International Olympics of Earth Sciences, Italian students win a gold medal, four bronze medals and an additional bronze medal in the team competition
Excellent results for the Italian team at the XIV edition of the International Earth Sciences Olympiad 2021 (IESO - International Earth Sciences Olympiad 24), which was held online from 30 to 2021 August XNUMX: female students and students won the equivalent of a gold medal and four bronze medals.
To represent our country in this competition - which was supposed to take place in Tyumen, Russia - six students selected with the national phase of the Natural Sciences Olympics and identified among the first classified of the two-year and three-year Earth Sciences section: Gabriele Cristaudo of the Liceo Scientifico “G. Galilei ”of Catania, Andrea Toninello of the IIS“ Cattaneo-Mattei ”of Monselice (PD) and Leonardo Campagna of the Liceo Scientifico“ G. Rummo "of Benevento, for the two-year period, Elisa Sabadini, of the" Marconi "Scientific High School of Carrara (MS), Claudia Guidolin of the" GB Brocchi "High School of Bassano del Grappa (VI) and Ernesto Sangiorgio of the ITC" Pacini "of Pistoia , for the three-year period.
The IESO 2021 were carried out entirely online, with innovative methods both in the form and in the type of tests. The theory test has been transformed into a Data Mining Test, a type of test that requires students to derive information from an unorganized data set. Two topics were proposed: “The paroxysmal phase of Etna” and “The Bauxite mines of southern France”. These innovative tests have brought into play different skills, proposing a series of questions to be solved using digital resources, processing data and thinking about cards and graphics. Claudia Guidolin received an evaluation of "excellent", corresponding to a gold medal, Gabriele Cristaudo, Andrea Toninello, Elisa Sabadini and Leonardo Campagna obtained a "good", corresponding to a bronze medal.
During the competition, the International Team Field Investigation was also supposed to take place, a field competition with teams made up of girls and boys of different nationalities. It turned into a National Team Field during which the six Italian boys worked together to produce a film that analyzed the geological, but also the historical and environmental aspects of a site close to their reality. The work was evaluated with a "good", corresponding to a bronze medal.
Finally, the students were asked to present a paper on the theme of Earth Science and Art. Both the image of Elisa Sabadini and the film of Gabriele Cristaudo were considered among the best ever; Gabriele Cristaudo's film, in particular, was the only one presented entirely to the entire IESO audience.
The competition was organized by ANISN (Association of Natural Science Teachers), thanks to the support of the Ministry of Education, Directorate General for School Regulations and Evaluation of the National Education System. The work of the IESO group of ANISN (coordinated by Susanna Occhipinti and composed of Marie Claire Courthod and the "alumno" Samuele Rosso) provided for moments of study for the Italian team on the theoretical and practical contents of Earth Sciences, which carried out online, with the support of the University of Milan and the INGV of Genoa. A part of the team participated from the Aosta Valley: the students were also able to carry out various didactic-training activities, on the skyway to Mont Blanc, the Forte di Bard, the Astronomical Observatory of St. Barthélemy and the mines of Saint Marcel.