1. STEM DISCOVERY WEEK IN ONICESCU - 2021
2. The activities took place online between 14 and 21 of April, 2021.
3. Organizer: Prof. Paun Madalina
4. Students: highschool classes 
5. The purpose of the project is to promote creativity in science and technology as well as drawing attention to the problems faced by citizens and caused by the pollution in Bucharest.

Since 2018, we have organized in National College "Octav Onicescu" an exhibition of multidisciplinary projects named STEM DISCOVERY WEEK. 
The event was appreciated by students, parents and teachers for the original ideas presented.          
Starting with 2020, this activity has been taking place online: pupils, parents, teachers and also students of the technical faculties participated.

STEM DISCOVERY WEEK IN ONICESCU 2021 had three main activities:
1. "Our Experiments" competition (conducted by students) 
2. Career guidance (meetings with the purpose of counseling the scholars) 
3. Brainstorming environmental solutions (proposals to reduce pollution rates in Bucharest). The activities took place online between 14 and 21 of April, 2021.

1. Competition: "Our experiments"
Experiment 1: Groups formed by the ninth grade students performed experiments which allowed them to study and understand the uniform rectilinear motion at home.

Experiment 2: Based on the experiment performed in antiquity by Eratosthenes, the ninth and tenth grade students determined the circumference of the Earth.

Dicu Andrei and Dimitrie Ghiorghiu, eleventh grade students, are passionate about electronics and robotics. 
Experiment 3: Andrei Dicu showed us how to obtain a board for an electrical circuit. 
Experiment 4: Dimitrie Ghiorghiu presented us with a telephone controlled robot and a miniature airplane printed on a 3D printer.

Experiment 5: Lupu Cătălina from the twelfth grade built a projection device for holograms using a monitor. 

2. Career orientation
Andreea Chioreanu and Lemăndroi Gabriel, students at the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, told us about student life: admition, exams, credits, laboratories and extracurricular activities.
They also presented us some of their projects from university: a CD spectroscope, a mobile phone transformed into a microscope. 
Aditionally, professor counselor Dincă Elena discussed with the students of the twelfth grade about effective methods of learning and managing emotions during stressing times. The students described in various ways how they learn for the baccalaureate exam and for the university admission exams.
The youngsters were very ivolved in the discussions and appreciated very much the sincerity of the interlocutors in regards to the difficulties of the student life.
                    

3. Plans to reduce pollution in Bucharest
The senior students presented some aspects about pollution in Bucharest.
Radu Antonio, made a presentation about the Văcărești Natural Park (the first urban natural park in Romania, with over 183 ha) which contributes to improving air quality and reducing temperatures in the southern part of the city. He proposed greening activities in the Văcărești Natural Park carried out by volunteers from our school.
Pîrnac - Negoescu Robert, analyzed noise pollution in Bucharest. Crowded traffic generates noise pollution on the main arteries of the city. He concluded with the necessity of using the bike more often instead of the car. 
The students Cristea Răzvan and Prodan Andrei analyzed the massive pollution on the Colentina river, which covers 37.4 km of ​​Bucharest. They concluded that waste recycling and environmentally responsible behavior would reduce pollution and increase the quality of life.

After these presentations the senior students filled in the form "A green Bucharest!" in which they presented some solutions to reduce pollution in Bucharest.
Causes of pollution in Bucharest: congested traffic, polluting cars, construction, poorly paved areas,underdeveloped public transport.
The main solutions identified to reduce pollution in Bucharest were: 
1. modernization of the capital's ring road 
2. proper management of the city's landfills 
3. taking care of the green spaces and including even more in the future.
The students also proposed waste recycling activities like alternative circulation of cars, the arrangement of green spaces, national programs that promote buying electric cars from customers. 

And the winner of the STEM DISCOVERY WEEK IN ONICESCU 2021 campaign, as voted by the students, is Lupu Cătălina, twelfth grade class C, for the hologram device (https://www.facebook.com/CNOctavOnicescu/community)