Page 9 - Floreat - Academic Enrichment Lent 2021

Competition Guidelines:
● The competition is free to enter and the emphasis is on having fun whilst learning languages.
● The competition is open to GCSE students (or equivalent).
● The submission is a 3-minute video via Flipgrid (https://info.flipgrid.com/).
● The video can be in the participants’ first language (e.g. English), target language or a mixture.
● Languages: Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Spanish and Italian.
● Students can work individually or together, up to a maximum of 4 students per submission.
● One submission per school.
● Deadline – midnight 29 January 2021.
Philosophy
Trinity College Cambridge Philosophy Essay Prize
https://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/essay- prizes/philosophy/
The questions for the 2021 commpetition are as follows:
1. What do we owe to each other?
2. Does social media make us less lonely, or more?
3. Must we want to be happy?
You should answer one question only. The deadline for entries is 11.59 pm UK time on Monday, 31 May 2021.
Candidates are invited to submit an essay of up to 2,000 words. Entries must be submitted online by the end of May.
Lloyd Davies Philosophy Prize (Lower Sixth)
Oriel College, Oxford.
https://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/study-us/schools- liaison/lloyd-davies-philosophy-prize
Sheffield University Philosophy Essay Competition (Years 10, 11 and 12)
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/philosophy/essay- competition
Politics
RA Butler Politics Prize
Trinity College, Cambridge.
https://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/essay- prizes/
Science
Bayer Science Competitions https://www.bayer.co.uk/en/baylab/competitions https://www.bayer.co.uk/en/bsw-competition
The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Competition (Ages 11-19)
http://competition.thebigbangfair.co.uk/about/
Entries open January 2021 ⏐ closing date March 2021.
13th Annual Foxcroft Science Essay Competition 2021 (Global Pandemic) (Year 12)
Open to Year 12 science students from schools in Rugby, Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. The judging panel will consist of a Guest Judge along with Heads of Science or a Science teacher from each school with a finalist.
Students should write a maximum of 1500 words from one of the science essays below:
Biology: Human coronaviruses such as HCoV-OC43 continually circulate in the human population and produce the generally mild symptoms of the common cold in adults and children worldwide. The closely related coronaviruses SARS-CoV-2 however, can lead to severe respiratory disease, has led to over 1 million deaths, and can cause long lasting symptoms and has caused huge disruption to peoples’ everyday lives. Discuss the biological factors that can account for such a contrast in impact of two such closely related viruses.
Chemistry: “Over the past 8 months, a number of molecules have been evaluated to see how effective they are in the fight against COVID-19. A widely available drug called dexamethasone has had early success in the treatment of this disease. Dexamethasone was first approved for medical use in 1961, and has been on the W.H.O.’s List of Essential Medicines for a number of years. Write an essay about the Chemistry of dexamethasone.”
Physics: “Physics-based techniques play a crucial role in the fight against COVID-19. Just over a month after the Chinese authorities disclosed the existence of the new coronavirus, a research team uploaded the structure of the virus’ main protease to the Protein Data Bank, having obtained the dataset using X-ray crystallography at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. Write an essay about the physics of X-ray crystallography and its role in structural biology.”
In tackling a question, students need to do plenty of reading (research) remembering to record references to textbooks, journals and, or websites. All major websites and references used in the final essay must be included as references at the end, as a Bibliography. It is essential that students do not exceed the maximum 1500 words. Please note references will not be included in the word count.
Submitting the Essay: All essays should be sent electronically to Dr Mike Thompson, Rugby School’s Head of Science Enrichment & Outreach @: mat@rugbyschool.net by Friday, 5 February 2021 with the email subject title; Foxcroft Essay 2021 –SURNAME- SCHOOL.
Peterhouse Kelvin Science Prize
Lower Sixth ⏐ Opens February 2021. https://www.pet.cam.ac.uk/essay-prizes
RCSU Science Challenge (Years 10-13)
Imperial College, London.
http://sciencechallenge.org/home
Write an essay (with a proper introduction, body and conclusion) for your argument on:
Floreat ⏐ Academic Enrichment Programme ⏐ Lent Term 2021 P9
Essay Competitions