Nysgjerrigper contest 2010:
Reading aloud to animals, pure joy and kissing among the winning topics
Research on reading aloud to animals won a class of 10-year olds from Rogaland County first prize in the national Nysgjerrigper Science Knowledge contest 2010.
An increasing number of projects, an increasing level of inventiveness and an increase in the quality of work among Norwegian primary school children are some of the results of this year’s contest.
Minister of Education Kristin Halvorsen and this year’s Nysgjerrigper winner, the 5th grade at Storevarden School in Sola. (Photo: Andreas B. Johansen)
The winning fifth grade pupils wanted to know how animals would react if you read aloud to them, and started on a major research project covering close to 50 animals, including 6 horses, 8 rabbits, 5 chickens and a gerbil.
Original and well-written
Sander and Markus from the winning class thought it was exciting to research the reactions of animals when read aloud to. (Photo: Andreas B. Johansen)
“This year’s winner of the 1st prize has researched a very original subject and handed in an extremely well-written report,” claimed Minister of Education, Kristin Halvorsen who had the honour of awarding the prizes at a major event in Oslo on 9 June.
The prize winners discovered that the most common pets enjoyed being read aloud to, particularly by their owners. One budgie showed its appreciation by making happy noises and settling down on its owner’s shoulder. Dogs were seen to yawn and get into a comfy position. Even goldfish seemed to stay still when read aloud to.
The children from Rogaland chose a range of material to read aloud to their pets – funny, exciting, romantic, sad and factual. They read all these different texts both with and without intonation.
“The pets paid more attention when intonation was used, but it was important to avoid using a hard, loud voice,” was the conclusion of the researchers in their report.
Read more about the winning project.
Very creative
The nine winning projects in this year’s contest encompassed subjects that indicate a high level of creativity and a thirst for knowledge:
- What is pure joy?
- Why do we have to do homework?
- Why do boys like to kiss girls?
- Why do people not pick up dog poo from the street?
- Do children concentrate better at school if they have been physically active during the school day?
- Why does snow glitter?
- How fast can a Lego car powered by solar energy drive?
- Do girls lose more teeth than boys in 1st grade?
An inspiration to both pupils and teachers
In Norwegian the word Nysgjerrigper is used to describe a curious person. The contestants follow a simple scientific method, known as the Nysgjerrigper method. Both pupils and teachers are delighted with this method of working, which arouses considerable enthusiasm and is an excellent introduction to methodical project work.
“The goal of the Nysgjerrigper project is to provide children up to the age of 13 with basic experience in research work, which will hopefully encourage them to continue working with research and perhaps one day become researchers,” explains Kate Alice Furøy, manager of the Nysgjerrigper secretariat, which is hosted by the Research Council of Norway.
“We are very happy with the level of response and activity, and it is great to see how this method of working is becoming increasingly popular in Norwegian schools,” continues Ms. Furøy. The project also issues a magazine four times a year, has a web site and holds courses on the Nysgjerrigper working method for teachers.
- Published:
- 18.06.2010
- Last updated:
- 18.06.2010
See also
Other websites
Contact
- Kate Alice Furøy Adviser 22 03 75 55 kaf@forskningsradet.no
