The final of the tenth edition of Eureka took place this morning at the Teatro Sociale in Como! It works!, organized by Confindustria Como as part of the project launched by Federmeccanica in agreement with the Ministry of Education and Merit, to guide primary school students in “know-how”. 11 Como schools took part in the 2024 edition, for a total of 600 students.
Marcella Panzeri, Councilor of Confindustria Como with responsibility for Business Economics and project leader of the Como edition of Eureka! It works!, supported by the Cantù actor and director Davide Marranchelli as presenter of the event, welcomed the very young finalists from the primary schools of Como and its province to the Teatro Sociale, who occupied all the available seats in the stalls. “Confindustria Como has been adhering to this wonderful project for ten years now. – declared Marcella Panzeri – For us this is a special edition because, in addition to celebrating this important anniversary, today we are also celebrating the Teatro Sociale, which was recently nominated to become a ‘National Monument’. Eureka! Works! it is a perfect example of collaboration between school, business and culture, which has always been one of the objectives of Confindustria Como”.
As in past editions, the initiative was appreciated by the young students and their teachers, who built, starting from a kit supplied by Federmeccanica, a toy whose only binding characteristic was that of being mobile. An experience of creativity and knowledge, of experimentation, discovery and self-learning, which pushed the little inventors to use some of the knowledge acquired in the disciplinary field in a creative way.
This morning, the working groups presented the projects built in recent months according to the indications contained in the kit. The jury chose the “Idrovulcano” toy as the winner, created by the pupils of the “G. Giussani” of Brunate (Como Lago State Comprehensive Institute).
The second position was achieved by the team of the “Don G. Salice” Primary School of Torno (Como Lago State Comprehensive Institute) with the “Extralarian UFOs” project and the third prize, voted by the students present in the room, was awarded to “Minigolf”, created by the boys and girls of the San Vincenzo Primary School in Erba. On an experimental basis, for this edition the San Carpoforo Secondary School of Como was also involved, awarded for the “Truck” project.
The winners received recognition in the form of vouchers for the purchase of educational materials or cultural visits for the whole class. All classes will also be given free tickets for future programming of the Teatro Sociale.
Today marks the final stage of a project which intends to develop, starting from primary school, orientation activities towards technical and scientific culture, on the model of what already happens in countries such as Finland, Germany, France and Holland. The initiative is developed in collaboration with the Physics Teaching Association (AIF) and the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), the research center with its main headquarters in Genoa and eleven centers in the national territory (Turin, Milan, Trento, Rome , Pisa, Naples, Lecce, Ferrara) and internationally (MIT and Harvard in the USA). The appointment is for next year with a new edition of Eureka! Works!.
THE PROJECT
Eureka! Works! is an orientation and entrepreneurship education project aimed at children in the fourth and fifth year of primary school aimed at orienting primary school students to “know-how”. This is a technological construction competition, in which children have the task of conceiving, designing and building a real toy starting from a kit supplied by Federmeccanica containing various materials.
The participating students are divided into groups, in order to encourage cooperation, team work, the division of tasks and roles and must create a technological invention in 6/8 weeks (corresponding to 20 hours of activity). Carrying out invention and design activities allows the students involved to integrate theory with practice, but also to stimulate their entrepreneurial spirit, manual skills, aptitude for teamwork and creativity.
Furthermore, children have the opportunity to develop an aptitude for problem solving, as well as an interdisciplinary approach, in which different study subjects are applied (from mathematics to drawing, through Italian and science) to contribute to the creation of the final product . In this way, children are put in a position to learn through “cooperative learning” and “learning by doing”, teaching methodologies that allow students to acquire knowledge and skills through sharing and carrying out practical actions.
