The winners of the International LUMA StarT 2022 -Awards were announced in the International StarT Gala

The LUMA Centre Finland network awarded the best science and technology projects for children, and young people and teaching practices for learning communities on Monday 13th of June at the International StarT Gala.

The International LUMA Start Awards were presented for the sixth time this year. This year, we finally had the opportunity to gather together after a two-year brake at the Aalto University. It was also possible to watch the gala as a virtual live broadcast. In the gala, the International LUMA Start Award 2022 was presented to the three best natural sciences, math or technology related projects done by children and young people around the world. The International LUMA Start Education Award 2022 was presented to three learning communities for best educational practice in relation to the implementation of interdisciplinary, research-based and phenom-based teaching. Winners were awarded in addition to prizes a trip to Finland.

The International LUMA StarT Awards went to:

The StarT honorary jury consisting of Prof. Maija Aksela (University of Helsinki, Finland; Head of LUMA Centre Finland), Distinguished Prof. Joseph Krajcik (Michigan State University, USA; Director, CREATE for STEM Institute), and Prof. Marina Milner-Bolotin (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, CA; Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy Graduate Advisory Committee) found the choice incredibly challenging due to the high level of practices and projects. The winning projects took off from real questions and thoughts of children and young people. The projects included cooperation both within their own learning community and also with outsiders. The videos and learning diaries of the projects were first-rate and carefully done.

The International LUMA Start Education Awards went to:

The creators of these practices, Korean teachers for STEAM education, Elina Viro, Niina Pahkamäki, Juuso Linnusmäki, Omar Basem Moeen Shaheen, Tamara Ibrahim Suliman Abu Sowaid, Hiba Ehlal Mohammad Bani Domi and Marah Jehad Abdal Razak Alsife had demonstrated interdisciplinary and innovative work in their practices. The StarT honorary jury described the practices as pragmatic, inventive and versatile. The jury valued interdisciplinarity, collaboration, and the active inclusion of children and young people in the winning practices.

The public’s favourites were also rewarded in the gala. Public’s favourites were Disaster Search and Rescue UAV Project – the Servator by Vinschool Education System from Vietnam and Learning based on crisis and disaster management skills by Elementary School Bani Aouf from Tunisia. You can read more about the public’s favourites from our earlier post.

In the 2021-2022 season a total of 847 project work and 750 educational practices took part in StarT. The joy of learning was shared by 1, 486 learning communities, 6, 912 teachers and 325, 126 children and young people. This season has reached it’s end but luckily the new season starts right away! Let’s StarT again and remember that learning is sharing!

The International LUMA StarT Award And International LUMA StarT Education Award Nominees Have Been Chosen

The StarT jury has now made their decision on the ten nominees for the International LUMA StarT Award 2022 and the ten nominees for the International LUMA StarT Education Award 2022From these nominees, the honorary StarT jury will choose the winners.

The winners will be published at the International StarT Gala 13th of June. The twenty nominees for the International LUMA StarT Awards were chosen by the StarT jury. The assessment has been carried out according to the assessment criteria. The three project teams receiving the International LUMA StarT Award and the three best practices receiving the International LUMA StarT Education Award will be chosen from these nominees.

In addition, the Public Favorite will be chosen from these nominees in May.

The International LUMA StarT Award 2022 nominees (project nominees):

Estudi de la contaminació atmosfèrica a Martorell by INS Pompeu Fabra, Spain

Urban Farming as alternative adaptation for climate change and source of income for urban community in the pandemic era by Matoa D5, Indonesia

Green Space by Veikkolan yhtenäiskoulu, Finland

Additional Factors In Growth by Lyseonmäen koulu, Finland

Sustainable recycling of contaminated sediment in Yantian River by Yangang Primary school, China

The Exploration of the Secrets of Mangrove Roots — Exploring the Ecological Value of Mangrove Windbreak and Sand Fixation by Shenzhen Yantian Donghe Branch of Foreign Language Primary School, China

Disaster Search and Rescue UAV Project -The Servator, Vinschool Education System, Vietnam

Comparing the ratio of Aluminum migration to the food from different kinds of aluminum foil, ISO Education School, Jordan

Silk threads, Ismailli Secondary School, Azerbaidžan

Just Breath, Terakki Vakfı Özel Şişli Terakki Tepeören Anadolu Lisesi, Turkey

The International LUMA StarT Education Award 2022 nominees (best educational practice nominees):

Music hearing with hearing-impaired friends, Korean teachers for STEAM education, South Korea

Science picnic by “2 x 2” science club, Italy

Learning based on crisis and disaster management skills by Elementary school “bani aouf”, Tunisia

A Model of Organizing Online Experiential Activities for Secondary School Students by Cau Giay Secondary School, Vietnam

The Planetarium by Zarqa University Schools and KGs, Jordan

Golden Time by Liangfeng Primary School Zhangjiagang, China

Bud Green Action – The Aerosol Cultivation System by Wentianxiang Primary school, China

Project of sleep by Pikkolan koulu, Finland

EARTH IS OUR HOME WE AREN’T ALONE by BAHÇEŞEHİR ANAOKULU, Turkey

The Story of Tastes That Remain in an Ever-Changing World “Omniscient Foods” by MAYA ORTAOKULU, Turkey

Congratulations to all nominees! It is a great accomplishment to be chosen amongst the hundreds and hundreds of projects and best practices as a nominee. Amongst these splendid nominees, the honorary StarT jury will be making the decision on the winning teams. The honorary StarT jury consists this year of Prof. Maija Aksela (University of Helsinki, Finland; Head of LUMA Centre Finland), Distinguished Prof. Joseph Krajcik (Michigan State University, USA; Director, CREATE for STEM Institute), and Prof. Marina Milner-Bolotin (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, CA; Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy Graduate Advisory Committee).

The winners will be announced at the annual StarT Gala that will be held at Aalto University, Finland. In the International StarT Gala, the three best educational practices will be awarded the International LUMA StarT Education Award and three projects with the International LUMA StarT Award. The Gala will be held on June 13th at 4 PM.

Public voting

The annual voting on the favourites of the public will be held in May. This year, the voting happens through a questionnaire form and it will be published soon. Stay tuned and vote for your favourites!

a part of the StarT team in StarT Gala

The winners of the International LUMA StarT -awards were announced in The International StarT Gala.

The LUMA Centre Finland network awarded the best science and technology projects for children, young people and learning communities on Wednesday 9th of June at the International StarT Gala.

The International LUMA Start Awards were presented for the fifth time this year. As in the year before, the gala took place as a virtual live broadcast. In the gala, the International LUMA Start Award 2021 award was presented to the three best natural sciences, math or technology-related project done by children and young people around the world. The International LUMA Start Education Award was presented to three learning communities for best educational practice in relation to the implementation of interdisciplinary, research-based and phenom-based teaching. Winners were awarded in addition to prizes a trip to Finland. The prize trip will take place due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation in June 2022.

The International LUMA StarT Awards went to:

The StarT honorary jury consisting of Prof. Maija Aksela (chair person); Prof. Miia Rannikmäe from University of Tartu, Estonia and Associate prof. Coral Campbell from Deakin University, Australia found the choice incredibly challenging due to the high level of practices and projects. The winning projects took off from real questions and thoughts of children and young people. The projects included cooperation both within their own learning community and also with outsiders. The videos and learning diaries of the projects were first-rate and carefully done.

The International LUMA Start Education Awards went to:

The creators of these practices Liangfeng primary school; João Dias, Mariana Marques and Frederico Valsassina Amaral; Maikku Aho and Teija Lauronen had demonstrated interdisciplinary and innovative work in their practices. The StarT honorary jury described the practices as pragmatic, inventive and versatile. The jury valued interdisciplinarity, collaboration, and the active inclusion of children and young people in the winning practices.

The public’s favourites were also rewarded in the gala. Public’s favourites were Water Rationalization System by WRS youth team from Jordania and The educational program towards a sustainable society by Aldur Almanthour School from Jordania. You can read more about the public’s favourites here.

In the 2020-2021 season a total of 830 project work and 680 educational practices took part in StarT. The joy of learning was shared by 1420 learning communities, 5580 teachers and 14,150 children and young people. This season has reached it’s end but luckily the new season starts right away! The new season comes with two different competitions: the Nord StarT climate change competition in the autumn season and the International LUMA Start Competition in the spring 2022.

The winners of the international awards of StarT 2018: Jordan, Turkey, Portugal and Finland received awards in the International LUMA StarT Gala 2018

The International LUMA StarT Gala was held on Tuesday June the 5th 2018. Internationally most distinguished science, technology and mathematics projects by young people, and the best educational practices by educators related to the same topics are awarded annually in the StarT gala. This year, the winning teams come from Portugal, Jordan, Turkey and Finland. Congratulations to all the winners! The Director General of the Finnish National Agency for Education, Mr. Olli-Pekka Heinonen, handed the awards. 

The winning projects have provided ideas on how mining accidents could be prevented by programming a safe helmet, and on how students can educate each other on climate change through their own club. One of the winning projects showed how kindergarten children can actively learn about life in Stone Age by creating their own informative and interdisciplinary project. The winning best educational practices showed how to make true real-life connections in secondary school mathematics, how kindergarten children can be real researchers and gave an example of creating a culture of scientific and technological learning in a country. In their evaluation criteria, the StarT jury has focused on innovativeness, interdisciplinarity, collaboration and creativitySee the winning projects and best practices here.

The International LUMA StarT Awards were awarded for the second time this year. The StarT gala is organized annually by LUMA Centre Finland, a network of all Finnish science and technology universities with a common goal of promoting science, mathematics and technology education on all grade levels. In 2017-2018, 500 project teams and 100 best educational practices from 20 different countries have participated in the StarT programme of LUMA Centre Finland.

“The key to success is curiosity, creativity and collaboration. They are needed to conquer the wicked problems of our times. The participants of the Start projects have demonstrated all these characteristics and skills which will benefit them in all areas of life in the future.” Director General for the Finnish National Board of Education, Mr. Olli-Pekka Heinonen

Find the winners below!

International LUMA StarT Award (best projects by students) 

Click the name of the team to watch their video, comments of the StarT jury below.

Baret_Care”, students Halil Ataberk Bakırcı, Ahmet Efe Bakırcı and others, Turkey

“These students developed a smart helmet, that improves the security and quality of life of workers in special conditions, namely, it can be used to measure gas, temperature and humidity in the environment, to alert the worker when the measured values may threaten their health, to determine the geographical location, to send the location to the server of tracking system, to call a predetermined number in an emergency.”

“This is an excellent example of problem-based design thinking and inter-disciplinarity. The approach and product are very innovative and there is evidence of student ownership of the problem, process and solution. The product works well, and the video can be a motivation for students in other schools.”            

“Very well Limited Project with the clear aim. Working product in the end.”

Project diary by the students

EcoChange”, Agrupamento de escolas de Alcanena, students Bárbara Correia, Catarina Naia, Guilherme Santos, José Coutinho and Maria Farinha, Portugal

“Students predicted a number of small steps, involving local community – aiming to a big change in improving the local environment.”  

“The objective of this project was to raise awareness about climate change and the importance of saving energy. Its hard to concretely measure the results of such project, but many inventive methods were used and the youths enthusiasm and their own ideas for advancing the project were present throughout the process. A lot of co-operation was done with groups of children. The exercise on thinking about different characters usage of energy deserves special credit; it was a great idea and definitely interesting and engaging for the children. The learning diary and video were both well-composed and compact and they gave a good impression of what the process was like.”

“Project shows participants enthusiasm and great interest. “Eco club” and providing educational activities for range of learning communities shows desire to spread knowledge and devotion.  Participants are very active and project is more than school or start project its still ongoing, Project diary is visual and video shows variety of activities included in the project.”                                 

“Student-based activation in school and community.”

Project diary by the students

Jump into the life at the Stone Age: Winter” (Hyppy kivikauden elämään: talvi), Day Care Center Piilometsä, Finland

“A very innovative way to approach learning about the nature and environment at the kindergarten level through prehistoric times.”   

“truly integrated project, and kids involved, inspiring”

“Very interesting approach to the history. Activating children to explore Stone Age.”

Project diary by the students

 

International LUMA StarT Education Award (best educational practices of instructors and teachers)

Innovation for Creativity Development Association, Suraaya Ayyad, Jordan

“Broad science fair programme for kids and youth”                   

“Excellent idea to create a culture of scientific and technological learning, research, and innovation amongst children and youth in primary and secondary level. Also I applaude the idea to support the childrens’ and youths capacities of scientific inquiry, and problem solving skills to accomplish unique and original scientific projects which inspire them to become innovative scientists in future.”                     

“Nationwide development project. This is also very important sign for youngsters, that also we as a adults appreciate even small students’ steps in science and make possible for them to have  a stage, where to show fruits of explorations.”

MEF Middle School, Simge Sohtorik, Turkey

An excellent example of the integration of school mathematics and community and social responsibility. The project is entrepreneurial and easily replicated by schools around the world. The students appeared to find the project a motivational, creative and educational way to learn mathematics.“                                                                                                                                

“Mathematics is integrated into real life in an innovative way. The students first have a chance to be creative when making their products related to the mathematical theory, and because they still sell the products they’ve produced at a fair, the calculations of cost and benefit become very realistic for the students. It’s also great that the benefits will be given to charity. This educational practice forms a great whole that engages all the students to actually take use of what they have learnt and to bring it into real life in a long-lasting process with clear aims.”

“The project integrates mathematics, arts and crafts nicely as a project that contains knowledge of mathematics useful for all citizens of society. The project seems to have also some other societal aims.”

“The practice is very innovative i.e. many different aspects of the golden ratio were used. It was truly interdisciplinary combining several school subjects. Involving charity work was a good bonus.”                                                 

“Real life mathematics used to learn social and economic skills – and serving community.”

Preschool group Puuhiset Satulaiva, Kirsi Rehunen, Finland

“Enthusiasm, excellent idea, a network of collaboration (professors, parents, library), involvement on various subject-areas”                    

“Excellent example, how storytelling, fairytales can be used in pre-primary education. This is also showing how the boundaries of different subjects can be faded out very natural way.”                     

“This best practice has wonderfully managed to bring scientific ways of working to a kindergarten through a common theme of a story. The group has made use of parents, real scientists, science fairs, field work, and conducted a lot of different scientific experiments that base on the children’s questions. The children are put in the place of the experts in an innovative way, as they’re encouraged to invent new things and even share their knowledge to help another kindergarten group with their work. The scientific working practices and the impressive and diverse activities that this group has done clearly make it one of the nominees.”

“The project introduces innovative and child-centered way to introduce technology education and an important discussion about the image of scientists for pre-schoolers. This kind of discussions can have a positive effect on children’s interest on science.”

The public’s favourites  (read more here) and the most active countries were also awarded at the StarT Gala. In addition, the Finnish National Awards were handed. The programme for the StarT gala can be found here: https://start.luma.fi/en/gala/

Public’s favourite project:

Waste Busters” with their project “Lemna grinder”, students Zeynep Sude Çetin, Bora Özkan, Zeynep Eyüpoğlu, Berfin Elçin, Kerim Berber, Umay Eskialp, Melike Damla Özdemir, Aslıhan Eşkin, Gizem İdil Tunçbilek and Bilgesu Gökçenur. Turkey.

Public’s favourite best practice:

StarT Day in S.O.S. Project Schools” S.O.S. Project Schools, Turkey.  

The most active countries

The most active countries out of the 20 countries participating in the StarT were Turkey and Estonia. Turkey has registered the most StarT projects, and Estonia has organized a national StarT Science Festival.  Congratulations to all the teams from Turkey and Estonia! 

Additional information

  • The composition of the StarT jury 2018 can be found here.
  • Pictures of the awarded teams for the media can be found here.
  • Best of StarT 2018 here (including nominees)
  • Photos from the gala can be found here
  • Watch the gala here
  • Read more about LUMA Centre Finland here: https://www.luma.fi/en/centre/
  • Contact us at info@start.luma.fi

StarT 2018–2019: registration is open!

We want to thank everyone who participated in the gala and StarT 2017–2018, and we are already eagerly looking forward to seeing what kind of StarT projects you create next school year! 

Register as a learning community for StarT 2018–2019 here (registration open until the end of October 2018. Reporting of the projects of children and youth, and the best educational practices of  teachers and instructors starts in November (tbc) and must be done by February 2019. Reporting the work does not require registration but by registering as a learning community you get additional support from us)

Subscribe to our newsletter hereHave you suddenly stopped receiving newsletters from us? We might have removed you from our mailing list if you did not verify that you want to continue hearing from us due to the GDPR update – but do not worry, you can subscribe here again!