The Czech Astronomical Olympiad is organised for pupils of elementary and secondary schools in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It is very popular among younger pupils because of the opportunity it provides to use all informational resources (with the exception of the help of other persons). Practical observational tasks are required in the correspondence round. After the final round of categories "EF" and "CD", a two-day workshop is held to select candidates for the

International Astronomy Olympiad The International Astronomy Olympiad (IAO) is an internationally recognized annual astronomy scientific-educating event for high school students (14–18 years old), which includes an intellectual competition between these students. It is one of th ...

. The Czech Astronomical Olympiad is supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports as a science competition in category A.

History

The Astronomical Olympiad was first held in the

academic year An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...

2003/2004 in the category "EF" (for the 8th and 9th class elementary schools), and the corresponding classes of grammar schools. In the fourth year, 2006/2007, the event grew to include category "GH" (for the 6th and 7th class elementary schools), and in the fifth year, 2007/2008, the category "CD", for first– and second–year secondary school students was added.

Structure

School round

The school round is a 40-minute problem addressed to the student at their school under the supervision of a teacher, or held at the observatory. This round runs from mid-September to mid-December.

Correspondence round

The correspondence stage is a project done at home with up to 2.5 months for completion. This round is held from January to mid-March.

Final round

The best participants of the correspondence round are invited to the National Finals (usually 25 participants in each category). Finals are held in

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rive ...

(category "CD") and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

(categories "EF" and "GH") in the second half of May.

Workshop

A workshop for the best participants of "CD" and "EF" categories follows at the observatory in

Valašské Meziříčí Valašské Meziříčí (; german: Wallachisch Meseritsch) is a town in Vsetín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban mo ...

in mid-June. Candidates for the

are selected here.

International Astronomy Olympiad

The International Astronomical Olympiad (IAO) is a nine-day event that usually takes place between 23 September and 22 November. The XII. IAO in 2007 brought a Czech team a silver medal, and the 2008 event, XIII. IAO, saw Czechs win two bronze medals. The 2009 International Astronomy Olympiad ended with Czechs winning two silver (senior group competitors) and three bronze (junior group competitors) medals.

Other astronomical competitions in Czech republic

*Astronomická Korespondenční Soutěž (Astronomical correspondence competition)

External links

Czech astronomical olympiad (in Czech)

Czech astronomical society (in Czech)

The International Astronomical Olympiad

Window Into Space
{{DEFAULTSORT:Czech Astronomical Olympiad Astronomy events Education in the Czech Republic Science events in the Czech Republic