Marine talent competition

The International Ocean Institute - Malta Operational Centre (IOI-MOC) at the University of Malta has launched a marine talent competition within the framework of the IOI-Kids Programme.

The competition seeks to attract quality contributions of teaching material appealing to both primary and secondary school pupils.

It is open to authors primarily, but not exclusively, from the teaching profession and may also include parents, researchers and academics.

Entries can be submitted by individuals or by teams. Contributions are accepted for two categories: primary and secondary school level students and will be judged separately.

The objective of the competition is to increase the potential of the IOI Kids website as an educational resource tool. All the qualifying contributions will be hosted on the website and as a result all material submitted for the competition must be fit for online publishing.

Possible topics include interesting facts about the sea, marine scientific discoveries, historical considerations on marine science, key figures in the development of marine science, conservation issues, the role played by education, marine faunal and floral species, human impacts on the sea, climate change, endangered species, marine ecosystems and marine/coastal places of interest.

The two prime requisites for submissions are originality and appeal. Visual design and online interactivity will be considered as additional assets.

Different kinds of contributions are accepted, such as Powerpoint presentations, web-pages, quizzes, instructive games, lecture notes and projects. The total duration of each contribution should not exceed one hour and multiple entries by the same participant/team are permitted.

Participants must aim to provide students with didactic, well researched and original material relevant to school curricula, and to support the knowledge and awareness of the younger generations on the marine environment.

Contributions must strictly refer to themes related to the sea. Topics may cover local, Mediterranean or even broader perspectives.

Deadline for submissions is November 15. Material should be sent in printed format for the attention of Alicia Said, IOI-MOC, Chemistry Building Room 315, University of Malta, or sent by e-mail to ioi-kids@capemalta.net.