Festival of science 2016 in Hvar

Written by Jaša Čalogović Thursday, 05 May 2016 16:33

From 21 to 23 April 2016 Festival of Science was organized at city hall in the town of Hvar, and this year's festival theme was "Science and Art". The event was organized by the Observatory Hvar and the Elementary School of Hvar, Stari Grad, Jelsa and the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb.

Science Festival is being held for the 14th consecutive year in Croatia and its goal is to bring the science to pupils of primary and secondary schools and the entire interested general public. This year, the Science Festival was organized in 18 cities in Croatia, and it was the second time that city of Hvar hosted it. Compared to the last year, organizers offered a much richer program and the Festival in Hvar lasted for three days, that was visited by students of almost all schools on the island (elementary school of Hvar, Stari Grad and Jelsa).

On Thursday (April 21) archaeologists presented the pupils of elementary school the basics of archeological research and a workshop of writing and reading hieroglyphics, where the pupils had to write thier name in this language.

On Friday (April 22) there was organized a series of workshops in biology, chemistry, physics and astronomy. All present students could use the microscope to express this little world inaccessible to the naked eye using art techniques. Older pupils had the opportunity to isolate DNA and made a models of DNA molecules using plasticine. In parallel, numerous atractive experiments were demonstrated in physics and chemistry, and during the astronomical workshop children were able to make astronomical sundial and rotating sky map. Observations of the Sun through a telescope were also organized during the day. Lecture on "The emergence and evolution of stars" showed all participants the exciting life of a stars. There was also introduced a pilot project of the High School of Hvar, which will begin next school year. The school will allow interested students to attend the new electoral scientific subjects like "Geoinformatics, solar astronomy, botany and Mediterranean cultures" outside the normal school curriculum. Although these subjects will not be compulsory, students will enable a wider knowledge of certain modern technologies which will ultimately increase their chances in the labor market. At the end of the day observing the night sky with telescopes was organized, where the children were waiting with a lot of enthusiasm to see the Moon and Jupiter trough the telescope.

On Saturday (April 23) two lectures there were held: "Look at the sun from sunny Hvar" and "Does the Sun influence the climate change on Earth?" where all visitors could listen about some work and research conducted on Hvar Observatory in the popular way.

We hope that this rich program will help children discover more easily the interesting world of science and scientific research, and that will be a great motivation for them on the path to knowledge and achievements of their life goals.

We acknowledge ESFproject PoKRet and Croatian Science Foundationproject 6212 SOLSTEL for support to organize Festival of science in Hvar.

Picture gallery from Festival of Science in Hvar