Outline
The National Schools Geology Challenge is organised by the Geological Society of London.
It consists of preliminary Regional Heats, followed by the Final which is held at the
Geological Society in London. Teams of up to six students from each school are allowed. (At the Final, a maximum of four of the six students can participate in the quiz round).
Regional Heats
Regional Heats will be hosted by the Geological Society’s Regional Groups, for school teams within their catchment. The participating schools do not have to teach geoscience in order to enter, but this is a geology competition and the questions will be associated with geology.
The venue for the Regional Heats should be one of the participating schools. The Regional
Group will decide on a geological theme for the posters and presentations. (See Guidance on the structure of a Regional Heats evening).
Sometimes a Regional Group does not take part in the Schools Challenge. If a Regional Heat is not being held in their area, schools may either run their own Regional Heat with other local schools and a panel of independent judges; or can submit a poster on an agreed theme, and the Geological Society will select a finalist for that region. The deadline for posters to be submitted to the Geological Society is Friday 27 February 2015.
How to register you school team
If you are a teacher who would like to enter a team please contact Judi Lakin
( judi.lakin@geolsoc.org.uk)to register and be put in touch with your local Regional Group.
The Final
The final will be hosted at the Geological Society in London, and judged by a panel of independent geoscientists from industry and academia. The Final is held jointly with the
Early Careers Award to give the students the chance to meet with those who have gone on to work as geoscientists.
The Final will be split into three stages.
1.
Poster on previously chosen topic (max size A1). Each judge will allocate up to 10 points to each school, based on how convincingly their poster responds to their chosen topic. This comprises 25% of the final mark.
2.
A 5-minute presentation on the chosen theme. (This will be the same topic chosen for the Regional Challenge). Schools should take advice from the Regional Challenge judges on how their presentations can be improved in time for the Final. Judging is based on presentation (10 points per judge) and content (10 points per judge). This comprises 50% of the final mark.
3.
Quiz round. Points comprise 25% of the final mark.
The winning school is that with the highest overall score.
January 2015