On Friday, June 10, 2022, the Final of the National Construction Competition took place, the aim of which was to build vehicles powered by mousetraps and driving them over a distance of 12 meters in the shortest possible time.
Over 50 teams from all over Poland applied for the competition, of which 35 teams took part, and 18 vehicles reached the finish line. The vehicles were made of a mousetrap (each team had the same mousetraps) and of ... Imagination!
The competition was full of excitement as each team had the ability to release the same vehicle 3 times. In between races, there was an opportunity to improve the designs, which was often associated with great emotions!
The essence of the competition was learning through play and observation that in the construction of even the smallest devices the laws of physics are of great importance. And that understanding these laws allows you to directly apply textbook knowledge in practice.
After the Final of the National Construction Competition, the participants went to the Institute of Molecular Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in order to extend their knowledge. The scientists of IMP PAS with great joy presented topics related to, inter alia, the magnetocaloric effect, the thermoelectric phenomena observed in liquid crystals, the basics of impedance spectroscopy, or nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Many thanks to the Ministry of Education and Science for the financial support of the competition, St. Urszula Ledóchowska Primary School No. 1 STO in Poznań, competition partners: Snowdog, Smartbee, Mensa Poland and to all Participants.