SCIENCE UP "TSPU - ABSOLUTE SPACE": TSPU CELEBRATED ANNIVERSARY OF THE DAY OF COSMONAUTICS

On April 9, the Tomsk State Pedagogical University celebrated the upcoming milestone date for the whole country — the 60th anniversary of the first man's flight into space. Within the walls of the university, a series of atmospheric events Science up #TSPUAbsoluteSpace took place.

For pupils of 9-10 grades of schools an intellectual and entertaining game "Cosmoquest in Pedagogical" was held in the city of Tomsk in the Scientific Library of the TSPU, during which the participants not only demonstrated their wit but also received new knowledge about space. The TSPU students accompanied the pupils:

“I helped schoolchildren find their way in our huge library. And while they were being tested, I learned a lot for myself. For example, in 2006 the last planet was transferred to the status of a dwarf planet. I have never heard of this. I was glad to broaden my horizons”, — says Nikolai Korablin, curator of the "Cosmostars team", a first-year student at the Institute for Nuclear Medicine.

The quest featured nine educational playgrounds from the faculties and Institutes of the TSPU. For example, at the "ISS Bureau of Investigation" station, the students asked the participants to find out, using logic and attention, which of the crew members of the spacecraft made an emergency landing and what was his motive. At the “Space Fitness” location, the schoolchildren showed their athletic level and were trained for the flight. The psychological difficulties experienced by the cosmonauts and the methods of dealing with them were discussed at the "Cosmic Psycholectorium". The contestants were able to learn more about nutrition for the crew of the spacecraft in the "Space Kitchen", and the students of the Faculty of Physics and mathematics helped the teams to look into the radio receiver and study its structure at a location "Technical Station Gromozeka". Sorting garbage in space, peculiarities of the structure and composition of planets — the participants learned about this and many other things at our "Cosmoquest".

"It was great to feel like real detectives at the station of the Institute of Foreign languages and international cooperation. They also told us about the composition of the planets and the structure of a radio receiver, such a seemingly familiar object”, — says Yana Smirnova, a member of the“ Cosmostars ”team, a student of the school №4.

However, not only the participants and their curators, but also the school teachers who accompanied the children, despite many years of experience in teaching natural sciences, were able to discover something new about space at the TSPU:

“It was surprising for me to learn about some facts from the life of Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin. Since I am a physicist, I also liked the station where they talked about radio. In my lessons, I can not always show it, but here is such a detailed, visual layout with a demonstration", — says Olga Alekseevna Kurakova, a physics teacher at secondary school №4.

The teacher notes that children will be able to transfer the knowledge acquired on the TSPU quest to their friends at school and motivate them to take part in such games in the future. Olga Alekseevna also emphasizes the high importance of such events for modern youth, since the younger generation should know about the achievements of all mankind:

"I am very impressed by this format, because the topical contests, for example, are just a test for the mind, but here there is an element of the game that unites the guys, motivates them to learn something new."

After completing all the tests and counting the votes, the winners and prize-winners of the quest were determined. However, no one left empty-handed: the teams received gifts from the partners of the quest — the "Tomskoye Moloko" company, the Tomsk Planetarium, the "Angaria" ice cream factory, and the "Siberia" radio station. The quest was completed by a photo session of the participants who were able to "try on" the spacesuit.

In addition, students and all interested Tomsk residents were invited to the "Space in a grown-up way" — a series of fascinating popular science lectures prepared by the best Tomsk lecturers as part of the celebration of Cosmonautics Day. At the meeting, the audience examined the Universe in detail, heard the "voice" of the Galaxy, and traveled back to April 12, 1961, when the first man went into space.

In the official part, popular science reports on the topic were presented by city scientists. Iosif Lvovich Buchbinder, Russian theoretical physicist, doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, professor of TSPU, in his lecture "The first steps of cosmology" told how the origin of this science took place and what its questions still remain open.

Vyacheslav Nikolayevich Zyryanov, a researcher at the Tomsk Planetarium, in his speech on the topic "Space Tomsk" told about outstanding scientists, engineers, designers, and cosmonauts from Tomsk, who were involved not only in the first launch of a spacecraft with a passenger on board but also made a huge contribution to the further development of Soviet and Russian cosmonautics.

Alexey Removich Arzhanik, associate professor of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the TSPU, not only gave a lecture on the organization of communication via satellites but also showed a visual experiment that confirms the theory.

Alexei Removich noted the opportunity of each student to make a significant contribution to the development of astronautics:

“Our graduates not only become teachers and work in schools but also find their vocation in such rapidly developing promising industries as astronautics. Studying at TSPU, they acquire broader knowledge than just subject knowledge, so after university, they achieve great success”, — said the associate professor of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the TSPU.

Space travel into the depths and secrets of the Galaxy did not leave indifferent any participant of the Science up #TSPUAbsoluteSpace events: this is confirmed by numerous reviews and posts on social networks published by the guests of the program. This feedback shows that it is important and necessary to talk about space in a scientific way since Tomsk citizens are eager to obtain and expand their knowledge.