundation, a “Mathematical Etudes” disc from the foundation Mathematical Etudes, and books of the Moscow Time Foundation were donated to schools, orphanages, colleges, and libraries in the Far Eastern region.

The organizers of the Science Days Festival prepared a real surprise for the young participants: school students of the Primorski and Khabarovsk regions attended the Popular Science Theater. The program “His Majesty, the Experiment” revealed many new and interesting facets of physics. What was happening there can be characterized by one phrase “simply about the complicated.” The audience had an excellent opportunity to understand that physics is not only complicated processes, scientific labs, precision instruments, and innovative developments but also everything that surrounds us and what we see every day but sometimes do not notice.

The same goal was pursued in conducting a series of popular science lectures in the cycle “It isn't boring: Science as seen by passionate people.”

A “Mathematical Circus” was presented for children by a special guest of the festival: Jin Akiyama a world-famous mathematician, Professor of Tokai University, founder and editor-in-chief of the Springer journal Graphs and Combinatorics, a popular TV host, and founder of the Okhotsk Mathematical Wonderland. No miracles, no legerdemain, it is simply mathematics, but interesting, wonderful, entertaining, in other words, the music of numbers!

Questions of general physics were touched upon in the lecture “Light works for us!” Optic and natural science experiments demonstrated in the course of the lecture could not fail to interest school children and stimulate many questions, which were answered with obvious enthusiasm by Аlexei Seliverstov, editor-in-chief of the physics education Internet server Phys.Web.ru (Rus) and six-time ISSEP grant and Moscow Grant recipient.

Many new and interesting things in the area of astronomy were uncovered for young science fans during the lecture “Planets outside our solar system: The most important discovery of modern astronomy.” Many secrets and riddles were revealed to students by Sergey Yazev, the director of the Irkutsk State University Astronomical Observatory.

Different questions in the area of ecology and natural science were answered during Konstantin Kravchenko's lecture “Interesting experiments in natural science.”

Master classes dealing with the most relevant of today's questions in the methodology of teaching school subjects and in pedagogical psychology were held for teachers of the Primorski and Khabarovsk regions during the festival. Moreover, the teachers had a wonderful opportunity to survey and receive the latest educational literature in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and biology.

The ambitious program of events, which included a showing of the popular science film From Adam to Atom with the participation of Professor Kiselev, doctor of biological science, and also included a scientific talk show series “Kaleidoscope of discoveries,” attracted the attention of people of very different ages and professions.

Science Days bade good-bye to the Far East, and the Dynasty Foundation has already begun considering the program for the next festival, whose goal, as always, is to convey the idea to young people that “science is a sport, brain gymnastics giving pleasure” (Albert Einstein).

The Science Days festival in the Far East was organized under the auspices of the Department of Science and Education of the Primorski Region Administration, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture of the Khabarovsk Region, the all-Russian television channel “Culture,” the FEB RAS Presidium, Khabarovsk Scientific Center, FENTU , FESMU, PNU, the Far Eastern State Scientific Library, the Institute of Education Development in the Khabarovsk Region, the Khabarovsk Innovative Technology Lyceum, the VGUES boarding school for gifted children, School No. 9 in Vladivostok, the all-Russian Children's Center “Ocean,” Khabarovsk Regional NGO “Initiative Plus.”

About other Science Days festivals organized by the Dynasty Foundation