The endeavour of the Hungarian Atacama Climate Monitoring Expedition was closely followed by the younger generation. The Follow the Researchers! contest was advertised for primary and secondary school students. The contest included tasks and assignments which were posted during the timeframe of the expedition itself; to solve these tasks following the current activities of the expedition was required. Besides the tasks related to the actual news, several other assignments and questions about Chile, the Andes and about the wider project of the expedition were posted.
One third of the 233 teams, each with two students, were from Hungarian schools in Romania. Two of them got into the 16 teams of the final round which was lead by László Mari and organised at the Szilágyi Erzsébet Grammar School on the 29. March. 2014. Although, most of the tasks were different for the two age groups, primary and secondary school students, the final points were collected and compared all in one. Despite this system the younger students did not fell behind the older ones in the final outcome. The patron of this contest was Carlos Gajardo, Consul of the Chilean Embassy, who was personally present at the final round and was greatly impressed by the determination and knowledge of the students.
I. place: Bálint Alács and Bálint Somlai, Budapest, I. Dist. Szilágyi Erzsébet Grammar School
II. place: Alexandra Csibi, Áron Kardalus, Csíkszereda, Nagy Imre Grammar School, instructing teacher: Magdolna Borsos
III. place: Krisztián Ármin Stein, György Péter Takács, Bonyhád, Petőfi Sándor Evangelical Secondary School, instructing teacher: László Gruber
The main prize was an all-inclusive fieldwork orientated summer weekend at the Volcano House at the foot of the Ság Hill which is a long extinct volcano. This prize was awarded to the first three teams and of course to their instructing teachers. The students and their teachers were accompanied by the members of the expedition and by the Ambassador of Chile, Sir Rodrigo Nieto Maturana. We would like to express our gratitude to Kinga Vasváry, teacher of the hosting secondary school, and to the student attendants of the hosting secondary school for their help with the organisation of the final round of our contest.
